O Sister! The Women's Bluegrass Collection

Rounder Records – RCD 0499

Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 2002
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Bluegrass
[Tracklist]
01 If Wishes Were Horses Gretchen: Peters Claire Lynch (02:35)
02 Silver Tongue and Gold Plated Lies: Suzanne Thomas (03:26)
03 Sad Situation Clyde: PittsDelia Bell (02:27)
04 True Life Blues: Bill Monroe / Hazel Dickens / Alice Gerrard (02:36)
05 Lonesome Wind Blues: Wayne Raney Rhonda Vincent (03:01)
06 Pardon Me: Jesse McReynolds The Cox Family (02:44)
07 Old River: Hazel Dickens / Ginny Hawker (02:59)
08 You Tried to Ruin My Name: Pee Wee King / Wilma Lee Cooper (02:27)
09 I Can't Find Your Love Any More: Hazel Dickens (02:35)
10 Just Like Rain: Kathy Kallick / John ReischmanKathy Kallick / Laurie Lewis (02:15)
11 Mama's Hand: Hazel Dickens / Lynn Morris (04:13)
12 Every Time You Say Goodbye: John Pennell / Alison Krauss (03:17)
13 BlueStevens Sisters (02:39)
14 Time Is Winding Up: Ginny Hawker / Carol Elizabeth Jones (04:17)
15 Blow, Big Wind: Laurie Lewi (02:52)
16 Will There Be Any Stars?: The Cox Family / Alison Krauss (03:12)
17 The Last Old Shovel: Phyllis Boyens (02:21)
18 Comin' Down from God Carol: Elizabeth Jones (02:42)
19 Eight More Miles: Laurie Lewis / Claire Lynch / Lynn Morris / Rhonda Vincent (02:42)
[Credits]
Compiler: Ken Irwin, Liner Notes: Marty Godbey, Designer: Visual Dialogue, Photographer: Rick Olivier, Engineer: Toby Mountain
{Notes}
The latest in a lengthening string of releases designed to benefit from association with the Coen brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is this all-girl bluegrass compilation, which features on its cover the requisite stubbly cornfield and archaic font style. Opportunistic as the packaging may be, there's no arguing with the quality of the content. Generously packed with outstanding performances by women as stylistically disparate as Hazel Dickens, Claire Lynch, and Kathy Kallick, O Sister is a delightful celebration of several generations of criminally unheralded female bluegrass artists. The highlights are many, but particular standout tracks include Rhonda Vincent's rocking "Lonesome Wind Blues," the hard-edged mountain sound of Phyllis Boyens (backed up by Hazel Dickens and the Johnson Mountain Boys), and the clawhammer banjo-powered "Comin' Down From God" by the relatively unknown Carol Elizabeth Jones. The usual suspects are here too, of course, including Alison Krauss (on the exquisitely gentle and sweet "Every Time You Say Goodbye") and the Cox Family (twice). You might buy this one because you feel guilty about the way women have been neglected in the bluegrass world, but you'll keep coming back to it because the songs are just so dang good. --Allmusic Review by Rick Anderson