We recently premiered a video for He Needs Me, the lead single from The A’s debut album Fruit (out on July 15th on Psychic Hotline). The A’s feature duo Amelia Meath (Sylvan Esso, Mountain Man) and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig (Daughter of Swords, Mountain Man). Today, they shared their latest single from the album, the traditional Appalachian folk song ‘Wedding Dress‘.
As noted by Sam Amidon, who covered the song on his 2007 album All Is Well, “this song has taught me that it sounds good when you say things twice instead of just once…” It does; it lends the song a mysterious quality.
Well, she wouldn’t say yes and she wouldn’t say no
All she’d do was sit and sew
Sit and sew, sit and sew
All she’d do was sit and sew
Many of you may know Wedding Dress from Pentangle‘s 1971 album Reflection, their fifth album, which was produced by Bill Leader. Their rendition was an even-paced fusion of British and Appalachian folk, not that different in pace from Sam Amidon.
However, long before Pentangle, Peggy Seeger featured the folk song (titled The Wedding Dress Song) on her 1957 Folkways album American Folk Songs Sung by the Seegers. She performed it solo on banjo but at a much faster pace, giving the song an urgency. In the original album notes, she also says, “Vocally, too, there are surprises, such as omitting the last line of a verse”. Of all the versions I have, no liner notes mention anything about its origin or who collected it.
The A’s slow things down, bringing a contemplative beauty to the song that sounds natural against the rise and fall of their voices. The notes say the song evokes the candle-lit, North Carolinian setting where they recorded the LP as they stared deep into each other’s eyes. It’s also our Song of the Day:
Fruit Tracklist
He Needs Me
Swing and Turn Jubilee
Wedding Dress
Why I’m Grieving
When The Bloom Is On The Sage
My Poncho Pony
Go To Sleep My Darling Baby
Copper Kettle
When I Die
Buckeye Jim
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