Shady Grove

"Shady Grove" is a traditional Appalachian song (Roud 4456), thought to originate in eastern Kentucky around 1900, with its melody first published under this title in the Journal of American Folklore in 1915. The tune is Dorian and is also used for "Matty Groves". Wikipedia says it is about a young man's true love and his hope that they will wed, and says Watson helped popularize it, presumably learning it from Jean Ritchie, who learned it from her father; that is inference, not Watson's own account.

Our upload is titled "Doc Watson - Shady Grove (Official Audio)", posted by his official channel on November 11, 2021 to promote the Life's Work box set, 161 seconds long. It is the track on disc three of that set, 2:40. This is a 1970s solo-banjo performance; the source album is inferred. MusicBrainz lists versions on Doc Watson in Nashville: Good Deal! (Vanguard, 1968, 2:59), Memories (United Artists, June 6, 1975, 2:43, with Doc on banjo, Merle Watson on Appalachian dulcimer and Joe Allen on bass) and Songs From Home (Capitol Nashville, 2002, 2:41); the set's track order matches Memories, which is the probable origin. Live versions include Doc and Dawg at Watsonville in 1998.

Others who have recorded it include Jean Ritchie, the Kingston Trio, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Bill Monroe, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Ricky Skaggs, the Chieftains and Camper Van Beethoven, and the Dillards played it on The Andy Griffith Show. A version in the Clarence Ashley circle, with T.C. Ashley on vocal and banjo, is on Folkways. We found no chart history or video.