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Subject of Dylan protest song dead at 69
by Scott Gilbreath ~ January 9th, 2009
Bob Dylan’s third album, The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964), includes “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”, a dramatic and carefully crafted song about a privileged young man named William Zantzinger who negligently killed Hattie Carroll, a black kitchen maid. The song was based on a true story and Dylan used the real names of those involved.
A local Maryland newspaper reports that William Zantzinger has died at age 69. The cause of death is not given.
In 1963, a 24-year-old Zantzinger was attending a Baltimore hotel when he struck Hattie Carroll — a 51-year-old black barmaid — in the head and shoulders with a toy cane. Details of the attack vary, but most claim he was enraged she wasn’t serving him quickly enough. A distraught Carroll, who suffered from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, returned to the kitchen where she complained to a co-worker about Zantzinger — and quickly collapsed and died. An autopsy stated she died of a brain hemorrhage and there was no mark on her head from the cane. Zantzinger was eventually charged with involuntary manslaughter due to the “tremendous emotional upsurge” caused by his attack. He paid a $25,000 fine and served a six-month prison sentence.
The song dogged Mr Zantzinger all his life. In 2001, he complained that Dylan’s song was “a total lie” and Dylan himself was “a scum bag of the earth”. If the song were to be released today, he’d probably sue.
This clip shows Dylan singing “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” on CBC television, 1 February 1964.
The song’s lyrics are posted here.
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January 10th, 2009 at 06:50 PM
Although he was something of a hero in my innocent – if dissolute – youth, and is still someone I occasionally listen to now in my dotage, this is not one of his best songs imho.
January 11th, 2009 at 07:52 AM
I’d agree that this is not one of his best songs. When it first came out, though, I remember it being very powerful and moving.