Shady Grove (song)

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Shady Grove is an 18th century folk song popular in the United States. As it is usually played, the melody uses a Dorian pentatonic scale. Many verses exist, most of them describing the speaker's love for a woman called Shady Grove. There are also various choruses, which refer to the speaker traveling somewhere (to Harlan, to a place called Shady Grove, or simply "away"). The melody is strikingly similar to that of an old English ballad, "Mattie Groves," linked to externally below.

[edit] Recordings

There are numerous artists who have recorded this song, notably:

• Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice and David Grisman on the Pizza Tapes
• Garcia and Grisman also recorded it on their album, Shady Grove
• Doc Watson
• Blood Oranges
• Quicksilver Messenger Service on the album of the same name
• Bill Monroe
• Jean Ritchie
• The Kingston Trio performed on their live album "...from the hungrey i"
• Richard Fariña
• Patty Loveless
• Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
• Kerosene Brothers, also better known as Hayseed Dixie

[edit] External Links

Mattie Groves, an old English ballad with a very similar melody.