TOTW (OT) 06/17/2016 – Pretty Little Widow
I’ve chosen Pretty Little Widow for this installment of TOTW. North Georgia fiddler Clayton McMichen (1900 – 1970) learned the tune from his father around 1913. McMichen joined the popular Skillet Lickers band in 1925 and recorded Pretty Little Widow with that group on October 23, 1928.
Skillet Lickers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW4pUm1jwTw
A biography of McMichen is here: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/clayton-mcmichen-1900-1970
John Ashby (1915 – 1979) of Fauquier County, Virginia, recorded the tune for Ray Alden. He credited McMichen as his source: https://fieldrecorder.bandcamp.com/track/pretty-little-widow
A remembrance of Ashby is here: http://fieldrecorder.org/ashby-family-history/
Sammy Walker (1910 – 1987) of Barren County, Kentucky recorded this version for Bruce Green in 1975:
http://dla.acaweb.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/berea/id/1825/rec/2
Larry Sigmon & Martha Spencer recorded this banjo and bass duet in 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm4rvBazWDE
A short history and discography of the tune is on the Bluegrass Messengers site here:
http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/pretty-little-widow--version-1-skillet-lickers.aspx
Readers are encouraged to post comments, performances and tabs.
BTW, I will be offline for at least the next week and perhaps more, depending on how well things go. I will check in if the opportunity presents itself but you, dear readers, will likely hear little from me during that time. I thank you in advance for your contributions. They are greatly appreciated.