Matty Groves - The Strangelings

[HumbertoPoubel]

aaaaaaaaaaiiiiii... chegou adoer na minha alma este som... chorei e tudo ... muito bom... viva viva....

[THEkendarkness]

Cool, but slightly weird with an American accent - to my ears :)

[SmartAssWelshman]

check out the Mckrells doing this

[bealmor1963]

A very similar tune, even sharing some lyrics with Little Musgrave.

[pipier100]

Look - better: listen - what the gospel can bring you to ;). Very nice version. Many thanks.

[hildchen11]

they are great on it

[boothl232]

There is a house in New Orleans they call the rising sun....

And now you know where the tune for House Of The Rising Sun came from,

Matty Groves

[hildchen11]

they are singing lord arnold. and i love them

[paritoshpant]

some also sing Lord Arlen... what's the traditional rendering?

[19stjohn67]

nice but just not right with an american accent.

[MITCHWILD]

I'm back for another look, still great!

[hildchen11]

i love it. i watch it sometimes. i used to play it on the guitar also. very greatly done.

[raysteer]

That's a great take on it, full of energy, the song lives on!

[MiMaKBaSS]

The little blonde wins it for me.

She is the main one to portray any stage presence and has a sense of dynamics - volume wise.

[IAmTheWoodenDoors]

Fairly good actually.

[MITCHWILD]

Apparently it's an electric Sitar! well i never.

[jenerikuser]

Blondie is a bit of a stage-hog, huh? Practically pushing people out of her way!

[MITCHWILD]

Ha....she's short so she has too, arent they all the same.

I'll bet she decides what music they will be playing, and who does what and when.

actually, i have to be honest here, she's my favorite.

[MITCHWILD]

Where is Annie?

[MITCHWILD]

One question, who's on the drum?

[katkinsful]

Fantastic band. As a teenager, when I heard A Sailor's Life, I was astonished.Then I heard Matty Groves. Amazing.

Richard Thompson is our best ever guitar player. Move over Eric Clapton.

[MITCHWILD]

We are in total agreement, RT is the most talented guitarist this country has ever produced.

My favorite tune at the moment is Tam Lin, it may be a three chord trick, but it's not what you play, it's how you play it.

[MITCHWILD]

Are they singing "Lord Donald"? i think they are, It's" Arnold "actually, but whatever, this was really enjoyable, one i will watch again many times, well done all of you.

[zensho1]

Astonishing!

Well done. I am mesmerised. You have recaptured my amazment as a teenager when I first heard Fairport's incredible version of this song.

Fairport - get these wonderful people to Cropredy!!!

[pjingrey]

Love it seen fairport a few times and this has to be said is an equal at the least

[GremlinMayer]

my MOST favorite version of this song ever!!!

[Qwil010]

ha. i agree. as proud as i am to be american, it is kinda lame for us to pretend to have a "noble history, etc." i envy europe its rich history and lore. this is by far my favorite version of matty groves

[fracturedminds]

It's so cute to see the Americans giving it a go - you never know, in a few hundred years they may have a history to sing about!

[LTF6161]

Actually, the mountain and hill country of the American South remains largely the descendents of Celtic immigrants (and much of the rest of it remains Anglo-Saxon). American folk, bluegrass, country, all have authentic Celtic and English roots.

[MITCHWILD]

"Well said, my American Cousin".

[godzilaxs]

To be honest,I think I like more this version of "Matty Groves" then the Fairport Convention. You are great!

[ajdicks]

good version but c'mon, sandy denny sang it like she was IN the story . and richard thompson probably was the best at making electric guitars modern and traditional at the same time

[MITCHWILD]

Yeah.........possibly?

[Tsugaheterophylla]

Whew, that was awesome, lots of raw power. Folk music (whatever that is) as it should be. I love the twangling guitar sound; is that a Rickenbacker that the guy in the back is holding?

[MITCHWILD]

The guy at the back has a Danelectro Bass Guitar, the "twangling" is coming from an electric Mandolin Guitar, sound great.

[Syliviel]

Hell Hell Yes! That's an awesome sound!

[wesmatron]

Wow.

That's not only how folk should sound...but how it should be performed.

Great rendition of one of my favourites. Thanks!

[FLHTP07]

Sounds great looks poor.

[GEOHHADDAD]

The gangly gal in the blue dress needs a stage presence class as its unclear what (if anything) she contributes to this very fine group. The other two girls could get a lot more out of their harmonies if they worked at it. But all in all some really good (as in awesome) talent on display considering the setting likely medicore recording technology available.

[zensho1]

She contributes a wonderful and powerful voice. Listen to her contribution towards the end. Yes, she is shy. But she need not be. Her voice says it all.

All in all, well done. A brilliant version. Powerful, emotional.

[MITCHWILD]

Yes i agree, i wonder if she should have a Tambourine or something, she has two free hands.

No need to be shy, i really enjoy this and watch it often.

[amethystmyst]

On my music sheets by fairport its donald!

I LOVVVVVVE this song

[surreal12]

Oh, Think Fairport sing 'Arnold'(?) Whatever, this is a damm good song/version.

For some fun try downloading 'The Kipper Family' version of 'Fatty Groves' - enjoy.

PS: You can always tell a Folkie - but you can't tell 'em much! :)

[dododung]

hehehe Fairport have done both :D

Leige and Leif in 1960s was lord donald but the recent tour had it as lord arnold!

Either way aweosme song!

[NardolTheElf]

both lord Arnold (whom I was taught) and Mattie Groves have numerous aliases in so many versions of this song that it is not possible to tell which is really the first, the song had already been around a long long time before the earliest broadsides, and there were already several versions then, so who knows what is actually tradition, as for this, it is basically a gypsy sounding version of the Fairport Convention version of the song (though quite exquistite)

[thinklemonthink]

where is the outro???

[georgegreen45]

ok..... now I'm intrigued! The Outro? Could you be more specific? I'm assuming you mean some sort of "traditional" outro to the song.... but keep in mind... the Kennedys are anything(and everything) but traditional!

[NardolTheElf]

more likely the liege and lief outro, look up the FC version of this song, it's about eight minutes long

[jaevr]

@georgegreen45

Well, the (excellent !) Strangelings' version of Matty Groves is clearly influenced (directly or not) by Fairport Convention's recording of the song in 1969 with singer Sandy Denny (as is everyone else version, it seems). Fairport used to play a long up tempo instrumental as the second halve of the song to conclude the story.

I suppose the "Outro" is traditionnal in a way, but only since 1969 !

[beccawecca1987]

Great version of a great song.

[newboyandy]

I hate to disagree with ClimbAPineTree below, but the actual name that should be sung is 'Lord Darnell' as per the original, trad lyrics! Many names have been sung by many people on many versions, but I hope this clears up any confusion? Sorry, I know that nobody likes a smart arse! :)

[Celtjew]

FWIW, when I sing it (usually for myself or a few friends), I use Lord Banner... But the neat thing about trad is that you don't have to sing it the way anyone else does.

[ClimbAPineTree]

There are differnt versions of names. The lyrics I have say that its actually Lord Arlen. It varies. the first time i heard it in my brit lit class, i thought they were saying Lord Donald, but then we got the lyrics and it said Arlen. needless to say we were all wtf.

[thetopbird]

Are they singing 'Lord Donald'?

[georgegreen45]

Yes. They are singing, "Lord Donald!" Thanks for watching!

-G

[thetopbird]

Isn't it traditional to sing 'Lord Arnold'? The never-ending original and the Fairport Convention cut down version is 'Lord Arnold', unless I am deluded. Who is this 'Lord Donald' interloper?!?!?

[georgegreen45]

Hmmmm..... being the Yank that I am..... this never occurred to me... a quick google search of "matty groves lyrics" brings up all sorts of variations of the name... and if you listen they all are near rhymes..

Thanks for bringing this up!

-G

[thetopbird]

He he, that's funny. Wiki has this to say "Lord Arlen, Lord Daniel, Arnold, Donald, and Barnard" and also says that Matty Groves is sometimes "Little Musgrave". That's what you get form songs which are learned by word of mouth, I guess.

There we go, we learn something new every day. I learned it as 'Lord Arnold' but, hells bells, why not change the name every time you sing it within one song?

[thetopbird]

Not sure I like the sound of 'Lord Barnard', he sounds far too smooth, even orse than 'Lord Donald' who sounds like a comedy noble!

Chin chin!

[jaevr]

@georgegreen45

@thetopbird

Sandy Denny (who recorded Matty Groves with Fairport Convention) sang "Lord Darnell".

Truly it doesn't matter as long as it works (IMO).

Lord Darnell himself ;-)

[DShiflet01]

@thetopbird Actually, Fairport Convention's version says "Lord Donald". I don't honestly know what the "traditional" version is, as a lot of names have been used in the song throughout the years.

[CassyandCraig]

We sing it as Lord Donald and have done for 15 years!! First heard it 20 years ago sung by Manticore...

thanks for posting this! We've so far found about 30 different versions of the song - it's one of our favourites!

[Inglorien]

I believe it's "lord Darnell"...

[ksbeditor]

I was at this historic performance. A memorable 'welcome to Falcon Ridge' on a hot Thursday afternoon!

[pmkennedy]

This is the very first time (first song even) that fiddler Eric Lee ever played with The Strangelings. He wowed the band enough to be immediately invited to play the rest of The Strangelings' performances at the Falcon Ridge Festival. He's now a full-fledged member of the band! Note that this is an acoustic performance...no microphones or sound system. The only electronics are a small amp that Pete used with his electric sitar, and Ken Anderson's small bass amp. Thanks for posting this video.

[MITCHWILD]

"Great" I'm a long standing fan of Fairport Convention, seen them live countless times from the early seventies, is it Arnold, Donald or whatever, it doesn't really mater, i think this lot are absolutely inspiring, any criticism is superfluous.

Six stars.