Grateful Dead Family Discography: Tragic Romance

Tragic Romance

Composer: Traditional ?

Tragic Romance was performed by Old & In The Way in 1973.

Authorship uncertain. Sometimes credits are Vernon Dalhart (Marion Try Slaughter), Morris Brothers (or just Wiley Morris) sometimes they are Grandpa Jones, sometimes others. It seems most likely though that the song pre-dates any origin suggested by these writing credits. It contains elements of a number of earlier songs and appears to have developed through the oral tradition of merging existing song elements.

W. K. McNeil outlines the possible derivation of the song in Southern Mountain Folksongs (W. K. McNeil, 1993) suggesting that songs from which elements have been taken are Oh, Had I The Wings Of A Dove (1840s), Farewell To All Judges And Juries (1850s), Meet Me In The Moonlight (1826), There's A Fine Ship On The Ocean (1880s), The Ship That Never Returned (1865). The song occurs in early folk song collections with names such as; Prisoner Walls, Sweet Lula, I Have A Ship On The Ocean, Meet Me In The Moonlight, I Had A Little Ship, New Jail and Meet Me Tonight.

Recordings

no info Vernon Dalhart, 1924
no info Morris Brothers, 194?
no info Single (Jesse James / Tragic Romance), Toby Stroud & the Blue Mountain Boys, 1954
no info Single (Tragic Romance / Are You Tired Of Me, My Darling), Lilly Brothers & Don Stover, 1957
Tragic Tales of Love and Life, Cowboy Copas, 1960
Sing Everybody's Country Favorites, Stanley Brothers, 1960
no info The Songs That Made Him Famous, Cowboy Copas, 1962
Mountain Music Played on the Autoharp, Various Artists (Kilby Snow), 1962
Dian & the Greenbriar Boys, Dian & the Greenbriar Boys, 1963
no info Sing A Bluegrass Tribute To Cowboy Copas, Don Reno, Red Smiley & the Tennessee Cutups, 1964
no info Grand Ole Opry Favorites, The Browns, 1964
no info The Other Side of Grandpa Jones, Grandpa Jones, 1964
no info Single (Forever / Tragic Romance), Don Reno, Red Smiley & the Tennessee Cutups, 1965
no info Mountain Music On the Autoharp, Kilby Snow, 1965
no info The Cowboy Copas Story, Cowboy Copas, 1965
no info Ballads & Bluegrass, Buck Ryan & Smitty Irvin, 1965
no info Bluegrass, Mac Wiseman, 1966
no info Man With a Plan, Carl Smith, 1966
no info 24 Greatest Hits, Cowboy Copas, 1966
Ballads from Deep Gap, Doc Watson, 1967
no info The Cold Hard Facts of Life, Porter Wagoner & The Wagonmasters, 1967
no info 1968: Brand New Vocal Country & Western Songs, Moore & Napier, 1967
no info The Great Old Songs, Stonewall Jackson, 1968
no info Golden Hits Of, Mac Wiseman, 1968
Early Recordings, The Lilly Brothers, 1971
Ballads And Instrumentals, Red Rector, 1973
no info Early Days of Bluegrass, Vol. 2, Toby Stroud and the Blue Mountain Boys, 1974
no info One Day At A Time, Jim Rooney, 1975
no info Country Dobro, Charlie Cline, 1975
no info The Grandpa Jones Story, Grandpa Jones, 1976
Early Days Of Bluegrass, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Byron Parker & His Mountaineers), 1976
no info 14 Memories, Bill Grant, Delia Bell & the Kiamichi Mountain Boys, 1976
no info The ABC Collection, Mac Wiseman, 1977
no info Folk Festival of the Smokies. Vol. 1: Various Artists (Jean Schilling), 197?
Old Time Bluegrass from Grayson and Carroll Counties, Virginia (Vol. 3), Virginia Mountain Boys, 1980
no info Lonesome & Blue, Wayne Lewis, 1980
no info Ramblin' Letters, Larry Sparks & the Lonesome Ramblers, 1981
no info 1983 Collector's Edition, Vol. 1, Don Reno, Red Smiley & the Tennessee Cutups, 1983
no info Bluegrass Memories, Dave Evans & River Bend, 1984
no info A Song For You, Bobby Atkins & the Countrymen, 1986
no info 20 Bluegrass Originals, Stanley Brothers, 1987
no info Welcome to My World, Dick Curless, 1987
no info Thesaurus Transcriptions, Hank Snow, 1991
no info Hillbilly Fever, Osborne Brothers, 1991
no info Early Recordings, Lilly Brothers and Don Stover, 1991
no info The Three Bells, The Browns, 1993
Early Starday-King Years 1958-1961, The Stanley Brothers, 1994
Away Out on the Mountain, Tim & Mollie O'Brien, 1994
no info Everybody's Grandpa, Grandpa Jones, 1996
no info In Concert, Hylo Brown, 1996
no info Classic Bluegrass: Today and Yesterday, Delia Bell & Bill Grant, 1996
no info 28 Greatest Hits, Grandpa Jones, 1998
no info American Original, Grandpa Jones, 1998
Sounds Like Bluegrass to Me, Tony Ellis, 1999
no info Country Music Hall of Fame 1978, Grandpa Jones, 1999
no info Rocky Top & Other Bluegrass Classics, Various Artists (Grandpa Jones), 1999
no info Guitar Tracks, James Alan Shelton, 2000
no info Sweet Sounds by the Browns/Grand Ole Opry Favorites, The Browns, 2000
no info The 3 Tenors of Bluegrass, Mac Wiseman/Jim Silvers/Bobby Osborne, 2000
no info Big D Jamboree Live, Vol. 1-2, Various Artists (Cowboy Copas), 2000
no info Live at the Big 'D' Jamboree, Vol. 2: Country & Western, Various Artists (Cowboy Copas), 2000
Doc Watson at Gerdes Folk City, Doc Watson, 2001
no info Copasetic, Cowboy Copas, 2001
no info Bluegrass in the Northwoods, Bill Jorgenson, 2001
no info My Dixie Home, Jim Mills, 2002
no info Tennessee Waltz, Cowboy Copas, 2002
no info Bluegrass Hall of Fame, Various Artists (Grandpa Jones), 2002
Life of Sorrow, David Grisman, 2003
no info It's a Carolina Morning, Lynwood Lunsford & the Misty Valley Boys, 2003
Bluegrass Early Cuts 1931-1953: Classic Recordings Remastered, Various Artists (Toby Stroud & The Blue Mountain Boys), 2004
no info A Proper Introduction to Cowboy Copas: Signed, Sealed and Delivered, Cowboy Copas, 2004
no info Bluegrass Our Way, Bobby Atkins, Mark Atkins & the Countrymen, 2004
no info Rural Rhythm Guitar Collection: 25 Bluegrass Guitar Favorites, Various Artists (James Wall), 2005
Masters of Old-time Country Autoharp, Various Artists (Kilby Snow, Hazel Dickens and Mike Seeger), 2006
no info Sound Traditions: Grassroots Bluegrass, Various Artists (Red White & the Dixie Blue Grass Band), 2006
no info Dim Lights, Thick Smoke and Hillbilly Music: 1946, Various Artists (Cowboy Copas), 2008
Life of Sorrow: Deluxe Edition, David Grisman, 2021