Customer Reviews

Hazel & Alice

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this album almost 25 years ago; it has stayed in my memory haunting and fresh ever since.To me, this is Roots music: the sound of folks from up and down the hollow sitting in the parlor on a Saturday evening, making music from the scrappy instruments they owned and the hard-scrabble lives they led. There are songs here of hard times, faith, love, sorrow. Some are bleak, some are optimistic, if skeptical. But there's not a song or a sound here that isn't rooted in the reality of life and living. Hazel and Alice complement each other beautifully. Hazel's voice is piercing; Alice's soothes. I can't think of any two better people to spend an evening with.

Hazel and Alice have given us a truly remarkable legacy with their three albums. This one, their second, stands out to me as remarkably pure and taut. The songs are touching, deep, and political- not in the typical confrontational way. It's a subltle, grass-roots politics with feminist undertones. The first song, "Mining Camp Blues" is a traditional mining ballad. The second speaks of the kindness of strangers. The song "The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia" is sublimely beautiful- a touching poem about the ravages of exploitation and "hard times" in West Virginia. The old primitive Baptist hymn "A Few More Years Shall Roll" is striking, bleak, and poignant. "Two Soldiers", also recorded by Bob Dylan, is no less than enchanting. "The Sweetest Gift a Mother's Smile" tells of a woman's love for her son in prison- a love that cannot be shaken by his misshaps. Two songs by Hazel Dickens- "My Better Years" and "Don't Put her Down You Helped Put Her There"- speak for women's issues. Alice's beautiful "Custom Made Woman Blues" also reiiterates the feminist undertones found throughout the album. Alice also penned "You Gave Me a Song", a wonderful old- timey tune. "Pretty Bird" is an acapella piece sung by Hazel. The theme is freedom- from oppression and injustice. The last piece, the instrumental "Gallop to Kansas", composed by Alice, ends the album with a beautiful and mysterious wisp. This is art, pure and simple. The timelessness of these pieces and the themes that resound in their words stand as a testament to the work and artistry so meticulously cultivated by these two artists. Cheers to Hazel and Alice!

This is a fine CD. Hazel & Alice sing in lean and almost abrupt lines, peculiarly American, and their original songs are startling and beautiful. There's nothing outwardly prettified about the music - it's hard and strong and heartbreaking. But that directness frees ruminative sentiment to run deep through each song and allows these two artists to construct music that resonates meaningfully. Alice uses some unique banjo tunings, and their vocals practice the expected Appalachian flat tuning method with unexpected warmth and intimacy. 'A Few More years Shall Roll', taken from the Primitive Baptist Hymn Book, especially shows an unrivalled vocal mastery. This is the only Hazel and Alice disc I've heard, but would be inclined to try others.

Hazel Dickens has one of the finest American voices heard since Maybelle Carter. Her songs will tear your heart out. These are authentic "rural white folks blues" tunes, some of which reflect 1970's issues, ie, women's rights, war, etc.

If you love American rural music, un-shrinkwrapped, this is the album.

Evangeline G. Jupiter, Florida

Anyone who wants to hear the best Appalachian Mountain/bluegrass music ever recorded should buy this CD. It is a rare treasure. I have been a fan of this music for more than 40 years, and I would rate this "album" as my favorite by far. "The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia" and "You Gave Me A Song" tell the story of homesick Mountaineers who had to migrate to cities to find work as well as the story has ever been told.

There is nothing better than Hazel & Alice if you are looking for great roots bluegrass mountain music.

Recently I have been "running the table" on the mountain music genre. From the pioneer work of the venerable Carter Family through to Ralph Stanley and on to the `revival' brought forth in the early part of this decade by such movies as "Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Songcatcher" I have paid more than passing tribute to this quintessential American musical form, complete with fiddle, mandolin and lonely Saturday nights out in the hills and hollows of Appalachia and other rural environs. I have, thus, pretty much exhausted the milieu, right? Wrong. No homage to the modern mountain music scene can be complete with out paying tribute to the work of singer/songwriter Hazel Dickens (and at times musical companion Alice Gerrard, among others).

There was time when, if one was given a choice, the name Hazel Dickens would be the first to come up when naming the most well known voice of the modern mountain music tradition. Her voice spoke of the hardships of the rural life, the trials and tribulations of trying to eke out an existence on some hard scrabble rocky farmland or, more likely, in the coals mines or textiles factories that dominated that landscape for much of the second half of the 20th century. That was the pure, almost primordial voice that spoke of the sorrows of hill life, but also the joys of coming to terms with a very personal (and, apparently) angry god by way of singing away those working women blues, and you can add in a few tunes for those hard-bitten farmers and coals miners as well.

So, needless to say, this little CD is filled with original work and covers on just those subjects mentioned above. From a cover of Utah Phillip's "Rolling Hills Of West Virginia" to the Carter Family's "Hello Stranger' and Sweetest Gift" this is what mountain music is like at the top. Listen and see if you agree.

This CD reminds me of a late night campfire sing along and is a little too rough for my tastes. I bought it for one song that I had heard and liked. The rest won't be loaded on the Ipod.