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Track Listings
| 1. Po'Lazarus - J Carter & The Prisoners |
| 2. Big Rock Candy Mountain - Harry McLintock |
| 3. You Are My Sunshine - Norman Blake |
| 4. Down In The River To Pray |
| 5. I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow - Soggy Bottom Boys |
| 6. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues - Chris Thomas King |
| 7. I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow (inst.) - Norman Blake |
| 8. Keep on the Sunny Side of Life - The Whites |
| 9. I'll Fly Away - Gillian Welch & Alison Kraus |
| 10. Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby - Emmy Lou Harris,Gillian Welch & Alison Kraus |
| 11. In The Highways - The Peasall Sisters |
| 12. I Am Weary - The Cox Family |
| 13. I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow (inst.) - John Hartford |
| 14. O'Death - Ralph Stanley |
| 15. In the Jailhouse Now - Soggy Bottom Boys |
| 16. I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow (with band) - Soggy Bottom Boys |
| 17. Indian War Whoop - John Hartford |
| 18. Lonesome Valley - The Fairfield Four |
| 19. Angel Band - The Stanley Brothers |
| 20. O Brother, Where Art Thou? / Enhanced Data - Soundtrack |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite the presence of Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss and bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, the stars here are the songs themselves, a host of traditional songs augmented by archival recordings. The collection is also a showcase for a host of lesser known and forgotten bluegrass masters: The Cox Family, collaborators with Krauss; Norman Blake, a sideman for Bob Dylan and June Carter Cash; country gospel group The Whites, who once counted Ricky Skaggs as a member (and who, here, cover the Carter Family); and young bluesman Chris Thomas King among them. All bring life to their songs, and the results are sublime--and, at times (Krauss and a choir's take on "Down To The River to Pray", Blake's instrumental version of the oft-repeated "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow"), downright entrancing.
Some of these songs can be found on Alan Lomax collections. If you enjoy this album, we also highly recommend the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music and Woody Guthrie's Asch Recordings series. --Randy Silver
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Customer Reviews
Even Alison Krauss sticks firmly with tradition here - she often brings contemporary influences into her music these days but not here. Alison can be heard here on Down to the river to pray (as a solo singer), I'll fly away (providing harmony vocals for lead singer Gillian Welch) and Didn't leave nobody but the baby (joining Gillian and Emmylou in three-part harmony).
The inclusion of two Carter Stanley songs on a soundtrack such as this is predictable but welcome, with the Whites performing a superb version of the oft-recorded Keep on the sunny side, while the Peasall children (Hannah singing lead with Sarah and Leah providing harmony vocals) are in great form on In the highways. Children's recordings rarely impress me but this track does.
One song here that surprised me (though perhaps it shouldn't have) is Big rock candy mountain. It can be found on plenty of albums of children's songs, when it is invariably presented as an up-tempo song that children can (if they wish) sing along to. Here we get the original 1928 recording by Harry McLintock, who sings it at a more measured, reflective pace, showing that there is more to this song than I originally thought. I still prefer it as an up-tempo song generally but I'm glad I heard this version. I wonder what the Peasall sisters would have done with this song.
The Coen brothers clearly hoped that this soundtrack would provide a resurgence of interest in traditional music. While this soundtrack was a big commercial success, it seems that the majority of people who bought it (and continue to buy it) regard it as something of a novelty. Nashville record labels signed some traditional singers (Elizabeth Cook, though not featured here, is one that comes to mind) but they didn't get enough airplay on American country radio, so such artists were dropped and Nashville returned to its contemporary format. I'm sure that this soundtrack helped to win some new fans for traditional music, but not as many as the Coen brothers would like.
The highlights for me are: The legendary Ralph Stanley, with his plaintive acappella chant of "O Death", which carries with it all the pain and soul of Appalachia, and the purity of "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys, who consist of Union Station member Dan Tyminsky on lead vocals and guitar, backed by Harley Allen and Pat Enright. For anyone who likes traditional music, you can't get any better than this.
Another acappella gem is "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby", with Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Gillian Welch harmonizing like an angels from another era. Everything on this disc recalls days gone by; there is a refreshing simplicity, and a lot of the songs are filled with faith.
There is exquisite musicianship on this CD, and it is a nice long one at 60'34 minutes. The booklet insert is something I appreciate too; it is a collage of yellowed stained paper on peeling walls, with a terrific layout, and as it says on one of its pages, "Old-Time Music Is Very Much Alive".
90of them I can listen to with no problem, there is one or two I skip over, but overall good value for... Read more
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