O Brother, Where Art Thou?

by Ralph Stanley, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Alison Krauss, John Hartford

Overview

Set in Mississippi in the 1930s and inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, Joel and Ethan Coen's new film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? features a first-rate soundtrack of period music performed largely by contemporary artists. In this context, the Alan Lomax-recorded field holler by James Carter & the Prisoners, "Po Lazarus," and Harry McClintock's original 1928 recording of his poignant hobo classic "Big Rock Candy Mountain" are of a piece with Delta blues great Skip James's "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues," interpreted authoritatively by Chris Thomas King. The pristine beauty of revered standards such as "I'll Fly Away" (with Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch harmonizing over a spare acoustic arrangement) and "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," featuring Krauss, Welch, and Emmylou Harris in close, heart-tugging harmony, will bring tears to all but the hard-core heathens among us. And check out the sub-teen Peasall Sisters, who are simply fabulous on a feisty interpretation of Maybelle Carter's "In the Highways."

Product Details

Release Date:	12/05/2000
Label:	Lost Highway
UPC:	0008817006925
catalogNumber:	170069
Rank:	3037

Tracks

1. Po' Lazarus
2. Big Rock Candy Mountain
3. You Are My Sunshine
4. Down to the River to Pray
5. I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow
6. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
7. I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow
8. Keep on the Sunny Side
9. I'll Fly Away
10. Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby
11. In the Highways
12. I Am Weary, Let Me Rest
13. I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow
14. O Death
15. In the Jailhouse Now
16. I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow
17. Indian War Whoop
18. Lonesome Valley
19. Angel Band

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ralph Stanley   Vocals
Jerry Douglas   Dobro
Sam Bush   Mandolin
Alison Krauss   Vocals
John Hartford   Fiddle,Vocals
Buck White   Mandolin,Vocals
Mike Compton   Mandolin
Barry Bales   Bass
Ron Block   Banjo
Curtis Burch   Dobro
Evelyn Cox   Guitar
Sidney Cox   Banjo,Vocals
Suzanne Cox   Mandolin,Vocals
Willard Cox   Vocals
Stuart Duncan   Fiddle
Pat Enright   Vocals,yodeling
Isaac Freeman   Bass,Vocals
James Hill   Vocals
Maura O'Connell   Vocals
Dan Tyminski   Guitar,Vocals
Wilson Waters   Vocals
Cheryl White   Bass,Vocals
Sharon White   Guitar,Vocals
Gillian Welch   Vocals
Dub Cornett   Vocals
Chris Thomas   Guitar,Vocals
David Rawlings   Vocals
Chris Sharp   Guitar
Robert Hamlett   Vocals
Joseph Rice   Vocals
Sarah Peasall   Vocals
Hannah Peasall   Vocals
Leah Peasall   Vocals
Sam Phillips   Vocals
Norman Blake   Guitar,Vocals
First Baptist Church of Norfolk Choir   Vocals
Soggy Bottom Boys   Track Performer
Tim Blake Nelson   Track Performer
James Carter And The Prisoners   Track Performer

Technical Credits

Alan Lomax   Arranger
T Bone Burnett   Arranger,Producer
Carter Stanley   Arranger

Editorial Reviews

The critical consensus at the end of 2000 was that it had been one of the weakest film years in recent memory. Which may have been true, despite O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Coen brothers' delightfully warm and weird Depression-era re-telling of Homer's Odyssey. But for music lovers, 2000 was an amazing year at the movies, and it produced several excellent soundtrack compilations including Almost Famous, Dancer in the Dark, Wonder Boys, and High Fidelity. Even with such steep competition, the soundtrack album for O Brother, Where Art Thou? may be the best of the year. In order to capture the sound of Mississippi circa 1932, the Coens commissioned T-Bone Burnett, a masterful producer whose work with artists like Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips, Joseph Arthur, and Counting Crows has earned him a special place in the folk-rock hall of fame, to research and re-create the country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and blues of the era. The Coens were so taken with Burnett's discoveries that the film became a unique sort of musical revue. There are no original compositions here (though Burnett is given a "music by" credit usually reserved for composers), and the characters do not generally break into stylized song and dance numbers (as they do in, say, Everyone Says I Love You). But nearly every scene in O Brother is set to a period song, and the music frequently drives and defines the action. With two exceptions -- a stunning 1955 Alan Lomax recording of a black prison chain gang singing "Po Lazarus," and Harry McClintock's "Big Rock Candy Mountain" -- every song was recorded for the film by an impressive assembly of old-time country veterans (Fairfield Four, Ralph Stanley, the Whites) and talented newcomers (Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris). These recordings, which were made without the meddling clarity of digital technology, give the film much of its power and authenticity. A significant segment of the plot hinges on the (utterly plausible) notion that Dan Tyminksi's ebullient rendition of "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" could be a runaway hit. A memorable sequence involving three riverside sirens centers around an eerie version of "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby." And Stanley's a cappella performance of "O Death" sets a chilling tone for a climactic struggle at a Ku Klux Klan rally. Throughout, Burnett's steady guiding hand is evident. This soundtrack is a powerful tribute not only to the time-honored but commercially ignored genres of bluegrass and mountain music but also to Burnett's remarkable skills as a producer.

All Music Guide - Evan Cater

...the Coen brothers, together with producer T Bone Burnett, have assembled a collection of folk, bluegrass, gospel and hobo country so true to the music's down-home, egalitarian roots that it's hard to distinguish the old tracks from the new and the folk heroes from screen actors.

Rolling Stone - Barry Walters