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Coal

Kathy MatteaAudio CD
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)

Price: $13.85 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Formats

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MP3 Music, 11 Songs, 2008 $9.49  
Audio CD, 2008 $13.85  

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore 4:11$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  2. Blue Diamond Mines 4:59$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  3. Red-Winged Blackbird 2:53$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  4. Lawrence Jones 3:04$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  5. Green Rolling Hills 3:46$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  6. Coal Tattoo 3:17$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  7. Sally In the Garden0:44$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  8. You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive 5:03$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen  9. Dark as a Dungeon 4:34$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen10. Coming of the Roads 4:38$1.09  Buy MP3 
listen11. Black Lung/ Coal 6:08$1.09  Buy MP3 


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Biography

Most artists take fewer and fewer risks as they get older, but Kathy Mattea is a striking exception. She didn’t play it safe while she charted mainstream country hits—16 of them reaching the top ten—and she’s not about to start now.

Four years ago, Mattea, one of the most sure-footed country-pop song interpreters of her generation, caught everyone off guard with ... Read more in Amazon's Kathy Mattea Store

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Coal + Calling Me Home + Definitive Collection
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Product Details

  • Audio CD (April 1, 2008)
  • Original Release Date: 2008
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: R.E.D. Distribution
  • ASIN: B0013LPS6G
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,487 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Grammy winner and environmental activist Kathy MAttea, known for such classic hits as "18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses," has dreamed quietly about one day recording an album like COAL. Raised near Charleston, West Virginia, her childhood was steeped in the Appalachian culture and her mining heritage is thick: bother her parents grew up in coal camps, her grandfathers were miners, and her mother worked for the local UMWA. But the songs on COAL are more than just mining songs. Mattea says she wanted to pay tribute to "my place and my people."

The idea for COAL began to gel during the Sago Mine Disaster, which killed twelve WV miners in 2006. "I knew the time was right," says Mattea. COAL forced her to dig really deep to find the power to let these songs come forth. Co-producer Marty Stuart understood her core relationship to these songs, that they were "in her blood." As Mattea says, "I think there's a mystery there. Somewhere in my DNA, there's my great grandmother singing, my grandma, and my people singing through me, with me." Singer, songs, producer, and pickers have come together flawlessly to form COAL, a career record for Mattea and a great gift for music lovers.

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
(35)
4.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The albums UNTASTED HONEY and TIME PASSES BY were always the standard I held Kathy Mattea to, and they are both from a much earlier period in her career. Continuing to buy Mattea's CD's now and then, I had grown resigned that she just couldn't surpass those two high water marks, where folk met country and country met bluegrass and everything was blended beautifully by that powerful voice. She's had some great songs through the years since then, and good records, too, don't get me wrong. But now, finally, Mattea has reached a new career touchstone.

As Patty Loveless and Dolly Parton have done before her, Kathy has returned to her roots, and like them, she has set a new standard for herself. This record is so gorgeous, it's hard to be objective about its dark subject. The instrumentals, singing and song selections reveal themselves quickly, though, leaving no doubt that this is a labor of love. And while I'm gushing, let me also say that Mattea is doing the most sensitive and dynamic singing of her life, and it's brought to life through a very crisp and clear recording that captures her warmth in deep, rich tones. As others have written on these pages, Kathy Mattea comes from coal, and knows her subject deeply. This may also account for the extra emotion that fuels her voice throughout this work. It sounds both effortless and soulful, a hallmark of artistry that has reached full maturity.

Now, depressing as some ot the subject matter is, here, I just can't help but be moved by the beauty of these songs, and Mattea's singing. Many of the songs are associated with other artists and some of the songs are very old. Utah Phillips' "Green Rolling Hills" contains instrumental strains of "Wildwood Flower.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Among her best... April 6, 2008
Format:Audio CD
Kathy Mattea's "Coal" is an album of coal mining songs. Having come from West Virgina Mattea knows a thing or two about the life of a coal miner. The songs on here are all pretty bleak and as dark as the coal of which they were written about. The album is not depressing however. Many of these songs of been recorded by many others, but Mattea makes them her own with her beautiful vocals. There isn't a weak track on here, the entire album from start to finish is an incredible piece of work. However the most incredible track on here is the final track, "Black Lung" sung a capella Mattea is breathtaking.
"Coal" is the first album released on Mattea's own "Captain Potato Records" (say "Kathy Mattea" real fast and you'll understand where she got the name of her label from) and is produced beautifully by Marty Stuart. As with other artists who have been dropped from a major label and gone out and released their music thru their own labels, Mattea is free to do the music she likes and it shows on every track. Although "Coal" could very well be the best album she's every made, it does rank up there with her "Time Passes By", "Lonesome Standard Time" and "Love Travels" albums as well as her Christmas album, "Good News".
If you're a fan of Kathy Mattea you will love this album.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Renditions of some classic material April 10, 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Kathy Mattea definitely knows her way around music. And, like Patty Loveless with "Mountain Soul", I always love when a performer goes back to their roots. I mean literal roots, where they grew up and the music that permeated their childhood. You know you're going to get genuine, "really been there because I lived it" music. While Loveless has the plaintive thing down better, Kathy still works the material very well.

I can't say that every single song is a gem, but from only one listen, I know this has no lumps of coal (sorry); all the songs are well done and are tributes to the writers, other performers and especially to the people about whom these were written.

You can hear when there is love involved in a music project because the performances are more vital and alive; the artist and their accompanying musicians are vested in the performances because they know this music as though it is part of the very fabric of their being -- because it is. That's when you get an album like this.

So, yes, this is definitely a keeper and one of Kathy's best efforts.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A TRUE COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER October 22, 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was first introduced to Kathy Mattea nearly 20 years ago, when she was more of a Country-style singer. I have liked her voice from the start, as it reminded me a little of a cross between Anne Murray and Lori Lieberman (two of my other favorite female singers!). As time has passed, however, Kathy has been delving more into folk, bluegrass and Celtic music -- and I have enjoyed her voice even more.

"Coal" is one of her best albums to date. These are all songs that are about and dedicated to the coal-mining lifestyle. As someone whose grandfathers were both coal miners -- and to whom Kathy has dedicated this album -- she has experienced much of what she sings about on this album, which also explains why she sings these songs with such pathos, passion and feeling.

Another thing which strikes me is the simplicity of this album, from the acoustic-only instrumentation (fiddles, mandolin, banjo, piano and guitars -- the acoustic guitar of which Kathy plays in a couple of tracks -- to the eco-friendly packaging (a cardboard rather than jewel case), which is also fitting with Kathy's environmental concerns.

Among the standouts on this album are "Red-Winged Blackbird," "Green Rolling Hills" (Kathy's tribute to Virginia), the fast-paced "Coal Tattoo," "Sally in the Garden" (a banjo solo by Stuart Duncan, represented by the love that coal miners had for Celtic music), "Dark as a Dungeon" (describing the life inside the coal mines), and the environmental cry in "Coming of the Roads."

Probably the biggest standout is "Black Lung/Coal." It starts out as a mandolin solo, and then segues into Kathy Mattea's beautiful a capella rendition of "Black Lung," describing a disease which has taken many a coal miner's life.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great job
I love this disc. The sound of pure Country Music has been lost over the years. But not here, Kathy, while working with Marty Stuart, has taken country music back to it's roots. Read more
Published 22 days ago by DAVID
5.0 out of 5 stars Coal - Kathy Mattea
Mattea's rich voice, her phrasing and the stunning background work of her band make this an unforgettable CD. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ann L. Sims
2.0 out of 5 stars Depressing Album
I cna't remember a CD I have purchased that is more depressing than this one. Had I known, I would never have purchased it.
Published 3 months ago by Dale A. Darrough
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
I was a huge fan of Kathy Mattea's in the 90s but had lost touch with her music as the 2000s hit. Recently I just happened to see that she was playing a concert a few miles from... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Vintagegal
4.0 out of 5 stars Coal
The selection of songs is excellent as they are not ones that I had ever heard. They do a good job of weaving together a story of what it is like to live in West Virginia or... Read more
Published 9 months ago by J. R.
4.0 out of 5 stars home girl music
These anthems strike a special chord [sorry for the terrible pun] with those of us here in Appalachia who oppose the excesses of the Big Coal industry. Read more
Published 22 months ago by C. Ellis
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, beautiful album
Another reviewer already noted that coal mine songs could be depressing,but this album is not. Right on. Read more
Published on January 15, 2011 by Always a Critic
5.0 out of 5 stars Kathy Mattea's "Coal"
This CD is AWESOME. First, Kathy Mattea's voice and her delivery of these songs were absolutely fantastic. Read more
Published on August 1, 2009 by M. H. Alston
5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-wrenchingly beautiful
I've been a Kathy Mattea fan for a long time, and knew this new album would be good, but was unprepared for just how good, how emotionally powerful it is. Read more
Published on July 14, 2009 by L. Graf
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding mix of musicianship, emotion and substance
Terrific compilation! Excellent musicianship meets a heartwrenching subject. The beauty of the songs in this collection contrast with the tales they tell of hardship and loss in... Read more
Published on May 16, 2009 by Jetstream
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Kathy Mattea 'Coal' album
I listened to this CD right after it came out while I was on a trip through Harlan Kentucky and Matewan WV. I bought the CD specifically for the trip after hearing her interviewed on a Public Radio station. It was eerie driving by lines of empty coal cars as "The L
Sep 25, 2009 by P. E. Garrett |  See all 4 posts
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