The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Caroll

     "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is a topical song written by Bob Dylan. Recorded on October 23, 1963, the song was released on Dylan's 1964 album THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'and gives a generally factual account of the killing of a 51-year-old African-American barmaid, Hattie Carroll (March 3, 1911 - February 9, 1963), by the 24-year-old William Devereux "Billy" Zantzinger (February 7, 1939 – January 3, 2009), a young man from a wealthy white tobacco farming family in Charles County, Maryland, and of his subsequent sentence to six months in a county jail, after being convicted of assault.
      The lyrics are a commentary on 1960s racism. When Carroll was killed in 1963, Charles County was still strictly segregated by race in public facilities such as restaurants, churches, theaters, doctor's offices, buses and the county fair. The schools of Charles County were not integrated until 1967.

Below: France, 1965, Société Internationale de Musique. French version by Hugues Aufray. French lyrics by Hugues Aufray and Pierre Delanoë. Released on AUFRAY CHANTE DYLAN (1965).