Today we join songwriter James Keelaghan as we take a deep dive into one of the best folk songs ever written, a story song that has been covered countless times. The song is “Cold Missouri Waters,” first released in 1995. The song is a harrowing portrait of the Mann Gulch Fire in the mountains of Montana, which occurred on August 5, 1949, 75 years ago today. We are proud to have James as our guest in this two-part interview, the first part of which we release today.
You may have heard the song as covered by the supergroup “Cry Cry Cry,” made up of Richard Shindell, who sang lead on this track, as well as Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky. (Here is a link to their cover of the song.)
In part one of this interview, James, who lives in Canada, talks about how he came upon the story of the fire. He discusses the method he used to build the song. And he talks about why he chose the unlikely name “Cold Missouri Waters” for a song about a fire in the mountains. We end the episode with the song in its entirety.
Some other notable covers include Paul McKenna, Pauline Scanlon, and this version by Cruz Contreras played alongides a river in Montana.
James writes contemporary folk songs that offer an insight into the hardships, attitudes, and resolve of characters and events that shape our day-to-day lives. As he notes in his bio, “You can dress these songs up in inspired arrangements and intricate instrumentation but, at their very essence, the archetypal folk song is all about stories. Stories and people. Something such compelling songwriters as Eric Bogle, Si Kahn, Ewan MacColl, and Stan Rogers … all understood and mined so effectively.” Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh simply described Keelaghan as “Canada’s finest songwriter.”