Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster

Stephen Foster | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Emergent
• ASIN: B0002M64Z6
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,001 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Beautiful Dreamer-Raul Malo

2. Slumber My Darling-Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor featuring Alison Krauss

3. Don't Bet Money on the Shanghai-BR5-49

4. Nelly Was A Lady-Alvin Youngblood Hart

5. No One To Love-Judith Edelman

6. Camptown Races-The Duhks

7. My Old Kentucky Home-John Prine

8. Autumn Waltz-Henry Kaiser

9. In The Eye Abides The Heart-Beth Nielsen Chapman

10. Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)-David Ball

11. Oh! Susanna-Michelle Shocked & Pete Anderson

12. Willie We Have Missed You-Grey DeLisle

13. Hard Times Come Again No More-Mavis Staples

14. Gentle Annie-Ollabelle

15. Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair-Roger McGuinn

16. Ah, May The Red Rose Live Always!-Suzy Bogguss

17. Holiday Scottisch-Will Barrow

18. Comrades Fill No Glass For Me-Ron Sexsmith

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Stephen Collins Foster is sometimes called America's first great songwriter, but you could make the case that he was also the country's first real pop star. Writing songs such as "Camptown Races" and "Oh! Susanna," Foster, a college dropout, was self-destructive, couldn't keep a marriage together, and ended tragically. Living on the Bowery, he gashed his throat in a fatal fall in 1864 at age 37, dying with only 38 cents in his pocket. The idea of a Foster tribute record may seem staid and archaic, particularly as his lesser known tunes are parlor and stylized minstrel songs. But minstrelsy was a lot like rock & roll, and the Pittsburgh native left behind an impressive body of work that draws upon the diverse branches of music brought to America by settlers and slaves from Europe and Africa. Beautiful Dreamer, on which 22 artists celebrate 18 of his compositions, surprises with its breadth of subject matter, tempo, and interpretation, including the use of the glass armonica and santour. Most of all, the album is uncommonly soulful--Mavis Staples's dignified but heartbreaking performance of "Hard Times Come Again No More," David Ball's elegiac "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)," and the feathery rendition of "Slumber, My Darling" by Alison Krauss, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor resonate in both the heart and the head. If Foster, the pop star, were alive today, he'd likely sit at the piano in shades and gelled-up hair. But he'd be playing these same songs, timeless and achingly poignant. --Alanna Nash

Product Description

Although America's first great songwriter, Stephen Collins Foster, died 140 years ago, his legacy lives on in the hundreds of songs he left behind. Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster was recorded to celebrate his enormous gift to American culture. Foster's compositions (including "Oh! Susanna," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Camptown Races," "Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair" and "Hard Times Come Again No More") are woven into the fabric of our national identity, yet most music fans today know little about him. Foster has been unjustifiably overlooked in recent decades. No collection of his music recorded by contemporary artists has existed until now. Although tribute albums have become much too common, this project's historical significance distingusihes it from a crowded field.

Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs Of Stephen Foster is a collection of Foster's most beloved compositions – and lesser-known exquisite parlor songs of his day – sung by some of today's most respected musical artists. The album includes songs by: Raul Malo, Alison Krauss with Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, BR549, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Judith Edelman, The Duhks, John Prine, Henry Kaiser, Beth Nielsen Chapman, David Ball, Michelle Shocked & Pete Anderson, Grey De Lisle, Mavis Staples, Ollabelle, Roger McGuinn, Suzy Bogguss, Will Barrow and Ron Sexsmith.

All of the proceeds from Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster will benefit American Roots Publishing, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving American regional culture through literature and art. Goals are accomplished by supporting artists who honor regional culture through their work and by linking them with communities in focused educational programs.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Dreamer, October 18, 2004

By 

thisisgibbie (Indianapolis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster (Audio CD)

Just flew in from London the other day and listened to this CD through the whole flight (thanks to United Airlines). So many good songs, so well done.

"Beautiful Dreamer" and "Slumber My Darling" open the recording by Raul Malo and Alison Krauss (etc.) respectively.

Including Krauss, favorite songs are: "Ah, May The Red Rose Live Always!" by Suzy Bogguss, very beautiful; "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" by Roger McGuinn, very excellent Byrdsy interpretation; Holiday Scottisch by Will Barrow.

"No One To Love" by Judith Edelman wins for the most haunting interpretation and tightest recording. "Don't Bet Money on the Shanghai" by BR5-49 for funniest.

Not dismissing the others, which make quite a bouquet of songs. "My Old Kentucky Home" by John Prine and "In The Eye Abides The Heart" by Beth Nielsen Chapman also win high kudos.

This is a great compilation!

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite, and enlightening, November 13, 2004

By 

LangMat "Historian, Medical Writer" (Watsonville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster (Audio CD)

Foster songs weren't new to me-- growing up, I heard my grandmother sing them, and sang them in school "assemblies." But this CD showed me how little I knew about the range of his works.

No big fan of the "country" sound, I nevertheless enjoy the performances on this CD that use that style. All the performances evoke the emotional sense of the music,.

Curious to find out more about the man and his times, I read Ken Foster's Stephen Foster biography, "Doo Dah", and recommend it to those who'd like to know the historical context of Foster's music.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars America's 1st Great Songwriter - His 1st "Hit" CD, October 3, 2004

By 

Alan Houston "alanhouston-texas" (Houston, Texas, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster (Audio CD)

When I was in elementary school, half a century ago, we would sometimes sing these songs. "Beautiful Dreamer", Camptown Races", and "Oh! Susanna" somehow became clunky, but enjoyable, "marches" as mangled by thirty musically challenged nine year olds, led by our frustrated, but doggedly determined teacher.

I was stunned to hear how beautiful and full of heart and soul these songs are when given fresh life by some of today's best singers and musicians. Stephen Foster's music made him famous the 1850's. This CD show how much he has influenced the course of American folk, popular, and country music for the 150 years that have followed. Echos of Foster's songs and style can be heard in many of the best American folk and country songs of the past several decades.

"Beautiful Dreamer" sounds "traditional", yet it is fresh, new, exciting and alive. If these songs had been written just this year, Mr. Foster would be acclaimed our most talented young songwriter. This CD is a treasure that has joined America's musical beginnings with the heart and spirit of today's America.