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Down in the Willow Garden

Sing Out! Posted on by

American (mostly) Branches


The first recording of the song was by G.B. Grayson (see our earlier discussion of “Omie Wise”) and Henry Whitter in 1928.  (Not available on Spotify.)

Wade Mainer

The next recording was by Wade Mainer and Zeke Morris.


“Down in the Willow,” by Wade Mainer and Zeke Morris (Spotify)


The biggest force behind the song’s prominence was probably Charlie Monroe’s 1947 recording.  Charlie Monroe was the older brother of Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass.  Although the Monroe brothers come from the mountains of eastern Kentucky, it’s worth noting that both worked in the oil refineries of Hammond, Indiana, near Chicago, in the Depression.  While there, they refined their sound in playing local gigs at smaller and private venues.

Bill and Charlie Monroe

Here’s a live performance of the song by Charlie Monroe.  Note the enthusiastic audience reception.


“Down in the Willow Garden” — live version, by Charlie Monroe (Spotify)

Unsurprisingly, the ballad grew into a bluegrass standard.  Red Allen and the Osborne Brothers provide a signature bluegrass version, with a driving beat.


“Down in the Willow Garden,” by Henry “Red” Allen and the Osborne Brothers (Spotify)


D.K. Wilgus’s article, “Rose Connoley: An Irish Ballad,” in the Journal of American Folklore argues a good case for this ballad’s distinctive origin in Ireland, and that it’s re-origination in southern Appalachia, writing, “It is as if an Irish local song never popularized on broadsides was spread by a single Irish peddler on his travels through Appalachia.”  My favorite contemporary recording, which I’ll include in the next post, is Tim O’Brien’s version.  O’Brien grew up in West Virginia, and has done several projects tied to the connection between Irish and American musical traditions.  It’s unsurprising that this song found its way into his repertoire.  Wilgus’s article is the source of much of the useful information in the Wikipedia entry on the song.


A similar arrangement, acknowledging the Transatlantic elements of the song can be found in Dan Tyminski’s performance.



Unsurprisingly, I suppose, the Chieftains have also done a recent arrangement with Bon Iver, in their unstoppable quest to apply uilleann pipes to every piece of American traditional music they can find.





The song has also been performed by a variety of others over the years outside of the bluegrass context, including recordings by the Everly Brothers and Art Garfunkel.  We’ll get to a few more contemporary versions later.

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Comments

Down in the Willow Garden — 2 Comments

  1. It was this song and Frankie and Johnny that initiated me into this world of murder ballads, on David Grisman’s _Home Is Where the Heart Is_ way back when we were first getting to know each other in college Ken.

    This song struck me quite differently than “Frankie and Johnny.” Somehow F&J just sounded bawdy and violent in a way that didn’t surprise me. I think I knew music like that existed. “Down in the Willow Garden” though, now that was something new for me. At first I thought it was limited to bluegrass! I still think of it in an entirely different way, though I met both songs on the same album.

    Much more to say about this as they days move along… Awesome introduction! I love the willows.

    • I still vaguely remember skipping back on my old cd player, after hearing (what I thought must be incorrectly) “I drew my sabre through her…” I didn’t know what to do with it. I was not yet comfortable with my own way of thinking, and it seemed like somehow this had to be wrong.

      I remember one of my more doctrinaire friends simply writing it off as misogyny. Somehow I knew it wasn’t, though I wasn’t at all prepared to figure out just what it WAS! The lyrics spoke to the immorality of the act, and the confession was that of a young fool who’d followed his father’s bad advice. It all felt (feels) so real.

      I learned to play the song, to close my eyes and see the story unfold. I just went upstairs and played it again (first time in a year or two.) It’s like popping in a DVD. It’s all still right there when I close my eyes and sing. I could never have articulated this way back when, but there is something about this song that stirs compassion deeply, not just for the victim but the killer/singer too.

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