O Brother, Where Art Thou? [Paperback]

Hal Leonard Corp. (Author, Creator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

Grammy Award winner for Album of the Year! This unique songbook features nine selections from the critically-acclaimed Coen brothers film, arranged in melody/lyric/chord format with guitar tab to be played by a wide variety of musicians. The traditional songs for this film were selected by T-Bone Burnett to capture the sound of the early-'30s South, and the award-winning movie soundtrack has done much to rekindle interest in the folk/blues/bluegrass/gospel genres. Songs include: Big Rock Candy Mountain (Harry McClintock) * You Are My Sunshine (Norman Blake) * Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Chris Thomas King) * I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (The Soggy Bottom Boys/Norman Blake) * Keep on the Sunny Side (The Whites) * I'll Fly Away (Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch) * and more. Includes many pages of great photos from the film.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Founded in 1947, Hal Leonard Corporation has become the worlds largest print music publisher, representing some of the greatest songwriters and artists of all time. We are proud to publish titles of interest to all musicians as well as music lovers, from songbooks and instructional titles to artist biographies and instrument price guides to books about the music industry and all the performing arts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0634031554
• ISBN-13: 978-0634031557
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You know....you could READ the description first..., April 17, 2003

By 

Frank T Swerda (College Park, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Paperback)

Seriously, it states quite clearly what this is and what it is NOT. It never claims to have all of the songs from the movie. And it is quite clearly a GUITAR songbook, and wouldn't include music for accapella songs such as "Down to the River" or "O Death".

By the way, "Angel Band", which I agree would have made a nice addition to the book, is widely available on the net as it is quite an old stanadard. I'd much rather they leave off songs like that in favor of unique arrangements of songs like "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues". I suspect that song is the reason many people bought this book. I know it was for me.

59 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "O Brother" with some glaring omissions, February 28, 2002

By 

Michael (Worthington, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Paperback)

Be warned that the title of this book is actually "SELECTIONS FROM O Brother, Where Art Thou?" This is essentially a guitar tabulature songbook, so some of the most striking songs from the movie/album are missing: "O Death," "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby." "Po Lazarus," "Down In the River to Pray," "Angel Band" (guitar part too simple???). So, anyone expecting a complete songbook of the movie soundtrack will be quite disappointed. For the songs that are there, the tab looks pretty good (sorry, I only play banjo, not guitar.), but keep your reading glasses on, because it's a bit on the small side. The end of the book has a few pages of very clear explanatory notes concerning all the special notations in the book. Overall it's a good book for the guitar player, but I wish that ALL the songs from the movie were included.

5.0 out of 5 stars Really good music book!!, November 9, 2011

By 

xraytek7 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Paperback)

I bought this book only about a month ago and I am already playing three or four of the songs. It is easy to understand and has all the necessities for playing the songs. It was also in excellent condition. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to play the songs from the movie. Two thumbs up!!