> On the CD "Murderous Home"
> there is an explicitly violent rendition of Stagger Lee and a song called Early in
> the Morning that is equally violent and yet there was no content label on this
> album by black performers. Alvin Youngblood Harts "Territory" certainly has
> equally violent lyrics to "American Recording". Countrycide and Sally, Queen
> of the Pines both come to mind, but the album received no explicit content
> label.
I think there are a number of reasons why those albums would have been less likely to be labeled in any case: they were independently distributed; they were released in the late 90s when the labelling furore had died down considerably; and most importantly the market for them would be a niche market that would not include very many young, "impressionable" listeners. And I probably should have specified that it is mainly rap (and other urban) albums that I think would have trouble with these lyrics, rather than just saying "black" albums, but I plead laziness in simply repeating a distinction that was made in the email I initially responded to.
I just can't agree with the idea that Cash (and other country/blues singers) get away with it because their tales of murder are accompanied by expressions of regret. The would-be censors don't listen for things like that. In fact, sometimes they don't listen at all - an instrumental Frank Zappa album once received an "Explicit Lyrics" sticker. The Cure were given a label for the song "Killing An Arab" despite the fact that the lyrics were simply Camus's "The Stranger" in rhyme. Those who are looking for offensive content can usually find it if they want to - and I sincerely believe that they would have found it had "Delia's Gone" been recorded by one of the hip-hop bands it shared a record company with. I can't prove this, of course.