Shady Grove

DESCRIPTION: The singer talks about courting (in) Shady Grove. There is no particular plot. A typical chorus runs, "Shady Grove my little love, Shady Grove I say, Shady Grove my little love, I'm bound to go away." Shady Grove may be a place or a girl's name
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1893 (JAFL6)
KEYWORDS: courting love nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,SW)
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Sharp/Karpeles-EightyEnglishFolkSongs 57, "Betty Anne" (1 text, 1 tune -- an odd version which seems to have some foreign elements mixed in, and with the tune moved from minor to Mixolydian)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 120, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 485, "Shady Grove" (2 texts, neither much like the standard version of this song, but even less like anything else); also 97, "Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe" (3 texts plus mention of 2 more, but "B" is probably "Shady Grove"; "A" is an incredible mix with verses typical of "Raccoon," "If I Had a Scolding Wife," a "Liza Jane" song, a mule song, and "Shady Grove"); also 111, "Wish I Had a Needle and Thread" (7 text, of which only "E" is really substantial; it is certainly the "Italy" version of "Going Across the Sea." The other fragments contain verses typical of "Shady Grove," "Old Joe Clark," and others); also 286, "Fly Around, My Blue-Eyed Girl" (4 texts; "A"-"C" are "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss," but the "D" text is mostly "Shady Grove")
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 485, "Shady Grove" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Ritchie-SingingFamilyOfTheCumberlands, pp. 46-47, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernAppalachians, p. 37, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol2, pp. 5-6, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 358, "Now I Am a Big Boy" (2 texts, both fragments; the "A" text is associated with this ballad, though -- as only a single verse -- it could go anywhere)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 88, "Betty Anne" (1 text, 1 tune, with lyrics from "Shady Grove," "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss" and "Going Across the Sea")
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol1, p. 10, "Shady Grove" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Gainer-FolkSongsFromTheWestVirginiaHills, p. 175, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, pp. 138-139, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood-NewLostCityRamblersSongbook, p. 195, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 152, "Shady Grove" (1 text)
SongsOfAllTime, p. 69, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BETTYANN* SHADYGRV*
Roud #4456
RECORDINGS:
Garrett & Norah Arwood, "Shady Grove" (on OldTrad2, FarMtns3)
Clarence Ashley & New River Jack Burchett, "Shady Grove" (on Ashley03, WatsonAshley01)
Rufus Crisp, "Shady Grove" (on Crisp01)
Goldie Hamilton, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 2787 A2)
Kentucky Thorobreds, "Shady Grove" (Paramount 3080, 1928; Broadway 8184 [as Old Smokey Twins], n.d.; rec. 1927)
J. M. Mullins, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 1566 A)
Dellie Norton, "Little Betty Ann" (on FarMtns4)
J. W. Russell, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 3162 B1)
Kilby Snow, "Shady Grove" (on KSnow1)
Pete Steele, "Shady Grove" (on PSteele01)
The Virginia Dandies [alternate name for Walter "Kid" Smith & The Carolina Buddies], "Shady Grove" (Crown, unissued, 1931)
Vernie Westfall, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 4118 B1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Going Across the Sea" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Kansas Cyclone" (tune)
cf. "Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind" (floating phrase)
cf. "Pig at Home in the Pen" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Mary from Dungloe" (floating verse)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Little Betty Ann
File: SKE57

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography