Blue Trail of Sorrow

Rounder Records Bluegrass (Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B00005PJBQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,257 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Folk Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 2-OCT-2001

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Credit where it's due..., April 8, 2002

By 

Mark J. Fowler "Let's Play Two!" (Jacksonville, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Blue Trail of Sorrow (Audio CD)

This is a great collection of contemporary Bluegrass/Americana musicians performing great traditional songs, but three of the best performances would not be recognized only from the track listings. The title song "Blue Trail of Sorrow" is given a performance so strong and vibrant you'd be sorrowful as well if you weren't also so exhilirated by the power of the performance. As listed, the song is performed by Alison Krauss and Union Station, but that is only half of the story. Dan Tyminski - Alison Krauss' right-hand man, singing voice of George Clooney in "O Brother" and all around good guy provides that hair-raising lead vocal on "Blue Trail". Dan ALSO gives an equally scintillating performance on the opening track "I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers". (Both of these are from AKUS' "So Long, So Wrong" Disc - HIGHLY recommented)The wonderful tune "Man of Constant Sorrow" made famous by Tyminski (singing for Clooney) in the movie is here from a recording from Banjo Wizard Tony Furtado, but the vocal is by the incomparable Tim O'Brien - on pretty much ANYONE's SHORT list of "best Bluegrass or Americana vocalists." (And anyone wanting to complete their "Man of Constant Sorrow" collections would do well to get Ralph Stanley's original version, Blue Highway's - with Shawn Lane's lead vocal, and "The Pizza Tapes" with David Grisman, Tony Rice and Jerry Garcia's lead vocal.)

So - the rest of the album is great too, but tip your hats to Tim O'Brien and Dan Tyminski.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call This 'O Brother' II, October 6, 2002

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blue Trail of Sorrow (Audio CD)

To say that the this collection of bluegrass music from the Rounder stable of artists wouldn't exist were it not for the "O Brother" phenomenon would be to overstate the obvious. Not only does it feature some of the same artists (Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Norman Blake, the Cox Family), it also features two of the same songs: Lloyd Chandler's a capella "A conversation with Death" (retitled and reworked as "O Death" by Ralph Stanley on the "O Brother" soundtrack) and banjo whiz Tony Furtado and vocalist/madolin player extraordinaire Tim O'Brien's "Man of Constant Sorrow." Both of these versions are certainly the equal of the "O Brother" soundtrack recordings.

However, to mistake this collection as a mere knock-off in a crass attempt to sell a few albums would be a mistake. This is a thoroughly enjoyable anthology from start to finish. While most of the material has been pulled from the artists' nineties output, Hazel Dickens' mournful "Hills of Home" is from 1986, Norman Blake's "Bringing in the Georgia Mail" is from his 1972 debut, and the Stanley Brothers' "Meet Me in the Moonlight" is from a 1959 radio broadcast. Overall, this is a terrific overview of a handful of the numerous gifted artists on the Rounder label dedicated to carrying bluegrass into the 21st Century. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "getting back to the roots of Bluegrass in early days", October 8, 2001

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blue Trail of Sorrow (Audio CD)

Rounder records gives us a glimpse of what Bluegrass was all about from the early beginnings with a new breed of musicians and entertainers, the likes you've never heard is on this latest compilation ~ "Blue Trail of Sorrow", sixteen charted Bluegrass gems from todays top-notch artists ~ Norman Blake, Lloyd Chandler, Cox Family, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Hazel Dickens, Freight Hoppers, Tony Furtado, John Hartford, Carol Elizabeth Jones, James King, Alison Krauss, Tim O'Brien, Dirk Powell, Stanley Brothers Dan Tyminski and Rhonda Vincent head this all-star extravaganza with shades of Bill Monroe, The Dillards, Flatt & Scruggs, Foggy Mountain Boys and John Fahey.

If anyone saw the film "O Brother Where Art Thou?", heard the music or the spin off album "Down From the Mountain", can relate to the close harmony of early Americana...just want to leave you with this tidbit...Rounder, we need a lot more of the same!

Total Time: 51:41 on 16 Tracks ~ Rounder 116-610-500-2 (2001)