Women have always been a part of Bluegrass music, but rarely in the limelight. Hazel Dickens, and Alice Gerrard are, in a way, Pioneering Women of Bluegrass for fronting a band. The album is a wonderful compilation of traditional music covering songs by the Carter Family, Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, as well as Hazel and Alice themselves. Their recordings done 1963-1964 have been restored, and released here on the Smithsonian Folkways label.
On the album, the two are joined by several well-known sidemen, Chubby Wise (fiddle), David Grisman (mandolin), Lamar Grier (banjo) and Billy Baker (fiddle). The musicianship of all involved is excellent. The vocals are excellent too. Alice Gerrard lends this low, almost monotone voice to create a feel of starkness to many of the songs. Hazel Dickens sings backup, adding the high notes to Alice's low.
The album features many classics such as Darling Nellie, a story of a loved one who died without saying goodbye. In the song, fiery banjo plucking combined with slow violin help create an image of a turbulent thunderstorm, one perfect for telling ghost stories. Gerrard sings in a slow, and low monotone, "T'was a night that's dark and stormy" ... "I was wandering through the graveyard when I found where Nellie lay."
Another favorite is TB Blues a slow, old-timey song about a boy who dearly loved a girl, but the girl had "consumption", or tuberculosis. She died, so did the boy. The way the banjo plays (what is it called when you rapidly rub back and forth on a chord?) gives the song very lonesome feel. Alice and Hazel both sing in high voice lessening the stark reality of the lyrics.
A Tiny Broken Heart will almost certainly break your heart despite the upbeat allegro tempo of this old-timey banjo tune. It tells the story of a little farm lad, "So busy at play in his little playhouse down by the glade." He loses a playmate when the neighbors on the farm next door are forced to move because of debt.
The album includes tunes like Won't You Come and Sing for Me? A country gospel song about life at its mortal end, and wanting to remember the good times before you go. "I feel the shadows now upon me, and fair angels beckon me. Before I go dear Christian brothers, won't you come and sing for me?" The singing is slow and plain, almost a dirge.
From sadness and heartache, comes joy and jubilation in a number of sizzling bluegrass numbers. Sugar Tree Stomp is quick and exhilarating fiddle dance with in an upbeat vivace tempo. Train on the Island is a great banjo and fiddle tune emulating the chug-chug, choo-choo of a steam locomotive speeding down the tracks.
Another great tune is Walkin' in My Sleep, also with banjo, and violin. The song is fast and exciting with a rhyme and rhythm to the lyrics. "Walkin in my sleep t'day, walkin' in my sleep. Up-and-down that Dixie line, walkin' in my sleep".... "Bake them biscuits baby, make them good and brown, when I eat my breakfast, I'm Alabama bound." Although this song is probably about the grueling nature of life on the road, the music is a perfect backdrop for gun smuggling, whiskey and moonshine, generally life on the lam.
People who like instrumental duels will love Difficult Run, a duel between banjo, and mandolin. At only a minute and a half long, a banjo furiously glides up and down octaves at presto tempo, somewhere along the way, mandolin takes over before fading again. Whenever I hear this, I picture somebody being chased through the woods, lawmen just one step behind on his tail. However, the banjo plucking on the song is quite smooth, so the desperate chase always ends with the guy getting away. John Henry is a another smoking duel, but instead of mandolin versus banjo, its a fiddle and banjo. In the background some bass and washboard try to keep up with the two. The banjo almost slips at the end because of the fast presto tempo.
For those who like traditional music, should have Alice and Hazel in their collection.
Track listing:
01 TB Blues (They're At Rest Together)
02 The One I Love Is Gone
03 Who's That Knocking?
04 Walking In My Sleep
05 Won't You Come and Sing For Me?
06 Can't You Hear Me Calling
07 Darling Nellie
08 Coal Miner's Blues
09 Sugar Tree Stomp
10 Train on the Island
11 Cowboy Jim
12 Lee Highway Blues
13 Memories of Mother and Dad
14 Long Black Veil
15 Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar
16 Difficult Run
17 Mommy Please Stay Home With Me
18 Gabriel's Call
19 Just Another Broken Heart
20 A Distant Land to Roam
21 John Henry
22 I Just Got Wise
23 Lover's Return
24 A Tiny Broken Heart
25 Take Me Back to Tulsa
26 I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling
