Lonesome River Band is back with a new single, another of their hybrid bluegrass/oldtime music numbers, with an added element of Tele-grass from guest guitarist Rod Riley.
Pretty Little Widow comes from the catalog of Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers, who first released the song in 1928 on Columbia Records. Tanner played it as a comic bit, pronouncing “widow” as “widder,” in order to rhyme it with “I’ll go get her” (more like “gitter”).
LRB banjoist and bandleader Sammy Shelor recognizes the song’s origins, but says that it isn’t where they picked it up.
“Jesse Smathers brought this song to our attention from a video of Stringbean on The Porter Wagoner Show from the 1960s. We all love Stringbean’s music, and it was a song I had not heard before. He was backed by Porter’s country band and the electric guitar had a great part in the song.
So it was an obvious choice of tunes for this project; Rod Riley on the Tele captures the vintage sound of that era of country music.”
Sammy and the band have sped this one up quite a bit from The Skillet Lickers’ version, but right in there with how String did it on TV in ’67. With Shelor on banjo, Smathers on guitar, and Riley on tele, the ensemble is completed by Adam Miller on mandolin, Mike Hartgrove on fiddle, and Kameron Keller on bass.
Hang on tight and have a listen.
Pretty Little Widow is available now from Mountain Home Music at popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers are invited to contact the label for an airplay copy.
