Down the Road BRMT | Ep. 33: Frank Proffitt Sang the Murder Ballad "Tom Dooley"

In 1938, Frank Proffitt of Beech Mountain recorded the song “Tom Dooley.” The murder ballad tells the true-life tale of a Civil War love triangle that ended in the death of a young Wilkes County, N.C., woman named Laura Foster, and the hanging of Tom Dula for her murder. Twenty years later, the Kingston Trio recorded their own version, helping launch the Folk Revival of the 1960s. The album sold more than 3 million copies. Soon people all across the country were singing this song from the North Carolina hills.