O Brother Where Art Thou - Original Soundtrack

...Consider buying the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou!

One would think that after such an experience I would hardly be likely to listen to or write a review on any music with a similar sound…at least not a Positive review! Yet, here I am to expound upon the delights of this marvelous music. I was raised on a highly eclectic collection of musical genres and am certainly no stranger to country music. Alongside such musical ...
...celebrities.” Anyone who has seen O Brother would have to agree that the music is inextricably entwined with the feel of the film as a whole, and that it is a major contributor to setting in regards to both time and emotion. Unique in the genre of soundtracks, we are given nineteen songs in this CD that can take you back to time when everyone was scraping to get by and needed a little hope handed to them from time to time.

The ... more

This soundtrack has a very specific sound, and therefore should not be purchased lightly. Here you will find a superb collection of bluegrass, early blues, pre-commercialized country, gospel, hill billy folk music by a variety of excellent performers. If you don’t like any of these sounds, then this CD is Not for you! Let me share a little personal experience with you to better illustrate the point I want to make to you.

My husband is a Leader for one of our local Boy Scout troops. The leaders of this troop and their families have a yearly date where we camp out for a weekend in a small campground high in the Allegheny Mountains. Now, this is a great little campground even if it is also rather focused on its collective religious beliefs, but we had no idea that they would also be hosting a Four Hour Gospel revival just across from where our tents were pitched. I didn’t think much about it at first because, hey, Gospel music is rather relaxing and when you got right down to it, this was Free music.

However, you Really have to like the genre of music being played if you are going to listen to it for Four Hours Straight! After the first two hours, it just became a relatively unique example of acoustic torture. They, however, were so enraptured with their musical fervor that they ran an hour and a half Longer than expected, resulting in a grand total of Five and a Half Hours of highly enthusiastic modern Gospel tunes for everyone within earshot! So, I can’t emphasize enough that you Must enjoy at least the general sound of these musical genres before you even Consider buying the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou!

One would think that after such an experience I would hardly be likely to listen to or write a review on any music with a similar sound…at least not a Positive review! Yet, here I am to expound upon the delights of this marvelous music. I was raised on a highly eclectic collection of musical genres and am certainly no stranger to country music. Alongside such musical performers as Ethel Waters, Rush, Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles, I also learned to appreciate Patsy Cline, Mel Tillis, and Crystal Gayle at an early age. I continue to enjoy all of these artists as well as many, many more! Country music, though, will always have a special place in my heart, especially those early country sounds with guitar and a hot fiddle or something undeniably bluegrass.

This soundtrack is simply loaded with some of the greatest music from the Great Depression era. In the ten page booklet included with this CD, Ethan Coen says, “The mountain music, the delta blues, gospel, the chain-gang chants, would later evolve into bluegrass, commercial country music and rock & roll. But it is compelling music in its own right, harking back to a time when music was a part of everyday life and not something performed by celebrities.” Anyone who has seen O Brother would have to agree that the music is inextricably entwined with the feel of the film as a whole, and that it is a major contributor to setting in regards to both time and emotion. Unique in the genre of soundtracks, we are given nineteen songs in this CD that can take you back to time when everyone was scraping to get by and needed a little hope handed to them from time to time.

The Play list:

1. Po Lazarus performed by James Carter & the Prisoners
2. Big Rock Candy Mountain by Harry McClintock
3. You Are My Sunshine by Norman Blake
4. Down to the River to Pray by Alison Krauss
5. I am a Man of Constant Sorrow by The Soggy Bottom Boys
6. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues by Chris Thomas King
7. I am a Man of Constant Sorrow by Norman Blake (violin only)
8. Keep on the Sunny Side by The Whites
9. I’ll Fly Away by Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch
10. Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby by Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch
11. In the Highways by Sarah, Hannah, and Leah Peasall
12. I am Weary (Let Me Rest) by The Cox Family
13. I am a Man of Constant Sorrow by John Hartford
14. O Death by Ralph Stanley
15. In the Jailhouse Now by The Soggy Bottom Boys
16. I am a Man of Constant Sorrow by The Soggy Bottom Boys
17. Indian War Whoop by John Hartford
18. Lonesome Valley by The Fairfield Four
19. Angel Band by The Stanley Brothers

My Favorites:

Big Rock Candy Mountain is an old hobo song that I learned in music class when I was young, and I have not heard it sung in its entirety since those long ago days. I’ve always loved the lyrics and now I am especially fond of this rendition by the song’s creator, Harry McClintock. Lines like “… all the cops have wooden legs and the bulldogs all have rubber teeth..” or “Where they hung the jerk who invented work..” tickled me when I was young and now that I am grown, I marvel at this hobo ballad that perfectly captures a slice of American history from a unique perspective.

Like Keep on the Sunny Side, You Are My Sunshine seems like it has been around forever. Both are tunes that my mother used to sing to me, and I in turn have spent many hours in darkened rooms crooning these to my own children. My oldest daughter will still ask for the more melancholy You Are My Sunshine, especially when she is sick, although my youngest (who seems to be naturally Sunny!) prefers the more uplifting Keep on the Sunny Side. Both are fairly simple songs but I could listen to these renditions with their instrumental weavings of guitar, mandolin, and vocals over and over.

I love the harmony of voices you find in many of the songs on this CD. Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby and Man of Constant Sorrow by the Soggy Bottom Boys are two of my favorites. Both are marvelous examples of early American Folk music. I read in the booklet that a concert was put together on May 24th, 2000 with all of the musicians who participated in the soundtrack. I can only imagine what a unique and amazing experience this must have been, but Robert K. Oermann ended his page on this topic with these words: “It was a night of healing, a night to restore the spirit, a night of blessings and wonder. Rain cascaded on the city streets as we made our way home, which was a fitting metaphor for the cleansing that the music had given us. The ghosts in country’s most revered venue rested easy that nigh. We all did.” That sums it up very well for me.

The last tune I’ll share with you is In the Jailhouse Now. Thanks to the healthy helping of country music I had while growing up, I can’t even begin to tell you how many renditions of this song I have heard! This one blows them all away. Pat Enright’s unique voice and wonderful sense of delivery coupled with the yodeling of Barry Bales against a solid background of guitars, bass, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo really brings back the feel of Nashville’s vaudeville shows with this entertaining tune about a ne’er-do-well.

As much as I enjoy the music of this distinctive soundtrack, I think that am especially impressed by the excellence with which it was put together and presented. Visually pleasing without being intrusive or overbearing, the cover of the CD is merely a shot from the film of the three main characters escaping from the chain gang. The pages of the booklet included are presented much like the pages of an old family memorabilia book with a mixture of pictures from the film, campaign buttons, newspaper clippings, postmarks, and ticket stubs. You almost overlook all of the edifying paragraphs nestled in there!

Besides being artistically pleasing, this little booklet is remarkably informative. It speaks at length on the era in which this film was set, the plot and characters of the movie, behind the scenes thoughts and happenings, and the artists you will hear on the soundtrack. I simply love that the devoted two pages to nothing else than giving us a little snippet of information on each artist, living or dead.

I enjoyed the film well enough, but knew immediately that I would have to acquire this soundtrack… not only for myself, but for my husband. Until receiving this for Christmas, he had to make do fulfilling his periodic need for bluegrass and mountain music by tuning into a weekly local radio program. Since purchasing this soundtrack and in examining it for this review, I have been awestruck by the superlative skill with which the entire concept of O Brother has been presented. Each aspect only seems to compliment the next and no feature was neglected! Visually, musically, in writing, performance, setting, costuming, and presentation O Brother is a masterwork. Like the music of its soundtrack, it may not appeal to everyone…yet it should rightly be recognized for the unique and flawless work that it undeniably is! The only question left is…Are *You* a Dapper Dan man? Play Me Some of That Old Timey Music!

 

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