Band – The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

Gonna see Miss Brer Foxhole
Bright diamonds at her teeth
She is pure gold down underneath

I’ve talked about it before…a title can draw a person in a song. This one begs to be listened to. Sometimes they don’t live up to the title but this one does. Although Robbie Robertson wrote this, Levon Helm’s vocals brought this piece of Americana to life. He owns this song. He grew up near Helena, Arkansas, and heard stories of traveling Medicine Shows coming in and out of town. When he was a kid he got to see some of these shows. Robertson later translated that into this song.

Helena, Arkansas was the home of the King Biscuit Time radio show. It debuted in 1941. Performers such as  Sonny Boy Williamson II would be on the show. The show was the thing that really crystallized blues music in that area. It is said that Muddy Waters and B.B. King would come home from working in the fields every day just to listen to the King Biscuit hour.

This song was on their 3rd album Stage Fright. By this time, Robertson was having trouble writing songs. The brotherhood they all shared was getting complicated because of outside influences. Robertson also had a baby daughter and pregnant wife at home. The songs were great though.

Stage Fright peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #6 in Canada, and #15 in the UK in 1970. The album has some of my favorite songs by the Band on it. The Shape I’m In, Stage Fright, and this one.

Robbie Robertson: I wrote about a traveling medicine show I had heard Levon speak of years earlier, something between a carnival sideshow and the African American origins of rock and roll. We recorded “The W. S. Walcott Medicine Show” and another take of “Daniel and the Sacred Harp” with Todd at a studio in the city, and these turned out to be a couple of our favorite tracks. That put the finishing touches on what we could pull out of the hat for this record. I was worn out from this process and trying to maintain a stable family life with my baby daughter and pregnant wife.

The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

When your arms are empty, got nowhere to go
Come on out and catch the show
There’ll be saints and sinners
You’ll see losers and winners

All kinds of people you might want to know
Once you get it, you can’t forget it
W.S. Walcott medicine show

You know he always holds it in a tent
And if you’re looking for the real thing
He can show you where it went

There’s a young faith healer, he’s a woman stealer
He will cure by his command
When the music’s hot then you might have to stand

To hear the Klondike Klu Klux Steamboat Band
Don’t you sweat it, you can’t forget it
W.S. Walcott medicine show

I’d rather die happy than not die at all
For a man is a fool who will not heed the call

Gonna see Miss Brer Foxhole
Bright diamonds at her teeth
She is pure gold down underneath

She’s a rock and roll singer and a true dead ringer
For something like you ain’t never seen
Once you get it, you can’t forget it
W.S. Walcott medicine show
W.S. Walcott medicine show
W.S. Walcott medicine show

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

34 thoughts on “Band – The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show”

  6. Without a doubt some of my favorite music. I stay away from the group shit that went on. All I know from listening to them the songs and music came from 5 members.
    (Just dropped a comment on Christians site that was a response to you)

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    1. I know…it gets old reading about it…that is why I kept it short. I was interested in the King Bisquit Time radio show…I listened to some of it on youtube…great blues players.
      This song puts you there with those old traveling shows.

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      1. We’ll swap our uncensored opinions over a lunch one day.
        We have talked about this before. The Band learned their chops the old way, playing gigs night after night in some of the toughest joints in the US nd Canada. Those northern Ontario and Quebec towns weren’t for the faint of heart

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      2. Will do CB!
        I can imagine Ronnie Hawkins kept them on their toes. When they got to Dylan…they were seasoned and ready.

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      2. I liked it also…Life Is A Carnival, When I Paint My Masterpiece, and The River Hymn….are among the ones I really like off of that album. I also liked Moondog Matinee…they did put their own spin on those songs. Not my favorite by them but I liked it.

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  9. Stage Fright is good, but it’s a big step down after two classics – it feels like the fighting over songwriting credits and the drugs were hurting them. This is a good track though – feels like the arrangements aren’t as ambutious.

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  10. Max, I listened to disc 1 of the To Kingdom Come compilation album on Friday and this one is on it, along with a multitude of other excellent tunes. Levon was the voice of The Band, with Danko’s voice as the backup voice of The Band. The fact that they had 3 such excellent vocalists was like striking gold. Another one I always love to hear is “Chest Fever” with Garth’s creative intros.

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    1. Three great singers and one OK one…sounds like another band we know.
      Not only that but most of them could switch instruments at the blink of an eye… an embarrassment of riches.

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      1. “embarrassment of riches” is an excellent way of putting it.

        I was reading some from Bono’s book this morning, including his first impressions of the time they played in NYC in Dec 80, just a few weeks before Lennon was murdered. When they came back for the 60-city tour he gave impressions of a lot of places in the US, including Nashville! When I do a review I’ll include some of my (many) favorite quotes from the book.

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  12. Was King biscuit changed to the King Biscuit Flower Hour Max? I have a couple of live CD’s. I’m figuring you have been on a huge Band kick this week…

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