Hazel & Alice

by Alice Gerrard, Hazel Dickens, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard

Overview

Although Dickens and Gerrard had recorded a couple of albums as a duo in the mid-1960s, those were more traditional-minded bluegrass recordings than this 1973 effort. Several of the songs documented women's experiences in personal terms that struck a chord in many listeners involved in the women's movement, a constituency that the performers were not consciously addressing and somewhat surprised (though pleased) to reach. In fact, about half of this was devoted to traditional numbers by the likes of the Carter Family and Wilma Lee Cooper, but the original numbers brought a still-rare feminist viewpoint to folk and bluegrass music, particularly Dickens' "Don't Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There." The songs make their points about women's struggles without being doctrinaire; the vocals (both solo and harmony) are impassioned, particularly on the Dickens a cappella showcase "Pretty Bird," and the musicianship appropriately spare. The CD reissue features extensive historical liner notes and track-by-track commentary by country music authority Charles Wolfe. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	04/25/1995
Label:	Rounder Select / Rounder
UPC:	0011661002722
Rank:	107133

Tracks

1. Mining Camp Blues
2. Hello Stranger
3. The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia
4. A Few More Years
5. Two Soldiers
6. The Sweetest Gift, a Mother's Smile
7. Tomorrow I'll Be Gone
8. My Better Years
9. Custom Made Woman Blues
10. Don't Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There
11. You Gave Me a Song
12. Pretty Bird
13. Gallop to Kansas

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard   Primary Artist
Hazel Dickens   Primary Artist,Bass,Guitar,Vocals,Soloist,Tenor (Vocal)
Alice Gerrard   Primary Artist,Banjo,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Soloist,Autoharp,Vocal Harmony
Lamar Grier   Banjo
Buddy Charlton   Pedal Steel
Tracy Schwarz   Dobro,Fiddle,Guitar
Kenny Kosek   Fiddle
Richard Crooks   Drums
Mike Seeger   Bass,Banjo,Fiddle,Guitar,Mandolin,Harmonica
Tom Gray   Bass
Roger Mason   Bass
Carl Nelson   Piano,Fiddle

Technical Credits

Alice Gerrard   Harmony,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Performer
J.B. Coats   Composer
Dale Appleman   Cover Design
Nancy Given   Design
Alvin Rosenbaum   Photography
David Gahr   Photography
Charles K. Wolfe   Liner Notes
Traditional   Composer
Trixie Smith   Composer
Bob Dylan   Composer
David Byrne   Composer
Toby Mountain   Mastering
Utah Phillips   Composer
Naomi Judd   Liner Notes
A.P. Carter   Composer
Mike Seeger   Engineer
Brian Eno   Composer
Bruce Phillips   Composer
Hazel Dickens   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Performer
Public Domain   Composer
Wilma Lee Cooper   Composer