"Black Is the Color (of My True Love's Hair)" (Roud 3103) is a traditional ballad folk song known in the US as associated with colonial and later music in the Appalachian Mountains. It is believed to have originated in Scotland, as it refers to the River Clyde in the lyrics. American musicologist Alan Lomax supported the thesis of Scottish origin, saying that the song was an American "re-make of British materials."[1]
Many different versions of this song exist, some addressed to men and others addressed to women. There are other differences:
These words are set to two distinct melodies, one of which is traditional and the other was written by the Kentucky folk singer and composer John Jacob Niles by 1941. Niles recalled that his father thought the traditional melody was "downright terrible", so he wrote "a new tune, ending it in a nice modal manner." This melody was used in the Folk Songs song cycle by Luciano Berio.[2]
The song has become a part of the traditional repertory of Celtic music artists. The song was collected as "Black is the color" by Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles in 1916 from Mrs Lizzie Roberts, it is listed in English folk songs from the southern Appalachians (1917).[3] It also appeared in Sharps English Folksongs From The Southern Appalachians (1932).[4] In the 1960s, Patty Waters sang an extended version for an ESP record that leaned toward the avant garde and extremes of vocal improvisation.[5]
Versions of the song have been recorded by many artists, including:
| Name | Album | Genre | Year | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Jacob Niles | American Folk Lore Vol. 3 | 1941 | Also appears on American Folk Love Songs to Dulcimer Accompaniment, Six Favorite Folk Songs and other Niles compilations. | |
| Burl Ives | Wayfaring Stranger | Traditional folk | 1944 | |
| Jo Stafford | American Folk Songs | Traditional folk | 1950 | |
| Jean Ritchie | Singing the Traditional Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family | Traditional folk | 1952 | |
| Gordon Heath & Lee Payant | Chants traditionnels des États-Unis / The Ballad of the Boll Weevil and Other Traditional Songs of the United States | Traditional folk | 1955 | |
| Robert Shaw Chorale | My True Love Sings | Traditional folk | 1956 | |
| Phineas Newborn, Jr. | While My Lady Sleeps | Jazz | 1957 | |
| Pete Seeger | American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 2 | Folk music | 1958 | |
| Alfred Deller | Western Wind | English folk songs | 1959 | "Reviews and Ratings of Popular Albums", Billboard, 2/2/1959, p. 39 |
| Nina Simone | Nina Simone at Town Hall | Jazz | 1959 | Nina Simone made it part of her standard repertoire, revitalizing the song's popularity.[6] |
| Joan Baez | Joan Baez in Concert | Folk music | 1962 | |
| Smothers Brothers | Think Ethnic | Folk | 1963 | Title line turned into "Black Is the Colour of My Love's True Hair" [But only her Hairdresser knows--/("Does she or Doesn't she?")--/Only her Hairdresser knows!] (a play on the advertising 'tag line' at that time for Clairol hair-coloring products). |
| Davy Graham | Folk, Blues and Beyond | Folk | 1964 | |
| Smothers Brothers | It Must Have Been Something I Said! | Folk | 1964 | (They also did a parody version, cf. 1963) |
| Nina Simone | Wild Is the Wind | Jazz | 1965 | |
| Patty Waters | Patty Waters Sings | Jazz | 1965 | Described as "the performance that established her as a vocal innovator"[7] |
| Hamish Imlach | Hamish Imlach | Folk | 1966 | |
| Carola | Carola & Heikki Sarmanto Trio | Jazz | 1966 | Recorded in the spirit of the modal jazz scene in Europe in the 1960s,[8] Carola's accosting tone[9] and the groovy approach of the Heikki Sarmanto Trio remained undiscovered until issued by the Jazzpuu label in 2004. |
| The Throb | non-album single | Garage rock | 1966 | Reached No. 42 on Australian singles chart[10] [11] |
| The Human Beinz | Nobody But Me | 1968 | A version by US act | |
| Cathy Berberian | Folk Songs | Classical | 1968 | Recorded with the Berio setting, followed by two more recordings next decade, all conducted by the composer to whom she was married for a time |
| Mike Seeger | Music from True Vine | Folk | 1971 | This a capella recording was done on his solo album of Appalachian and America folk music on the Mercury label |
| Tia Blake | Folk Songs & Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group | Folk | 1971 | Released on SFPP (Société Française De Productions Phonographiques)[12] |
| Alfred Deller, Desmond Dupré, Mark Deller | Folksongs | Classical | 1972 | |
| Christy Moore | Live in Dublin | Folk | 1978 | |
| Marc Johnson's Bass Desires | Bass Desires | Jazz rock | 1985 | Instrumental version featuring guitarists Bill Frisell and John Scofield |
| Joe Sample | Invitation | Jazz | 1993 | Instrumental version recorded as "Black Is the Color". This version has been featured on The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s segments. |
| Luka Bloom | Turf | Folk/Singer-songwriter | 1994 | |
| Christy Moore | Live at the Point | Folk | 1994 | |
| The Irish Descendants | Livin' on the Edge | Folk, World, & Country | 1996 | |
| Kendra Shank | Wish | Vocal jazz | 1998 | |
| Susan McKeown | Mighty Rain | Traditional folk | 1998 | |
| Judy Collins | Both Sides Now | 1998 | ||
| Seanchai and the Unity Squad | Rebel Hip Hop | 1998 | Female-addressed version with a different lyrics titled "Ballad of Mairead Farrell" | |
| Fred Hersch | Let Yourself Go (Live at Jordan Hall) | Jazz | 1999 | |
| Niamh Parsons | In My Prime | Traditional folk | 2000 | Also performed on Live at Fylde (2005) |
| Stringmansassy | Persuasion | 2000 | ||
| Gaelic Storm | Tree | Folk rock | 2001 | Sixth track of the album Tree.[13] Female-addressed version |
| The Liberty Voices | A Cappella Americana | 2001 | As seen at Epcot's American Adventure | |
| Cara Dillon | Cara Dillon | Folk | 2001 | Irish folk singer Cara Dillon chose to perform a female-addressed version opening her eponymous album which won her many awards including "Best Traditional Song" at the 2002 BBC Folk Awards. It has become a favourite in her live repertoire and has undergone huge success as a Trance remix by 2Devine (see below)[14] |
| Andreas Scholl | Wayfaring Stranger | Classical | 2001 | |
| Blue Mountain | Roots | Alternative country/roots rock | 2002 | |
| Grace Griffith | Sands of Time | 2003 | ||
| Larry Mathews | Easy and Slow | Folk | 2003 | Third track on the Album Easy and Slow[15] |
| Nurse with Wound | She and Me Fall Together in Free Death | Experimental | 2003 | |
| Ensemble Planeta | Aria | A capella | 2003 | Tenth track of the Aria Album[16] |
| Paul Weller | Studio 150 | Rock | 2004 | |
| 2Devine featuring Cara Dillon | House | 2005 | DJ Pete Devine (also known as 2Devine and Coco & Green) produced a trance remix to Cara Dillon's version. | |
| The Corrs | Home | Pop folk | 2005 | |
| Espers | The Weed Tree | Psychedelic folk | 2005 | |
| The Czars | Sorry I Made You Cry | Rock | 2006 | Male-addressed version by American rock band |
| The Twilight Singers | She Loves You | Rock | 2007 | Female-addressed version |
| Karan Casey | Ships in the Forest | Folk | 2008 | Acoustic piano version by Karan Casey, an Irish folk singer |
| The King's Singers | Simple Gifts | Classical/Folk | 2008 | A capella |
| Kokia | Celtic | 2008 | Female-addressed version by Japanese songstress. | |
| Natacha Atlas | Ana Hina | Arabesque/World | 2008 | Male-addressed version with the Mazeeka Ensemble[17] |
| Angelo Kelly | Lost Sons Up Close | Pop rock | 2008 | Appears as the last track in Lost Sons and was also recorded live for Up Close |
| Rea Garvey | Often covers it on tours and performed it on The Voice | |||
| Julie Murphy | Black Mountains Revisited | Folk/Singer-songwriter | 2009 | |
| Nyle Wolfe | Home Ground | Folk/Classical | 2009 | |
| Wye Oak | Splice Today Presents: The Old Lonesome Sound | Folk | 2009 | An original compilation album |
| Phil Coulter | Timeless Tranquility: 20 Year Celebration | Folk Celtic Classical | 2008 | |
| Marc Gunn | Irish Drinking Songs: A Cat Lover's Companion | Folk | 2007 | Album was a followup of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers which included the track "Black Is the Color (of My Cat's Fur)" based on this song. |
| Angel Olsen | Lady of the Waterpark | Indie Folk | 2010[18] | Limited cassette-only release |
| Lisa Lambe | Folk Celtic | 2011 | Female-addressed version | |
| Katherine Jenkins | Daydream | Classical-popular crossover | 2011 | Male-addressed version |
| Celtic Thunder | Heritage | Folk Celtic | 2011 | |
| Mark Stewart & Richard H. Kirk | The Politics of Envy | Rock, dub | 2012 | Bonus track on the iTunes version of the album |
| Siobhan Owen | Storybook Journey | Folk Celtic Classical-popular crossover | 2012 | Male-addressed version, vocal and harp |
| Arborea | Red Planet | Psych-Folk | 2011 | |
| Anne Janelle | So Long at The Fair | 2013 | ||
| Brian McFadden | The Irish Connection | Soft rock | 2013 | featuring Sinéad O'Connor |
| Méav Ní Mhaolchatha | The Calling | Folk | 2013 | Male-addressed version |
| Shearwater | N/A | Indie rock | 2014 | Male-addressed version, later verses are rewritten. |
| Body/Head | Coming Apart | Noise Rock | 2013 | Re-titled Black |
| Gregory Porter | Autour de Nina | Jazz | 2014 | Female-addressed version |
| Peter Hollens & Avi Kaplan | Peter Hollens | Folk | 2014 | Female-addressed version |
| The Bombadils | Grassy Roads, Wandering Feet | Folk | 2015 | |
| Coppelius | Hertzmaschine | metal | 2015 | |
| Rhiannon Giddens | Tomorrow Is My Turn | Americana | 2015 | |
| Damien Leith | Songs from Ireland | 2015 | ||
| Lauryn Hill | Nina Revisited... - A Tribute to Nina Simone | 2015 | ||
| Youn Sun Nah | She Moves On | 2017 | ||
| Bill Frisell and Mary Halvorson | The Maid with the Flaxen Hair | Avant-garde / Classical guitar | 2018 | Arranged for two guitars and performed by Frisell and Halvorson. |
| Nicole Cabell and Alyson Cambridge | Sisters in Song | Classical | 2018 | Arranged for two voices and orchestra by Joe Clark |
| Luka Bloom | Luka Bloom Live at De Roma | Folk | 2020 | Recorded live at De Roma, Antwerp, 16 November 2019 and included on "Luka Bloom - Live at De Roma" (2020) |
| Susu Laroche | Venus Rising From The Sea | Sufi gospel | 2024 |
"Black Is the Color" is featured in The Twilight Zone season 3 episode entitled "The Passersby", which aired on October 6, 1961.
"Black Is The Color" is featured in the 1962 pilot for the western TV series Gallaway House, starring Johnny Cash, Merle Travis, Karen Downs and Eddie Dean.
"Black is the Color" is featured in The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. A sailor sings it to Heather as she and her new husband, Brandon Birmingham, pass by on the way to an inn before leaving London.
The "Lover's Lament" / "Love's Jewels" lyrics sung in Anne Bishop's Tir Alainn book series are loosely based on this song.
A cover of the song by Jim Moray featured on the Class season 1 finale "The Lost", appearing in both the post credit opening and closing fight sequence.
A cover of the song by Cara Dillon featured on Derry Girls (2018 TV series) season 3, episode 4 ‘The Haunting’ ending sequence.
. . David Kent (historian) . 0-6464-4439-5 . 2005 . Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd . . Note: Chart positions back-calculated by Kent in 2005.