The Seldom Scene

The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland.

Early history

The band formed out of the weekly jam sessions in the basement of banjo player Ben Eldridge. These sessions included John Starling on guitar and lead vocals, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, and Tom Gray on bass. Then mandolinist John Duffey, who had previously played with the Country Gentlemen, was invited to the jam sessions at the time when Auldridge arranged for the group to play as a performing band.

Members' background

Each of the band members had a job during the week; Duffey repaired musical instruments, Eldridge was a mathematician, Starling a physician, Auldridge a graphic artist, and Gray a cartographer with National Geographic. They agreed to play one night a week at local clubs, perform occasionally at concerts and festivals on weekends, and make records. The band's first home scene was the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda, Maryland, where they spent six years before starting weekly performances at The Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, Virginia.

I Know You Rider

"I Know You Rider" (aka "Woman Blues" and "I Know My Rider") is a traditional blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists.

History of the song

Modern versions can be traced back to the song's appearance in the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, by the noted father-and-son pair of musicologists and folklorists, John Lomax and Alan Lomax. The book notes that "An eighteen-year old black girl, in prison for murder, sang the song and the first stanza of these blues." The Lomaxes then added a number of verses from other sources and named it "Woman Blue".

The music and melody are similar to Lucille Bogan's "B.D. Woman Blues" (ca. 1935), although the lyrics are completely different.

In the mid-1950s, traditional musician Bob Coltman found the song in the Lomax book, arranged it and began singing it frequently around Philadelphia and New England circa 1957-1960. In 1959, Coltman taught it to Tossi Aaron who recorded it in 1960 for her LP Tossi Sings Folk Songs & Ballads on Prestige International.Joan Baez recorded a version for her 1960 debut album on Vanguard Records but the track was not released until 2001. Throughout the early 1960s the song gained popularity through folk performers, most notably The Kingston Trio, who included the song "Rider" on their album Sunny Side! in 1963. So did The Big 3, an American folk trio that featured Cass Elliot. Folk singer Judy Roderick also recorded an influential version of the song under the title "Woman Blue" and it became the title track of her second album, recorded and released by Vanguard in 1965. British folk singer John Renbourn recorded a version of the song (titled "I Know My Babe") and it was included on his 1967 solo album, Another Monday.