Did you know that Tom Petty was in a band before Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers made Gainesville famous? I mean, I assumed he had been in a number of bands while starting out, but I didn’t think any were of much consequence. I guess perhaps had it not been for Tom inviting the original members of Mudcrutch up to his place for some reminiscing and recording he wouldn’t have been…but he did, and it was.

Now, I’m not gonna try and paint myself as some Petty maniac. I like 6 or 7 songs off each album but never go to see him when he comes through town, so when Mudcrutch’s debut album was released in late April it was on my list of shit to get around to getting. Well I finally did, and just like Tom’s other material, I neither love or hate any of it, and had it not been for the opening track “Shady Grove”, I wouldn’t even have mentioned the album on here.

I have heard a number of different people doing their take on “Shady Grove”, so I decided to do a little research on the song (ala “Black Betty” and “Moonshiner”) and tell y’all a little about it.

“Shady Grove” is the toned down and Americanized version of the English traditional folk ballad “Matty Groves”. The earliest published version of “Matty Groves” dates back to 1658, but it is believed the song was being printed on broadside possibly as early as 1607. The English version of the tune tells the story of nobleman’s wife seducing Matty Groves, a servant of the man of the house. After catching the lovers in bed, the nobleman kills Matty, and when the lady chooses Matty over the nobleman, even after his death, her husband stabs her in the heart. As with any traditional folk tune, some details vary, but those points exist in virtually every variation of the tune. There is even a variation where the lovers part after a tryst, unarmed and uncaught.

As the song crossed the Atlantic in the early pioneer days, it morphed somewhat into an Appalachian folktune depicting the American frontier life or a glorification of infidelity, depending upon the version. Over the years it has become a staple of Bluegrass players and there are as many verses as there are people who’ve played it, so below I’ve collected a handful of versions. I hope y’all enjoy them as much as I enjoyed researching this and collecting the tracks.

Jeannie Robertson – Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard

Gene and Francesa – Mattie Groves
Fairport Convention – Matty Groves
Joan Baez – Matty Groves
The Meltdowns – Matty Groves

Bill Monroe – Shady Grove
The Weary Boys – Shady Grove
Doc Watson – Shady Grove
Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Tony Rice – Shady Grove
Mudcrutch – Shade Grove
Crooked Still – Shady Grove
Kingston Trio – Shady Grove-Lonesome Traveler
Yonder Mountain String Band – Shady Grove
The Everly Brothers – Shady Grove
Bryan Sutton – Shady Grove
Mountain Ramblers – Shady Grove
Peter Rowan and Tony Rice – Shady Grove
Prarie Ramblers – Shady Grove
The Kentucky Colonels – Shady Grove
Quicksilver Messenger Service – Shady Grove