“Alberta” is a song with deep roots in traditional blues; the name attaches to several older blues pieces, and Lead Belly recorded more than one version under that title. The arrangement most relevant here, however, is a folk-revival reworking: new verses were added to the traditional material by Dick Rosmini and Pernell Roberts, the latter an actor best known for the television series Bonanza, who recorded it on a 1963 folk album.
Doc Watson learned the song from that recording rather than from any older blues source, and he made it his own on his 1966 album Southbound. In Watson’s hands it became a gently swinging guitar feature, its lyric a tender plea to a woman named Alberta to let her hair hang low.
Watson’s version is the one that carried “Alberta” into the flatpicking and bluegrass world, where it remains a favorite for guitarists drawn to its relaxed groove and its blend of blues feeling with folk-revival polish.
