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Oh, The Wind And Rain

Composer: Traditional

Jerry Garcia

info Almost Acoustic, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, 1988
info Shady Grove, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, 1996

Others

no info Anglo-American Ballads, Various Artists (Horton Barker), 195?
no info Missouri Folksongs, Various Artists (Loman Cansler), 195?
no info Country Songs and Tunes With Autoharp, Kilby Snow, 195?
info Simple Gifts, George and Gerry Armstrong, 1961
no info The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, Various Artists (Lucy Stewart), 1961
no info Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol I, Various Artists (Lee Monroe Presnell), 1964
no info Minstrel of the Appalachians, Bascom Lama Lunsford, 196?
no info Rosalie's Songbag, Rosalie Sorrels, 196?
no info Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 4. The Child Ballads, John Strachan, 196?
no info Gentle Art, Evelyne Beers, 196?
no info Sara Grey, Sara Grey, 1970
no info Lovely in the Water, Frankie Armstrong, 1972
no info Stolen Love, Red Clay Ramblers, 1975
no info 1st Annual Brandywine Mountain Music Convention, Various Artists (Kilby Snow), 1975
no info Going Up on the Mountain, Jody Stecher, 1977
no info Days of Forty Nine, Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis, 1977
info O Love Is Teasin' (Anglo-American Mountain Balladry), Various Artists (Ed McCurdy), 1985
no info All in the Family, Williams Family, 1986
no info Hard Times, Red Clay Ramblers, 198?
no info Solo - Old Time Music, Mike Seeger, 1990
no info Old Time Country Music, Mike Seeger, 1991
no info The Wheel of the Year - Thirty Years with The Armstrong Family, The Armstrong Family, 1992
info High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina, Various Artists (Sidney Myers), 1995
no info Stage By Stage, Iain MacKintosh and Brian McNeill, 1995
no info Trad, Bad and Dangerous, Betsy McGovern, 1996
no info Richard Dyer-Bennett, 19??
no info Bradley Kincaid, 19??
no info British Traditional Ballads (Child Ballads) in the Southern Mountains II, Various Artists (Jean Ritchie), 19??
info 3/13/98 Cedar Cultural Centre, The Big Wu, 2002
info Images of Women, Robin Greenstein, 2002
info Shaken by a Low Sound, Crooked Still, 2006

Notes

On Almost Acoustic the title is Oh, The Wind and Rain, on Shady Grove it is Dreadful Wind And Rain. The song also commonly occurs as just The Wind And Rain.

This song is a member of the varied family of songs more commonly known as The Two Sisters or in early Scottish versions as The Twa Sisters. It is possible that the song originated in Norway in the 16th or 17th century.

The list of recordings given above includes all title variations.

The song is unusual amongst traditional ballads as there is substantial variation in the story in collected versions. The main theme is often, but not always, one sister drowning another.

It is ballad no. 10 in Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, with the title The Two Sisters.