Pioneering Women of Bluegrass

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EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 26   Total Length: 68:24

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John Morthland

eMusic Contributor

John Morthland has been writing about music since the days of electronically rechanneled stereo and duophonic sound. His name has darkened the mastheads of Roll...more »

04.22.11
Harmonies that walk the line between raw and sweet.
Label: Smithsonian Folkways

They were an unlikely pair, were Hazel Dickens, the eighth of eleven children in a West Virginia mining family, and Alice Gerrard, the classically-trained Antioch College student. But the combo clicked, Alice's low voice providing an anchor while Hazel's soared. Their harmonies walked the line between raw and sweet and their sound and material owed more to mainstream country than did most bluegrass. Bill Monroe, who wrote “The One I Love Is Gone” for them and never recorded it himself, must have felt vindicated by their chilling, sorrowful reading. Hazel's original songs of empowerment for women and mineworkers also helped pave the way for her subsequent solo career.

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Think Old School Freakwater

TaterX

The haunting voice of West Virginia native Hazel Dickens is one of a kind. Straight out of the hills and all natural. This is true folk music.

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amazing

lofat

this release is one of the best bluegrass finds on emusic. the harmonies of Hazil and Alice are addictive and have you going back for repeated listenings. great music!

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the best

FolkBlues

Hazel Dickens is, along with Iris De Ment and Emmy Lou Harris, up with the best. This album has more pace than some of her other material and the great picking adds to the energy. Take me back to sweet Virginny any time.

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They Say All Music Guide

Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard recorded a couple of albums in the mid-’60s that are now acknowledged as groundbreakers in demonstrating that women could play and record quality bluegrass. This collection remasters and re-sequences 26 tracks from the sessions, as well as adding lengthy historical liner notes, much of them contributed by the performers themselves. Historical significance aside, it’s pretty good bluegrass, the two singers and instrumentalists supported by other good musicians, including a young David Grisman. Their set leaned heavily on covers of tunes by the Carter Family and Bill Monroe (who specifically gave “I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling” to the duo), with additional items by the Delmore Brothers, the Stanley Brothers, and the like. Alice Gerrard’s low vocals give this a greater gravity than much bluegrass. A special highlight is their cover of the magnificently mournful “The One I Love Is Gone,” another tune that Monroe donated to the pair. Inverting the usual bluegrass cliché, one might call it an example of the low and lonesome sound. – Richie Unterberger

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