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Best "Ballad of" Song?
YellowSnow
Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 35,435 
Here you go @PurpleJ , pal
Best "Ballad of" Song? 16 votes
The Ballad of Jed Clempett - Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs
0%
The Ballad of John and Yoko - The Beatles
12%
2 votes
The Ballad of Curtis Lowe - Lynyrd Skynyrd
18%
3 votes
The Ballad of The Green Berets - Sgt. Barry Sadler
18%
3 votes
Ballad of a Thin Man - Bob Dylan
6%
1 vote
Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp - George Harrison
0%
The Ballad of El Gordo - Big Star
0%
The Ballad of Ira Hayes - Johnny Cash
0%
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - The Mellomen
18%
3 votes
F.O. Row Peter Puffer, you left off...
25%
4 votes
Comments
If I remember right, Frankie Crisp was the previous owner of Harrison's house.
Fighting men who jump and die
You can't top that
Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison wrote the song as a tribute to Frank Crisp, a nineteenth-century lawyer and the original owner of Friar Park – the Victorian Gothic residence in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, that Harrison purchased in early 1970. Commentators have likened the song to a cinematic journey through the grand house and the grounds of the estate.
Pete Drake, Billy Preston, Gary Wright, Klaus Voormann and Alan White played on the recording. It was co-produced by Phil Spector, whose heavy use of reverb adds to the ethereal quality of the song. AllMusic critic Scott Janovitz describes "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" as offering "a glimpse of the true George Harrison – at once mystical, humorous, solitary, playful, and serious".[1]
Crisp's eccentric homilies, which the former Beatle discovered inscribed inside the house and around the property, inspired subsequent compositions of Harrison's, including "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" and "The Answer's at the End". Together with the Friar Park-shot album cover for All Things Must Pass, "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp" established an association between Harrison and his Henley estate that has continued since his death in November 2001. The song gained further notability in 2009 when it provided the title for Harrison's posthumous compilation Let It Roll. My Morning Jacket lead singer Jim James and Dhani Harrison are among the singers who have recorded the song.
An ode not a ballad officially but cool
Looks like the house is just up the road a bit from the finish line at Henley on Thames, where a young @YellowSnow went with the UW row boat team back in the day.
There was no Google in them days, so you had to be like @puppylove_sugarsteel to find these sorts of landmarks.
Davy Crockett and Ballad of the Green Berets are 1a and 1b for me.
"Fought single handed through in the Injun war, till the @Swaye s were whipped and peace was in store" Make Disney Great Again!
Cmon man. This was easy, even with a solid Beatles number included.
I never thought of it myself, but someone pointed out that all or at least most lines in this song are referring to homo shenanigans...the sword swallower, for instance. That's what's happening and apparently I'm no better than Mr Jones since I didn't get it.
I thought of you @chuck with this one since I assume Highway 61 is on your Mt Rushmore of LPs.
Lots of good ones on this this list.
Ballad of Green Berets seems like a special moment in US History when such a song could top the charts. Imagine this happening post Tet @RaceBannon ? 1966 America was still pretty united by fear of the Ruskies an only beatnick hipsters were against 'Nam.
@JoeEDangerously Ballad of Curtis Lowe is a Top 4 Skynyrd cut for me.
Ballad of John and Yoko basically brought saying "Christ" into my Yella vernacular at age 11 and nothing's changes with me since.
Loew*
Obligatory
Christ you know it ain’t easy.
My initiation to Alice, at age 13…
Dylan
Thought for sure @PurpleJ would go for this