Search - Hazel Dickens :: By the Sweat of My Brow

Old time music with a modern edge.

Roger Jönsson | Lund, Sweden | 08/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After her break up with her singing partner Alice Gerrard, Hazel Dickens made three wonderful solo-albums for Rounder. The first, "Hard Hitting Song For Hard Hit People", contained a surprisingly wide range of musical styles, from hard honky tonk laments to uptempo bluegrass and slow folk songs, all focusing on the plight of the working man. As the title, "By The Sweat Of My Brow" implies, that theme was continued in this, her second solo record. The songs include a cover of James Talley's working class anthem "Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again", the extremely beautiful ballad "Mama's Hand" and "Little Lenaldo" on the subject of child labor.) The music is less varied this time, focusing on pure, acoustic mountain music or old time country. But we get some sad love songs as well, all aching with loneliness ("Beyond The River Bend", "Only The Lonely" and "Scars From An Old Love".) Peter La Farge's "Ballad Of Ira Hayes" is reworked into a bluegrass number. Musically this record is the logical step between her first and third solo work, "It's Hard To Tell The Singer From The Song", which was even more bluegrass-oriented. I love all three records (as well as all her earlier duo-work with Alice) but this record might actually be the hardest one to appreciate for the first-time listner, so I'd recommend you check out "Hard Hitting Songs" first. Hazel has a strong voice, full of character, and some might find that they may need some time to get used to it, but once you do, there's hardly anything more beautiful in country music. Or more heartfelt."

One of Hazel's best.

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 03/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bluegrass/old-timey legend Hazel Dickens returns with another stunning album featuring song after song exploring the hardships, losses and endurance of the working class poor, as well as women's issues such as domestic abuse, etc. The title track, written by Jack Rhodes, is a winner, a welcome throwback to old-fashioned left-leaning social protest songs, and which perfectly compliments the original songs and well-chosen cover tunes that stud the rest of the album. It's territory that Dickens has covered before, but this album has a compactness and sureness about it that will stop you in your tracks. Several songs feature a bunch of "usual suspects" bluegrass super-pickers, such as Jerry Douglas, Blaine Sprouse, Dudley Connell, etc. -- Hazel Dickens is one of the few modern artists who seems capable of getting these slick studio cats to play *her* music, and not theirs... This record is wonderfully restrained, and quietly powerful. Recommended!"