Private Archive of Raw, Unearthed Home Recordings by Two Pioneering Vocalists

The press release mentions these two women are musical trailblazers and, in some respects, I would add unique innovators. To maintain a musical tradition over a hundred years old and sing it with the same passion and ingenuity without sounding corny is a miracle. They are simply transcending the ages and assuring that a vital musical history continues — not on the pop charts — but as our tradition. Unlike today’s music which tries to be a hit, to appeal to the widest audience, to be hook-laden, and usually sweet. This music was recording history and despite its lack of chart success — have become classics in their respective genre. 

These ladies didn’t sail over from Ireland, Scotland or England with a trunkful of traditional folk songs and dump them on the desks of some Boston musical publisher who was seeking the “lost” songs of another generation.

But in the excellent film “Songcatcher” a musicologist who was passed over for a promotion visits her sister, a teacher, in the mountains of North Carolina and discovers “lost” songs in what has become known as Appalachia. While many old songs were passed down through the family, it was true that many were not written down. Today, we have many old songs recorded for prosperity. These women — Dickens and Gerrard — came late to the game (as the 1960’s) but they were the first female duo to perform and record true bluegrass.

Though Hazel Dickens was born in 1925 in West Virginia — her recording career didn’t ignite until the early 60’s. Ms. Gerrard is from Seattle. These were two women who enjoyed playing together and the songs in this collection, for the most part, have never been released. Will it shake up the commercial charts? Of course not. Will it interest purists and the curious who love bluegrass, folk, country, roots, and Americana music? Yes, I think it will.

These tunes all emanate from a private archive (Alice Gerrard) that was fortunately taken care of through the decades. Reel-to-reel tapes are notorious for decaying and becoming brittle over time if not cared for. But these tunes have been resurrected — been digitally transformed into a collection that maybe, one day if not today, a historical musical document. As important and significant as what The Lomax Brothers captured in their field recordings, and Harry Smith captured in his efforts of accumulating and recording tunes from various sources. I’ll bet Thomas Edison had no clue what a Pandora’s Box he was opening when he invented those cylinders that captured the human voice. Thank you, Mr. Edison. 

So, accrued here are old songs (do songs really get old?) by The Carter Family, The Louvin Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, and tossed in for sugar – some songs written by a young Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, and songs made famous by The Everly Brothers. There are some short raw standards and here’s the catch – no gloss, no showboating, no fireworks. Just plain unadulterated traditionally played homespun Americana. Some of the more modern numbers are performed so richly by these two ladies that they sound as if they could have been written 150 years ago and were indeed traditional folk songs. That’s the degree of spontaneity and authenticity that is liberally sprinkled throughout this musical jambalaya. There may even be some you could dance to.

There are 19-songs in this collection so with space restraints I won’t go into detail about each track. There is a wonderful colorful story about how these two women came together, each has a rich history in music and an insert in the CD goes into detail about the origins of each song. Unlike modern bands that need that high-tech recording to flesh out their talent and bury their imperfections, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard just relied on a kitchen table with a reel-to-reel tape recorder to capture what magic they had in their voices. And it was there.

The first track of “Sing Me Back Home: The DC Tapes, 1965-1969” is a cover of the classic Felice and Boudleaux Bryant song made famous by The Everly Brothers in 1957 – “Bye, Bye Love.” Now wait a minute, that’s not a folk song, it’s not even a country song. But those words transcend what the music is. Just about anything can be a folk song or a country song depending on how you play it.

There’s an endearing, memorable live show (YouTube) that features Arlo Guthrie in Denmark several years ago who humorously announced the assembled that he was going to sing a folk song by that “famous singer of folk music…Elvis Presley.” The crowd laughed. Pete Seeger seethed. 

Arlo began to explain what folk music is, and what it isn’t. He mentioned how the late Pete Seeger gave him some harsh looks when Arlo said he was going to sing Elvis. Arlo began playing “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and before long the entire audience in Denmark began to sing along the way Pete Seeger used to encourage. Seeger himself then surprised Arlo as he began to play along with the tune because as Arlo mentioned – Pete knew it too. Arlo was relieved.

He showed us how a song recorded and made popular by Elvis Presley – could easily become a folk song since everyone in the audience knew the words and sang along. It was a beautiful live moment and a musical education. (To a degree, Elvis could be considered a folk singer as well, He has recorded songs such as: “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” “Old Shep,” “Danny Boy,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Early Morning Rain,” “Until It’s Time For You To Go,” “An American Trilogy,” and Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” “Don’t Think Twice,” and “I Shall Be Released.” He qualifies Arlo. 

So, “Bye, Bye Love,” is not a folk song you say? Listen to Ms. Hazel Dickens – a wonderful bluegrass vocalist — and Alice Gerrard as they strum away and navigate in a pre-Indigo Girls / McGarrigle Sisters era. The song has vigor, and the guitars (HD) and autoharp (AG) are played with brilliance. This is a home recording after all. Why this was never recorded in the studio later is beyond me.

“Tell Me That You Love Me,” is a Carter Family composition from 1932 — based on a 19^th Century tune by William Hays. It’s sung with the twang of true hillbilly, but the words are wonderful, and the performance is riveting. For some from the city with their urban ears, it may be far too mountain oriented vocally. But, historically, traditionally – this is where it started. Today, singers like Iris Dement continue in this tradition and they fill theaters and venues.

Hazel and Alice continue with the high lonesome approach on The Louvin Brothers tune (with Eddie Hill) “Seven Year Blues,” which was recorded in 1949 and later in 1960 by the father of bluegrass Bill Monroe. This song through the years has become a bluegrass classic.

There’s talking during this next tune that humanizes it – “Cannonball Blues” a Carter Family song that was at their time traditional as well. It supposedly came to the Carters in the 1930’s by African-American guitarist Lesley Riddle. The vocals are good, strong and along with the classic “This Little Light of Mine,” which is also traditional – recorded capturing the invigorating vocal abilities of Alice and Hazel. The women got this one from The Louvin Brothers as well and the timing on this vocal is impeccable.

After all the traditional folk and one rock tune, Alice and Hazel tackle a folky blues track, and their vocals are a success: “James Alley Blues,” – written by Richard “Rabbit” Brown and captured on tape on The Harry Smith Anthology of the 1950’s. (The song originally was recorded by Brown himself for Victor in 1927). The girls play it straight and strum bluesy, but their combined vocals are what’s magical.  “Sometimes I think, you’re too sweet to die…”

The song sounds like it was recorded in the 1920’s by Oregon singer Lee Morse in mind. Lee, an attractive and slender Columbia artist, wasn’t a second-tier artist. Alice and Hazel sound as if they’re emulating Morgan’s style. Intentional or not. My opinion. The Lee Morse YouTube video — “A Million Me’s” is a ten-minute ingenious pre-video song that was wonderfully produced (the eerie coincidence in this film is that the letters MTV are embedded in the 1930 film). When she sings “Don’t Get Collegiate” (the second song I think) it may sound like an early pop novelty song, but her voice is folk music rich and her entire look and attitude is decades ahead of the rest. In the third tune in the “video” Morse sings a little more closely to the Hazel Dickens / Ann Gerrard tradition — a very folky-blues tale with an acoustic guitar and inventive yodels to boot – “When A Woman Gets Blue.” Corny? Yeah, by today’s standard maybe. But Morse nonetheless was a great vocalist at the time with lots of balls and style. 

Continuing in a female vocalizing mountain-singing tradition Alice and Hazel recorded The Blue-Sky Boys’ “No One To Welcome Me Home,” with coughs and comments which to my ears was charming. I’m surprised I don’t hear a coffee pot perk or a dog bark in the yard. That would have been cool.

The sincerity and poignancy in their voices were never challenged. They maintained their talent throughout. With two banjos-a-fire the ladies lit into a traditional “Let Me Fall,” that sounds as if they “mastered” their little reel-to-reel recorder technology because this one is recorded with nice fidelity. Sometimes I wonder if the secret to chasing away the blues is to just learn how to play and sing a song like this – not alone, but with someone.

This recording has a wealth of great performances for a kitchen table studio, but some tunes do fall flat. Maybe because the women were tired or just burned out vocally. “No Telephone in Heaven” is a Carter Family song but Alice and Hazel do sound weary. I wouldn’t have said a thing but it’s obvious that both vocals aren’t as strident or invigorating as prior performances. It drags. The effort is good, the recording itself is clear, but the fact that they gargle at the end of the song may prove my point. Some songs deserved to be left in the can…but, maybe they just wanted to show listeners how human they were. 

More twang was unleashed on this 1952 song from Jim and Jesse Reynolds who also wrote the tune. “I’ll Wash Your Love from My Heart,” and it does possess a nice throwback to the country singing of old. 

A 1932 Jimmie Rodgers tune – “No Hard Times” – (after Lee Morse) — possesses a country-blues feel but is not recorded very well – a little claustrophobic — but the girls’ vocals are filled with that Lee Morse swagger. I happen to like this one a lot despite its drawbacks. Better recorded is “Why Not Confess,” – an often covered tune in the country establishment. Alice and Hazel have a country feel in their vocals, but their folk/bluegrass traditions are richer. 

A vigorous banjo (Alice) tune is Ralph Stanley’s “Bound to Ride.” Stanley learned the basics of the tune from a tent showman out west – as he has stated in interviews. Alice and Hazel sing this with lots of vigor. One of the best-recorded tunes on the collection is “Sing Me Back Home,” (a Merle Haggard tune) that lumbers on with a nice country strum. Sounds like something the Canadian McGarrigle Sisters would perform and maybe have. Merle Haggard had a number one hit with this and The Everly Brothers recorded it later on their classic 1968 Warner Brothers album “Roots.” Though Haggard wrote this it sounds like a song written a hundred years ago in a cabin by a fireplace.

The final song is an attempt on Dolly Parton’s “In the Good Old Days When Times Were Bad,” and Alice plays autoharp, lead vocal and Hazel provides a tenor and lead vocal on the bridge and plays guitar. This shows the diversity the duo was willing to explore when they were singing together. A song didn’t necessarily have to be a country or folk song it had to be a good song that they were confident would adapt itself to their styles. Along with their playing and their vocal approach they shaped a Parton song into something special. 

The album will be released September 21st, 2018 — so, here are two samples from songs not on this album but from 1967 — about the same time as recordings that will be featured on the collection. 

The 48-minute LP was Produced by Alice Gerrard and Joseph Dejarnette. The design and layout of the CD by Dan MacDonald Studios. There’s a well-written, annotated 16pp color stitched insert included.

Hazel Dickens passed away in 2011 at 85.

84-year old Alice Gerrard continues to perform today and has been nominated for a Grammy in the past. This is their unplugged collection, under-produced and it provides lovingly all warts, scars, and blemishes of artists trying to create and recreate what they did best.

The two women began playing together at folk music parties in and around Baltimore and Washington, DC in the early 1960’s and what they did was bring a little bit of the mountain-folk tradition into our living rooms. It’s been listened to ever since and this CD is a worthy compliment to anyone’s collection of blues, folk, Americana, roots, and country. This is where many of the songs began – and these songs should not be forgotten.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this review/commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of No Depression. All photography is owned by the respective photographers and is their copyrighted image; credited where photographer’s name was known & being used here solely as a reference and will be removed on request. YouTube images are standard YouTube license.

John Apice / No Depression / September 2018