Erik's Random 10

I guess this means I am back on the blog full time. It's like meth. I just can't break the habit.

I can't say enough about the awesomeness of Hazel Dickens. This West Virginia bluegrass singer was not only a pioneering female in this most misogynist music form, but she also has sung some of the most heart-wrenching political songs ever. She left West Virginia for Washington DC as a young girl. She joined a band with the folk singer Alice Gerard and they produced some fantastic albums (I'd recommend the collection Pioneering Women of Bluegrass, one of the 5 best bluegrass albums ever produced). In the late 1970s and 1980s, Dickens then put out a series of fantastic solo albums that combined political songs about coal mining ("Little Lenaldo," "Coal Tattoo") and women's rights ("Don't Put Her Down, You Put Her There") with more traditional bluegrass topics about heartbreak and loss. "Don't Bother to Cry" is one of those more traditional numbers. I also recommend the collection from her solo work on Rounder, A Few Old Memories. Those are 20 great songs on that album, let me tell you.

Some of you might remember her from the John Sayles film Matewan, where she sang at the funeral. She was singing in the old-time style which some have trouble listening to, but it's definitely from the heart. Her recorded work has a much more contemporary style though.

Dickens is older now and doesn't perform much. It has been several years since she put out an album. I suppose that I probably won't ever get the chance to see her. But she is absolutely amazing.

1. Hazel Dickens, Don't Bother to Cry
2. John Hartford, Gum Tree Canoe
3. Frank Sinatra, When Your Lover Has Gone
4. Tom Russell, La Frontera
5. Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time, Heartbreak Hurricane
6. The Kevins, Soft Words
7. The Magnetic Fields, Parades Go By
9. IIIrd Tyme Out, Dim Lights, Thick Smoke
10. Waylon Jennings, It's Not Supposed to Be That Way