OST - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Music From The Motion Picture
(Mercury 170 069-2) 2000
Average Album Rating: 4
(Total votes 2)
- 5 star
- 4 star
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- 1 star
T-Bone Burnett struck musical gold when he put together the soundtrack for the Coen Brothers comedy epic, 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou?'.
The soundtrack won 4 Grammy's in 2001: 'Album Of The Year'; 'Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media'; 'Best Country Collaboration With Vocals' (Dan Tyminski/Harley Allem/Pat Enright); and 'Best Male Country Vocal Performance' for Ralph Stanley's a cappella performance of Oh Death.[1]
It sold somewhere between 8-10 million copies...
To put that into context, Ralph's albums around that time are said to have sold around 5,000 copies,[2] and his first release afterwards 66,000.[3] Ralph apparently bought a Jaguar sports car shortly after the movie came out[4] and thereafter began playing auditoriums rather than smaller clubs...
The soundtrack has three Stanley related tunes:- Oh Death which The Stanley Brothers had cut for King in 1964, and which Ralph had re-recorded with Keith Whitley on Clinch Mountain Gospel;[5] one of Ralph's signature tunes, Man Of Constant Sorrow, which forms the musical backbone of the film, and the closing track, The Stanley Brothers' Angel Band.
There's a nice promotional version of the CD which is packaged in a 'pomade' (hair cream) tin, and a 10th anniversary release with a 2nd disc, which I think has music not included in the film, but no additonal Ralph Stanley content... It's a shame they didn't include one of the two takes Ralph recorded of Oh Death with banjo.[6]
Keep on the sunny side...
| Track: |
Title: |
|---|---|
| CD: |
(60:37) |
| 1 |
Po Lazuras - James Carter & The Prisoners |
| P.D. |
|
| 2 |
Big Rock Candy Mountain - Harry McClintock |
| Harry Kirby McClintock |
|
| 3 |
You Are My Sunshine - Norman Blake |
| Jimmie Davis / Charles Mitchell |
|
| 4 |
Down To The River To Pray - Alison Krauss |
| P.D. |
|
| 5 |
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - Soggy Bottom Boys Feat. Dan Tyminski |
| P.D. arr C. Stanley |
|
| 6 |
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues - Chris Thomas King |
| Skip James |
|
| 7 |
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - Norman Blake |
| P.D. |
|
| 8 |
Keep On The Sunny Side - The Whites |
| A.P. Carter |
|
| 9 |
I'll Fly Away - Gillian Welch / Alison Krauss |
| Albert E. Brumley |
|
| 10 |
Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby - Gillian Welch / Alison Krauss / Emmylou Harris |
| P.D. ? |
|
| 11 |
In The Highways - Sarah, Hannah & Lean Peasall |
| Maybelle Carter |
|
| 12 |
I Am Weary (Let Me Rest) - The Cox Family |
| Pete Roberts |
|
| 13 |
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - John Hartford |
| P.D. arr. Ed Haley |
|
| 14 |
O Death - Ralph Stanley |
| P.D. |
|
| 15 |
In The Jailhouse Now - Soggy Bottom Boys Feat. Tim Blake Nelson |
| Jimmie Rodgers |
|
| 16 |
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - Soggy Bottom Boys Feat. Dan Tyminski |
| P.D. arr C. Stanley |
|
| 17 |
Indian War Whoop - John Hartford |
| Hoyt Ming |
|
| 18 |
Lonesome Valley - Fairfield Four |
| P.D. |
|
| 19 |
Angel Band - The Stanley Brothers |
| Jefferson Hascall / William B. Bradbury |
[1] http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&field_nominee_work_value=&year=2001&genre=All[2] http://www.didaskalia.net/issues/vol3no3/wright.html
[3] Ken Irwin (Rounder Records) post to BGRASS-L email list 3rd May 2016. http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/bgrass-l.html
[4] Video included in this obituary:- http://www.richmond.com/entertainment/music/article_016a8768-7207-551c-a2f4-9e7c642ab952.html
[5] There's also a chiling live version on V/A - Berkshire Mountains Bluegrass Festival
[6] Before recording the a cappella take, Ralph had learned the Doc Boggs' version of Oh Death an two takes were recorded. Ralph Stanley and Eddie Dean's book 'Man Of Constant Sorrow' (p. 427)