<P> The verses mentioning `` Birmingham Jail '' refer to the Birmingham City Jail which was known in the mid-1920s . According to one biographer of Lead Belly he performed it for Texas Governor Pat Neff at the Sugarland Penitentiary in 1924 . Guitarist Jimmie Tarlton claimed to have written the lyrics in 1925 while he was jailed in Birmingham for moonshining . It was first recorded by Tarlton and his partner Tom Darby on November 10 , 1927 in Atlanta , Georgia for Columbia Records . </P>
<P> The verses mentioning `` Birmingham Jail '' refer to the Birmingham City Jail which was known in the mid-1920s . According to one biographer of Lead Belly he performed it for Texas Governor Pat Neff at the Sugarland Penitentiary in 1924 . Guitarist Jimmie Tarlton claimed to have written the lyrics in 1925 while he was jailed in Birmingham for moonshining . It was first recorded by Tarlton and his partner Tom Darby on November 10 , 1927 in Atlanta , Georgia for Columbia Records . </P>
who wrote the song down in the valley
who wrote the song down in the valley
Jimmie Tarlton
Jimmie Tarlton