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
Muddy Water
The Seldom Scene Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mary, grab the baby, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back the land
The old-frame house, she can't take-a one more beating
Ain't no use to stay and make a stand
Well the morning light shows water in the valley
Things to say, you just can't take em with ya
This flood will swallow all you've left behind
Won't be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone
Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home
The road is gone, there's just one way to leave here
Turn my back on what I've left below
Shifting land, broken farms around me
Muddy water's changing all I know
It's hard to say just what I'm losing
Ain't never felt so all alone
Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home
Won't be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone
Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water's changing all I know
Muddy water's changing all I know
Well, this muddy water is taking back my home
The Seldom Scene's song "Muddy Water" is a moving portrait of the devastation caused by a flood. The lyrics depict a family who is trying to escape the rising river, which threatens to engulf their property and everything they own. The singer speaks to Mary, asking her to grab the baby and prepare to leave. The song's opening lines are "Mary, grab the baby, the river's rising, Muddy water taking back the land," emphasizing the urgent need to act quickly before it's too late. The imagery of the muddy water taking over the land is powerful and haunting, capturing the enormity of the situation. The song speaks to the loss and destruction caused by natural disasters while also highlighting the resilience and perseverance of those affected.
The lyrics of "Muddy Water" also touch upon the emotional impact of losing one's home and the memories associated with it. The singer reflects on the things that are being left behind, and the knowledge that the flood will "swallow all you've left behind." The sense of loss and uncertainty is palpable in the lyrics, as the singer realizes that they won't be able to return and start over. The line "Cause what I felt before is gone" conveys a sense of nostalgia and longing for what once was. The shifting landscape and broken farms around them show how the flood is changing everything the singer knows, leaving them feeling "all alone".
Line by Line Meaning
Mary, grab the baby, the river's rising
As the river rises and the water becomes muddy, Mary is instructed to grab the child.
Muddy water taking back the land
The muddy water is taking back the land as the river continues to rise.
The old-frame house, she can't take-a one more beating
The old house cannot take any more damage as the water continues to rise.
Ain't no use to stay and make a stand
There is no point in staying to try to defend the house against the rising water.
Well the morning light shows water in the valley
As the sun rises, it reveals that the valley is flooded with water.
Daddy's grave just went below the line
The water has risen so much that it has covered the grave of the singer's father.
Things to say, you just can't take em with ya
The singer realizes that possessions and words cannot be taken with them as they flee from the flood.
This flood will swallow all you've left behind
The flood is so massive that it will destroy everything the artist has left behind.
Won't be back to start all over
The artist has no intention of returning to the area to start anew after the flood.
Cause what I felt before is gone
The artist knows that what they felt before is no longer there and cannot be recreated.
Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Once again, Mary is instructed to take the child as the river continues to rise.
Muddy water taking back my home
The muddy water is taking over the artist's home and there is nothing they can do about it.
The road is gone, there's just one way to leave here
The road has been destroyed by the flood, leaving the singer with only one option for leaving the area.
Turn my back on what I've left below
The singer must leave everything they have left behind and move on.
Shifting land, broken farms around me
The surrounding land is shifting and farms are being destroyed by the flood.
Muddy water's changing all I know
The muddy water is changing everything the artist knows and disrupting their life completely.
It's hard to say just what I'm losing
The artist finds it difficult to express just what they are losing because of the flood.
Ain't never felt so all alone
The singer has never felt so alone before as they face this disaster on their own.
Muddy water's changing all I know
Once again, the singer reiterates how the muddy water is changing everything they know and leaving them with an uncertain future.
Well, this muddy water is taking back my home
The muddy water has truly taken over the artist's home, leaving them with nothing.
Contributed by Blake F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ahem....bullsheet3720
My family used to often play and sing this and that song always gives me chills. I thought of this song when the bad flooding happened in eastern Kentucky where im from.
@manakamar
Listening to this I feel like it's happening right now: everythings getting flooded and you can't do a damned thing but run for your life.
What a band!
@fotinikoutlakis3069
Listen to Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' cover too. Stunning
@iasnaia-poliana
I love the bluesy and dramatic tone Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds gave to this tune.
@markschumacher3131
This one hurts right now in Vermont
@kentuckybackwoods7114
Randomly thought of this today cause all the flooding. Beautiful song.
@drawingtime2589
RIP Uncle Wayne Vincent . Wherever you are I want to tell you how much I love you!
@Em20010
I heard this song at a festival in WV just after Hurricane Katrina.
@mygills3050
Here before this inevitably gets used in a post-apocalypse movie
@sabrerogers5216
Simply great!