"Pretty Saro" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

417) is an English

folk ballad Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been ...

originating in the early 1700s. The song died out in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

by the mid eighteenth century but was rediscovered in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

(particularly in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

) in the early twentieth century, where it had been preserved through oral traditions.

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was a key figure in the folk-song revival in England dur ...

and later folklorists and proponents of the

folk revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Early folk music performers include Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Ewan MacColl (UK), Richard Dyer-Bennet, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie ...

helped keep songs such as "Pretty Saro" alive well into modern times.

Traditional Versions

The famous Appalachian musician

Jean Ritchie Jean Ruth Ritchie (December 8, 1922 – June 1, 2015) was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way (orally, ...

was recorded with her sisters in 1946 by Mary Elizabeth Barnacle singing her family's traditional version on the song, before recording it on the album ''Jean Ritchie And

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His ...

At Folk City'' (1963). The Appalachian traditional singer

Horton Barker Horton Barker (August 23, 1889 – August 12, 1973) was an Appalachian traditional singer. Barker was born in Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee, US. Blind nearly all his life, Barker learned his unusually wide repertoire at the School for the Deaf and ...

also recorded a traditional version on his eponymous 1962 album. Several other traditional Appalachian versions were recorded, particularly by

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...

. A few traditional

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cov ...

recordings were also made (many of which can be heard online), and one in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Popular Recordings

Notable artists who have recorded ''Pretty Saro'' include: During his ''Self Portrait'' sessions in March 1970 at Columbia Records' New York studio,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

ran through "Pretty Saro" six consecutive times. While none of those versions made the final cut for the album, the song remained in Columbia's vault, until it was released on '' Another Self Portrait'', a 35-track box set of songs cut for

Nashville Skyline ''Nashville Skyline'' is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 9, 1969, by Columbia Records as LP record, reel-to-reel tape, and audio cassette. Building on the rustic style he experimented with o ...

, Self Portrait and

New Morning ''New Morning'' is the eleventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on October 21, 1970 by Columbia Records. Coming only four months after the controversial ''Self Portrait'', the more concise ''New Morning'' rec ...

.Andy Greene
"Bob Dylan's Lost 1970 Gem 'Pretty Saro' - Premiere"
''Rolling Stone'' Video (7 August 2013).

References

English folk songs Bob Dylan songs Songs of the American Civil War {{folk-song-stub