Wildwood Flower - Does anyone actually sing it?

[Robin, Wales]

I am working up Wildwood Flower to add to my set. And it has me thinking.... I bet it is one of the most widely known but least sung songs here on AGF.

First off, it is written from the perspective of a wronged woman. I have actually re-written the Carter version so it is from the perspective of the man looking back with guilt for abandoning his lover.

Then there's the vocal range. It's not an easy sing!

And there's the melody itself. It starts on the 3rd and the intervals are a little unusual. I have always thought that Maybelle struggled a bit with it, but it is just the nature of the melody.

And there's no chorus. Sing this song and you are on your own! It's not a campfire sing along. So, it is only going to work for me if I can pull it off as a solo ballad.

The guitar part is pretty easy and appears in a lot of beginner bluegrass tutorials etc. So lots of folks know the tune. But to actually perform it as a song in a set, well, I bet that doesn't happen often.

[Rudy4]

I've never heard anyone sing it, other than the Carter version.

Wikipedia has a pretty good synopsis of the evolution of Wildwood Flower over it's known history.

[Mandobart]

We've been playing it for a good 15 years in our local bluegrass and Old Time clubs. Strictly instrumental also.

[columbia]

Yeah, I do it a lot, usually in D (C is okay too but I try to accommodate fiddlers if there are any).

The Carter Family did in in B-flat once



and in E another time



I assume Maybelle was playing out of C formations both times, just downtuning for the Bb version and capoing for the E.

I'm a guy but I sing the original lyrics. There are a lot of songs like that (e.g., Mac Wiseman singing "I'll be all smiles tonight"), where a man will sing from a woman's perspective. If you want to hear a convoluted flipped-gender rewrite, check out Johnny Cash's version of "I'll be all smiles":

[Robin, Wales]

^^^^^
Good to hear someone else is singing it. I play it in D from a C chord shape capo 2. In the films I have seen of Maybelle playing the song she is capo'd up very high on her Gibson archtop.

The gender aspect is only to help me. I haven't had to change much but it helps me to tell the story. As I perform by heart without lyric sheets, I can remember songs easier if I'm recounting a story. And if I have rewritten something then it also sticks better.


She would twine, and would mingle her raven black hair
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
And the myrtle so bright with it's emerald hue
The pale woodland petals of the hyssop so blue

She would dance, she would sing and her laugh would be gay
She could charm every heart, and my head she would sway
But she woke from her dreaming, her idol was clay
All portions of loving had all flown away

I taught her to love me and promised to love
And to cherish her over all others above
Now her poor heart is wondering no misery can tell
I left with no warning, no word of farewell

Well I told her I loved her and called her my flower
That was blooming to cheer me through life's dreary hour
Now she lives to see me, regret love turned sour
As I went and neglected my pale wildwood flower


I've noticed that the lyrics get recycled a lot in old folk songs. I'm just working up the Welsh folk song Ar Lan Y Mor for a concert next week and that opens talking about the red roses and white lillys.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

In the films I have seen of Maybelle playing the song she is capo'd up very high on her Gibson archtop.

Indeed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewnfWoSQz3o
Key of G there, using C shapes with capo on 7. Making a useful contrast with the other guitar (easy shapes in G), not just for her (presumably) preferred shapes..

[Railroad Bum]

I have heard a few women sing it over the years at bluegrass jams and picking around campgrounds at festivals. But I haven't heard any guys sing it.

[BlueStarfish]

Wildwood Flower is tricky in that, for a guitar player, it really does work best played out of C position. You can try it in other positions, and maybe make it sound good, but it won’t sound right, if you know what I mean.

But here’s the problem with that. If you play in key of C, the top melody note for the vocals is E4 for the menfolk (E5 for the women). That’s uncomfortably high for many people, unless they have a good tenor or soprano voice. And if you put a capo on to take it up to D or E, it gets even worse.

Mother Maybelle solved the problem by capo’ing all the way up to G or A. Sounded good for her voice. Plinky on the guitar.

For my voice, that song would sound best in B flat (so top melody note is D4, I can make that sound good). So on the guitar, capo 3 from G, which is doable but doesn’t sound as good as C position. Also the fiddle players don’t like B flat.

Anyways … you get the point … this is a song where it’s unusually tough for many singers to find keys that work well for both guitar and vocals. I suspect that’s part of why many guitar players just dump the vocals and play it as an instrumental. But hey, if you’ve got a tenor voice like Ricky Skaggs, this one will be no problem for you.

[Robin, Wales]

^^^^^ I think that you are right about how awkward it is to sing. I am a top tenor (in fact, I'm just home from choir practice via the pub!) So the key of D, or Eb (capo 3) is OK for me when singing Wildwood Flower.

[The Bard Rocks]

I have always sung it and never thought of it as particularly hard. I have to punch a bit to get the high e, but it's doable for me.

Sometimes I play it, instrumentally, in a bunch of successive keys. People often think that is neat.

[icuker]

My wife sings it in our group, with us playing our Ukuleles. Our bandmate and myself do the riff together like the Allman Bros band....