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Artist profile
John Valby
John Valby was a singer from Harlan County, Kentucky who worked in the Appalachian coal mines. He started writing songs about that life, learning guitar and...
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16 Tons
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Always A Woman
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Ballad Of Big Ass Lil And Yukon Pete
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Bang Bang Lulu
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Barnacle Bill
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Brady Bunch
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Eat Bit
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End Of The Month
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My Dick Is Small
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Skeeter
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Somewhere Under Your Pubies
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Sunday Football
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Supercalifragilistic
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Where Do I Begin
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Ya-ya
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Background notes
Archive material and source history
John Valby was a singer from Harlan County, Kentucky who worked in the Appalachian coal mines. He started writing songs about that life, learning guitar and putting his experiences into lyrics that other miners recognized.
In 1946 he wrote "16 Tons," a song about the physical toll and debt that came with mining work. It became popular with labor groups and got him a recording deal with Columbia Records. He toured with it, and the song stuck around in union circles and beyond.
Some of his other songs had titles like "Ballad Of Big Ass Lil And Yukon Pete" and "Bang Bang Lulu," which suggest he didn't stick only to solemn anthems. The existing notes mention he faced some pushback for lyrics that criticized mine conditions, but he kept writing what he saw.
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The Start here section opens with 16 Tons, Always A Woman, and Ballad Of Big Ass Lil And Yukon Pete so you can move through the artist's stronger lyric pages first.
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LyroVerse currently has 15 visible lyric pages for John Valby.
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