Duffey proposed some rules that the others agreed to including playing only one night a week at local clubs, doing occasional concerts and festivals on weekends, making records, and keeping their day jobs. Duffey repaired musical instruments, Eldridge was a mathematician, Starling a physician, Auldridge a graphic artist, and Gray a cartographer with National Geographic. The Scene's first home 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.
Bluegrass reached a second peak in popularity in the early 1970s, and the progressive bluegrass style played by The Seldom Scene was particularly popular. Duffey's stratospheric tenor anchored the group, but the vocal blend of Duffey/Starling/Auldridge set a new standard that attracted new audiences to what had been a niche music. Their weekly shows included bluegrass versions of country music, rock, and even classical pop. The band's popularity soon forced them to play more than once a week--but they continued to maintain their image as being seldom seen, and on several of their early album covers were photographed with the stage lights on only their feet, or with their backs to the camera.
Though the Scene remained a non-touring band, they were prolific recorders, producing seven albums in their first five years of existence, including two live albums (among the first live bluegrass albums). But the band's philosophy of not touring and maintaining their day jobs eventually caused some changes in membership.
In 1977, John Starling left the group to focus on his medical career, and was replaced by singer and songwriter Phil Rosenthal, whose song "Muddy Water" had been recorded by the Scene on two earlier albums. Around the same time, the group switched record labels from Rebel Records to Sugar Hill; however, while Starling had been officially the band's frontman, these changes made little significant difference to the band's overall sound.
The band recorded several more albums in the 1980s and firmly established themselves as one of the most influential bluegrass bands. In 1986, Rosenthal and Tom Gray both left the band to focus on other pursuits, and were replaced by Lou Reid and T. Michael Coleman, respectively. Coleman proved to be very controversial, as many purists objected to his use of an electric bass in what is an acoustic genre, but the albums produced by the band after Coleman's arrival maintained the traditional appeal of any of the Scene's earlier albums.
Reid left the band in 1993, and Duffey convinced former member John Starling to return to the band for the next year. During that year the Scene recorded the album "Like We Used To Be," but Starling did not wish to stay with the band long term. He was replaced in 1994 by lead singer Moondi Klein.
Throughout these changes, John Duffey remained the group's spiritual center and greatest influence, and his initial ideas about keeping a light touring schedule and staying close to home continued to prevail. Though there had been disagreements about this philosophy before, it wasn't until after Starling left for the second time that it cost the band a majority of its members at once. During 1995 and 1996, Klein and Coleman, along with original member Mike Auldridge, left the group to form a new band called Chesapeake. This new band became a full-time project for its members, and for a time the Scene stopped recording.
Duffey and Ben Eldridge, the two remaining original members, recruited resophonic guitar player Fred Travers, bassist Ronnie Simpkins, and guitarist and singer Dudley Connell to join the band, and the reconstituted group recorded an album in 1996 and resumed live appearances.
For 25 years The Seldom Scene remained extremely popular in bluegrass circles even with the near-constant personnel changes. But the band was dealt what seemed a crushing blow in late 1996, when founder and leader John Duffey suffered a fatal heart attack. The band again stopped recording and made no live appearances for some years. Duffey had been widely regarded as one of the most powerful and entertaining stage performers in bluegrass, and there was no one who could replace him.
Nonetheless, the band was simply too popular to disappear for good. Banjoist Ben Eldridge, the sole remaining original member and a significant force in banjo music in his own right, assumed leadership of the band. Former guitarist Lou Reid rejoined the band on mandolin. Initially the new Scene concentrated on live performances, but in 2000 the group recorded a new album, "Scene it All." The Seldom Scene continues to tour, and remains on the Sugar Hill label for future recordings.
The band currently consists of Dudley Connell (guitar/lead vocals), Ben Eldridge (banjo), Lou Reid (mandolin/tenor vocals), Fred Travers (dobro/lead vocals), and Ronnie Simpkins (bass/baritone vocals).
John Starling died in May 2019.
Discography
Act I (Rebel, 1972)
Act II (Rebel, 1973)
Act III (Rebel, 1973)
Old Train (Rebel, 1973)
Live At The Cellar Door (Rebel, 1975)
The New Seldom Scene Album (Rebel, 1976)
Baptizing (Rebel, 1978)
Act IV (Sugar Hill, 1979)
After Midnight (Sugar Hill, 1981)
At The Scene (Sugar Hill, 1983)
Blue Ridge with Jonathan Edwards (Sugar Hill, 1985)
15th Anniversary Celebration (Sugar Hill, 1986)
A Change Of Scenery (Sugar Hill, 1988)
Scenic Roots (Sugar Hill, 1990)
Scene 20: 20th Anniversary Concert (Sugar Hill, 1992)
Like We Used To Be (Sugar Hill, 1994)
Dream Scene (Sugar Hill, 1996)
Scene It All (Sugar Hill, 2000)
External links
Official site
Fox On The Run
The Seldom Scene Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She walks through the corn leading down to the river
Her hair shone like gold in the hot mornin′ sun
She took all the love that a poor boy could give her
And left me to die like a fox on the run
Like a fox, (like a fox, like a fox) on the run
When woman tempted me down in paradise hall
This woman tempted me then she took me for a ride
But like a lonely fox, boys I need a place to hide
(Repeat chorus)
We'll drink a glass of wine boys to fortify our souls
We′ll talk about the world and friends we used to know
I see a string of girls who have put me on the floor
The game is nearly over and the hounds are at my door
(Repeat chorus)
The Seldom Scene's "Fox on the Run" is a ballad about a man who has been left heartbroken by a woman who took advantage of him. The song begins with a picturesque description of the woman who has caused the singer's downfall, walking through a cornfield in the morning sun. The singer describes how she took everything he had to give, leaving him feeling like a hunted fox on the run. The chorus repeats this metaphor, emphasizing the singer's sense of being hunted and vulnerable.
The second verse describes how the woman tempted the singer, leading him down a path to ruin. Although he realizes that he was taken for a ride, he is still in love with her and feels like a lonely fox who needs a place to hide from the hunters. The final verse takes a more reflective tone, with the singer and his friends sitting down to drink and talk about their lives. However, he can't escape the memory of the girls who have broken his heart, and he feels like the game is almost over for him.
Overall, "Fox on the Run" is a melancholy tale of heartbreak and regret, with a strong sense of the natural world and the hunt as a metaphor for the singer's emotional state.
Line by Line Meaning
She walks through the corn leading down to the river
She walks through the cornfield leading down to the river
Her hair shone like gold in the hot mornin' sun
Her hair had a shining of gold in the hot morning sun
She took all the love that a poor boy could give her
She took all the love that a poor boy could offer her
And left me to die like a fox on the run
And abandoned me to my fate, like a fox running for its life
Like a fox, (like a fox, like a fox) on the run
Just like a fox running for its survival
Out here everybody knows the reason for the fall
Everyone knows what led to my downfall
When woman tempted me down in paradise hall
When the woman lured and seduced me in a place like paradise
This woman tempted me then she took me for a ride
She seduced me and took me for a ride
But like a lonely fox, boys I need a place to hide
But just like a solitary fox, I need a place to seek refuge
(Repeat chorus)
Repeating the same previous stanza
We'll drink a glass of wine boys to fortify our souls
To strengthen our spirits, we'll drink a glass of wine, boys
We'll talk about the world and friends we used to know
We'll reminisce about the world and our lost friends
I see a string of girls who have put me on the floor
I see a line of girls who have humiliated me
The game is nearly over and the hounds are at my door
The end is almost here, and I am being pursued like a fox by the hounds
(Repeat chorus)
Repeating the same previous stanza
Writer(s): Tony Hazzard
Contributed by Ava N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@smonkyote
YES!!!!
@seminolekid459
No one does it better