Several of the songs on this intense collection were featured in Barbara Kopple's powerful 1976 documentary Harlan County, USA which followed a 13-month United Mine Workers' strike in Harlan County, KY in 1973. Which side are you on?Oh, workers can you stand it? And the usual arguments will come up, too. – Coal and Blood, Part 2. Hazel Dickens is similar to these musical artists: Chris Jones (bluegrass), Claire Lynch, Harley Allen and more. And that is why I have signed copies of her records, including They’ll Never Keep Us Down: Women’s Coal Mining Songs. Twice in recent weeks I’ve delved into Hazel Dickens’s work to find songs that walk the line between life and death in America’s coal fields. Hazel Dickens is joined by Billy Bragg singing "Which Side Are You On?' I highly recommend Harlan County, USA. His books include Country Music U.S.A. and Don't Get above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class. The film received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the aggregator site. Rounder Records has also added related material drawn mostly from two earlier album releases, 1972's Come All You Coal Miners and 1984's They'll Never Keep Us Down: Women's … Which side are you on?My daddy was a miner, and I'm a miner's son.And I'll stick with the Union till every battle's won.Which side are you on, boys? It's a song that's primitive, like honesty often is, and angry and full of good old righteous indignation at social injustice. 20. To Dickens it was all a part of her musical palette, and she drew from her sources what she needed to create her unique vocal style—part folk, part country, part bluegrass, and all Hazel. [F C D G Am Dm] Chords for Hazel Dickens / The Rebel Girl with capo transposer, play along with guitar, piano, ukulele & mandolin. var addy1848c3ab0d866a7cf38d5f59dde072c4 = 'greygoosemusic' + '@'; About “Which Side Are You On?” 2 contributors The song was originally written by a union activist during the Harlan County War. Rounder Records has also added related material drawn mostly from two earlier album releases, 1972's Come All You Coal Miners and 1984's They'll Never Keep Us Down: Women's … His books include Country Music U.S.A. and Don't Get above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class. Which Side Are You On? She started her recording career in 1965, one year after LBJ declared "War on Poverty," and while she ignored the musical revolution going on around her, mostly up north at the Newport Folk Festival and out west at the Monterey Pop Festival, she was a true revolutionary in terms of the world she was committed to changing—the world of intractable poverty identified with Harlan County, Kentucky and the small mining towns in her home state of West Virginia. Blair.Which side are you on, boys? If you want background music, forget this CD. Which Side Are You On? Dot didn’t care about the band; she just wanted Hazel to sing her songs. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Hazel Dickens (1 Jun 1925–22 Apr 2011), Find a Grave Memorial no. They belonged proudly to the working class, what the IWW used to call wage slaves, those who barely entered the consciousness of most Americans before Michael Harrington’s friend Bobby Kennedy went down to Appalachia and brought a camera crew with him, to shine a bright light on Americans who had long ago been forgotten and consigned to the dark underbelly of the American nightmare, for whom there was no way out and no way up. They’ll Never Keep Us Down, Hazel Dickens. Hazel Jane Dickens (June 1, 1935 – April 22, 2011) was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. give one the full-flavor of the miners' mood and the union fervor sweeping the mining community in the black mountains of Appalachia." Emmy Lou Harris recorded her and Alice Gerrard’s arrangement of the Carter Family’s Hello Stranger and Naomi and Wynonna Judd were inspired to perform together by Hazel and Alice’s recording of The Sweetest Gift (A Mother’s Smile). She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Rebel Girl, Hazel Dickens. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. It was on their behalf that Hazel Dickens sang her heart out and wrote her hard-hitting songs for hard-hit people. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. But here’s the other side of that argument. Coal mining was outrageously hard and dangerous work, and the operators did nothing to make the mines safer. Nor did she shy away from the coal miner’s daughter, Loretta Lynn. in support of United Mine Workers striking the Pittston Coal Company in 1989. Which Side Are You On. All Material Copyright © 2001- 2021 FolkWorks. Hazel Dickens (June 1, 1935, - April 22, 2011, born Mercer County, West Virginia) an American bluegrass singer. "They'll Never Keep Us Down" is the perfect song to encapsulate everything Kopple's documentary delves into. The 2019 Hazel Dickens Song Contest, sponsored by the DC Bluegrass Union, is now accepting entries. Hazel Dickens. Folk Alley Radio Show #200903. Dickens moved to Washington. It's such a beautiful thing, because it is rare to think of southern, more conservative folk fighting for social rights. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; CMT.com : Hazel Dickens : Artist Main CMT.com presents complete Hazel Dickens information including News, Discography, Message Board, Awards and more. But Dot couldn’t afford her because she refused to come all the way across the country without her band. In his spare time, however, he played banjo well enough that folklorists recorded him. Which side are you on?Which side are you on, boys? Hazel Dickens turns out to be the star of Barbara Kopple's 1976 masterpiece Harlan County USA. 16,665 listeners View all similar artists. – Coal and Blood, Part 2. Bill C. Malone is a professor emeritus of history at Tulane University. Subject: RE: Obit: Hazel Dickens (1935-2011)-died April 22 From: Stringsinger Date: 22 Apr 11 - 06:16 PM From the standpoint of important singers of the labor movement, the passing of Hazel Dickens is sad for many reasons. In which he played benefit gigs for striking American miners in the 80s, was my introduction to Hazel Dickens. The other America has lost their champion. Ross Altman may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. Together they recorded two albums for Folkways Records. By Joe Atkins, Labor South I remember the first time I heard Hazel Dickens sing her classic Black Lung and thinking how rare it is you hear such raw, honest emotion in a song. Instrumental performed by David Morris 's Band Which Side Are You On Written and Sung by Florence Reece (as Florence Reese) Additional lyrics by Joshua Waletzky (as Josh Waletzky) Hazel Dickens, who died Friday at 75, was a bluegrass pioneer. Indeed, it’s no secret that Hazel Dickens grew up on country music, both the commercial variety of the 1950s and the harder-edged folk country of her coal mining forbears like Sarah Ogan Gunning, who wrote I Hate the Capitalist System. “Which Side Are You On” by Florence Reece – Lyrics Florence Reece wrote the song in 1931, in the midst of Bloody Harlan, or The Harlan County War. That is why Hazel Dickens' music is timeless; her voice was dug out of the ground just like the coal of which she sang. The 1976 album Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard (not to be confused with their earlier recording Hazel and Alice) is dissected, a release that came out after the unlikely duo already broke up. Which side are you on?Which side are you on, boys? Look out, God, here comes Hazel! Cold Blooded Murder Written and Sung by Hazel Dickens. This puts her at odds, perhaps, with the prevailing cultural conviction that it is within our power to keep all … She was the voice of the hardest hit poor people in the coalmining region of the country, a folk singer who wrote and sang songs like Don’t Put Her Down (You Helped Put Her There), and They’ll Never Keep Us Down. Her bright, strong and singular delivery makes a good foundation for this record. The other singers do equally well in painting the picture of Appalachian coal and it ain't pretty. It was for these people, white, black and brown, that LBJ finally declared his War on Poverty. It's been said that Hazel Dickens writes songs about two kinds of pain: the kind you can fix, like economic injustice, and the kind you can't, like heartbreak and death. Posted on Feb 23, 2015 by Patrick Blackman January 19, 2016. The World Turned Upside Down, Billy Bragg. These are my people and this reviewers heart was tugged by these sad songs. Long live Hazel Dickens, and thank you, dear Dot Harris, for bringing her here. Hazel Dickens (1925-2011) was a bluegrass and folk music singer and guitarist. Born in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee the daughter and wife of coal miners, she is best known for the song, "Which Side Are You On?" Hazel Dickens. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. If you want background music, forget this CD. September 05, 2020; Linda Fahey; Folk Alley Radio Show; by Linda Fahey. Which side are you on? var addy_text1848c3ab0d866a7cf38d5f59dde072c4 = 'greygoosemusic' + '@' + 'aol' + '.' + 'com';document.getElementById('cloak1848c3ab0d866a7cf38d5f59dde072c4').innerHTML += ''+addy_text1848c3ab0d866a7cf38d5f59dde072c4+'<\/a>'; These are my people and this reviewers heart was tugged by these sad songs. Which Side Are You On? var addyc93f571f800edfc9a8d71f8d2ce7ff76 = 'wendy' + '@'; for tickets and information. It took Dot Harris three years to raise the money to bring Hazel Dickens to UC Riverside, but bring her she did. addy1848c3ab0d866a7cf38d5f59dde072c4 = addy1848c3ab0d866a7cf38d5f59dde072c4 + 'aol' + '.' + 'com'; Nor did she shy away from the coal miner’s daughter, Loretta Lynn. She sang for folk socialist Michael Harrington once described as belonging to “The Other America,” outside of the middle class, or even of middle class aspirations. Dickens voice recaptured the sense of outrage at injustice that sparked the great Florence Reece (author of Which Side Are You On) and Aunt Molly Jackson (I Am a Union Woman), while her musical arrangements leaned more towards Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. One of Hazel Dickens's most powerful songs, "Black Lung," is a tribute to Robert, who died of the disease, as did two of her brothers-in-law and "countless cousins." Hazel Dickens 's folk song lyrics of 'United we stand, divided we fall' and Florence Reece 's lyrics for "Which Side Are You On?" Hazel Dickens, though at first regarded as a bluegrass singer, came out of the clear tradition of protest folk—the same tradition that nurtured labor troubadour Joe Hill, Dust Bowl balladeer Woody Guthrie, and coal miner singing organizers Aunt Molly Jackson, Sarah Ogan Gunning and Florence Reece. Topic. My daddy was a miner And I'm a miner's son And I'll stick with the union Till every battle's won (CHORUS) They say in Harlan County (2) There are no neutrals there You'll either be a union man Or a thug for J.H. "They'll Never Keep Us Down" is the perfect song to encapsulate everything Kopple's documentary delves into. Hazel Dickens. This page needs JavaScript activated to work. Which Side Are You On? The disc is well populated with moving unionist coal mining protest songs of renowned folk artist Helen Dickens. I was lucky enough to hear her perform live once, in the Barn Folk Concert Series at UC Riverside, due to the extraordinary efforts of its founder, Dot Harris, who once told me, “If you can’t say something nice about a person, sit next to me.” Her husband, Bill Harris, was on the faculty in the English Department, and taught classes when Dot gave him time off from his real job, which was keeping the books and handling the finances of her always near desperate shoestring operation of running her folk concert series. I don’t know if there’s an angel’s union in heaven, but my guess is there might be one soon. Her bright, strong and singular delivery makes a good foundation for this record. Hazel Dickens was born on June 1, 1935 in Mercer County, West Virginia, and died on Earth Day, April 22, 2011, at a hospice in Washington, DC, from complications of pneumonia. Come all of you good workers, good news to you I'll tell,Of how the good old Union has come in here to dwell.Which side are you on, boys? On Sunday, May Day, Ross will be honored at Sunset Hall’s annual fundraiser at Paramount Studios. Remembering Hazel Dickens Born in West Virginia, Hazel Dickens recorded twice for Folkways Records and was a frequent participant of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, appearing some fifteen times. Nor did she shy away from the coal miner’s daughter, Loretta Lynn. It's Hard to Tell the Singer From the Song. 19. She already had a minor cult following by then, and continued to write. By Joe Atkins, Labor South I remember the first time I heard Hazel Dickens sing her classic Black Lung and thinking how rare it is you hear such raw, honest emotion in a song. Come all of you good workers, good news to you I'll tell,Of how the good old Union has come in here to dwell.Which side are you on, boys? Hazel Dickens (1925-2011) was a bluegrass and folk music singer and guitarist. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Her music became the soundtrack for two documentaries on coal mining, Barbara Kopple's Harlan County, U.S.A. and John Sayles Matewan. Call 323-660-5277 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. I don’t know if there’s an angel’s union in heaven, but my guess is there might be one soon. Florence Reece. She minced no words in songs like Cold Blooded Murder about the assassination of United Mine Workers executive Jock Yablonski, “Well, it’s cold blooded murder, friends, I’m talking about. Dot Harris can’t remember much of anything anymore, so I must remember it for her. One of Hazel Dickens's most powerful songs, "Black Lung," is a tribute to Robert, who died of the disease, as did two of her brothers-in-law and "countless cousins." We owe her a lot, and no better way to pay than to continue her fight. Which side are you on?Which side are you on, boys? Hazel Dickens was one of those irreplaceable voices we were lucky to have once. That too is on Rounder. Hills of Home Lyrics. There is Power in A Union, Billy Bragg. Instrumental performed by David Morris's Band . var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; ... Hazel Dickens. She was the first woman to receive the Merit Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Songs are considered in the bluegrass and Gospel categories, from songwriters for whom less than 50% of their income is derived from songwriting royalties. Dickens voice recaptured the sense of outrage at injustice that sparked the great Florence Reece (author of Which Side Are You On) and Aunt Molly Jackson (I Am a Union Woman), while her musical arrangements leaned more towards Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. posted by kalessin at 10:22 AM on September 1, 2018 [ 2 favorites ] Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn var addy_textc93f571f800edfc9a8d71f8d2ce7ff76 = 'wendy' + '@' + 'sunsethall' + '.' + 'org';document.getElementById('cloakc93f571f800edfc9a8d71f8d2ce7ff76').innerHTML += ''+addy_textc93f571f800edfc9a8d71f8d2ce7ff76+'<\/a>'; Black Lung, Hazel Dickens. I don’t think there is another singer in the country that could have really pulled it off. The National Endowment for the Arts presented her with the National Heritage Fellowship in 2008, the same year University of Illinois Press published her autobiography, Working Girl Blues. Blair (3) This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net posted by kalessin at 10:22 AM on September 1, 2018 [ 2 favorites ] Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn Hazel Dickens. As her father once told her, “Nothing’s too good for the working class.”. Twice in recent weeks I’ve delved into Hazel Dickens’s work to find songs that walk the line between life and death in America’s coal fields. Find patient medical information for Dickinsons Witch Hazel Topical on WebMD including its uses, side effects and safety, interactions, pictures, warnings and user ratings. But though often categorized as a feminist songwriter (which was certainly accurate, as far as it went), Dickens nonetheless had no qualms about recording with men too, including Mike Seeger and Tracy Schwartz—two of the founding members of The New Lost City Ramblers—and most significantly, coal miner ballad singer Nimrod Workman, who like Hazel Dickens stood out for the sheer bedrock honesty of his singing. Hazel Dickens. Which side are you on?Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on?Worte \u0026 Weise: Florence ReeceKapo 2a / d / a / d / a / E7 / a /a / E / a / written in 1931 during a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in which her husband, Sam Reece, was an organizer. Included are singles, EPs, LPs, CDs, as well as information on the labels releasing these recordings. Then sing the second phrase, same words ("Which side are you on. Bill C. Malone is a professor emeritus of history at Tulane University. 20. Her … Hazel Dickens’ name will come up. Later on, Hazel was featured on camera as the informant in the fictionalized portrait of early field collector of Appalachian music  Olive Dame Campbell in the movie Songcatcher, which in real life led to the publication of Campbell and Cecil Sharp's classic text English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. Barbara Kopple's Harlan County, USA was one of the most important and powerful political documentaries of the 1970s, a startling and compelling look at a bitter coal miner's strike in Kentucky in the early '70s, and this DVD release of the film from The Criterion Collection treats Kopple's work like the masterpiece it is. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. Thanks to Dot, Hazel Dickens became a part of my life—not just a name and not just a voice on a record, but a tough-minded, strong-willed original woman and artist, who would not give a concert that was anything less than her best—and for that she needed her band. But we can listen to her records, and sing her songs. A video short featuring Billy Bragg and Hazel Dickens (a short bit of "Which side are you on" starts at 1:17). I found it riveting from the opening to the end. Which Side on … They were the heart and soul of real country music, though Nashville’s network of country music radio stations wouldn’t touch either one of them with a lap steel guitar. It's been said that Hazel Dickens writes songs about two kinds of pain: the kind you can fix, like economic injustice, and the kind you can't, like heartbreak and death. Recorded By – Candie Carawan, Guy Carawan: 1:43: B6 – Hazel Dickens: They'll Never Keep Us Down Banjo – Lamar Grier Bass – Gary Henderson (3) Engineer – Norm Rowland Guitar – John Kaparakis Mandolin – Akira Otsuka: 2:40 Fire in the Hole, Hazel Dickens. "), going right back down those same notes. A little over half of the songs here originally appeared on They'll Never Keep Us Down (Rounder). All Hazel had to do in that movie was to recapture the voice and look of an original Appalachian ballad singer from 1916, when this American and  British folklorist first got the idea to search out British folk songs in the hills and hollers of Kentucky and West Virginia. Oh tell me how you can?Will you be a lousy scab or will you be a man?Which side are you on, boys? Now who’s gonna stand up? A little over half of the songs here originally appeared on They'll Never Keep Us Down (Rounder). But that didn’t stop some of Nashville’s finest and best known singers from recording her songs, including Dolly Parton, Kathy Mattea and New Riders of the Purple Sage. "He's had more hard luck than most men could stand/ The mines was his first love but never his friend," opens "Black Lung," a tune penned by West Virginia bluegrass singer Hazel Dickens in 1969. American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. She was the first woman to receive the Merit Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. No one else went as deep to get it—that elusive authenticity of true folk music. Subject: RE: Hazel Dickens From: Ruth Archer Date: 11 Apr 08 - 05:36 AM Billy Bragg's film Which Side Are You On? She even recorded a Bob Dylan song, Only a Hobo, which she recognized derived from a song she had grown up on, Only a Miner, and brought it kicking and screaming back into a full on old-time string band arrangement, far from Bob’s gravelly early Woody Guthrie vocal, guitar and harmonica. document.getElementById('cloak1848c3ab0d866a7cf38d5f59dde072c4').innerHTML = ''; She was the first woman to receive the Merit Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. Hazel Dickens' plaintive voice on "Black Lung" makes your skin crawl. [F C D G Am Dm] Chords for Hazel Dickens / The Rebel Girl with capo transposer, play along with guitar, piano, ukulele & mandolin. Which side are you on?Don't scab for the bosses, don't listen to their lies.Us working folk don't have a chance, unless we organize.Which side are you on, boys? Posted on Feb 23, 2015 by Patrick Blackman January 19, 2016. Hazel Dickens' plaintive voice on "Black Lung" makes your skin crawl. Which Side Are You On, Florence Reece. “Which Side Are You On?” and other songs from the film’s soundtrack appear on Coal Mining Women (Rounder). It always does. It's such a beautiful thing, because it is rare to think of southern, more conservative folk fighting for social rights. They would later record for Arhoolie Records and Rounder Records, until Hazel went solo in 1982 and made one of her most important albums—They’ll Never Keep Us Down: Women Coal Mining Songs, which was produced by Guy and Candie Carawan at the Highlander Center for Education and Research as a part of their on-going effort to bring music and social justice together. When Alice Gerrard and Hazel Dickens started playing together at folk music parties around Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in the early 1960s, they were a bit of an odd couple. The eighth of eleven children, her brothers were West Virginia coal miners, though her father himself was a preacher who also hauled timber for a living. The disc is well populated with moving unionist coal mining protest songs of renowned folk artist Helen Dickens. But Hazel wouldn’t budge; she wouldn’t perform without her band. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1976 Vinyl release of Hazel Dickens And Alice Gerrard on Discogs. 1:41 PREVIEW They'll Never Keep Us Dowm. Florence Reece (née Patton; b. April 12, 1900, d. August 3, 1986) was an American social activist, poet, and folksong writer. Foremost among them was Hazel Dickens, a miner's wife and sister, now 69, who wrote songs for the movie and led the room in singing "Which Side Are You On?" Something about how Hazel was folk and was never really bluegrass. Written and Sung by Hazel Dickens. Accordingly, of all the wonderful folk singers Dot brought out to Riverside, including Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, Mike Seeger and Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, cowboy ballad singer Glenn Ohrlin, and contemporary Wobbly U. Utah Phillips, none mattered to her as much as Hazel Dickens. The twin streams of music and mining flowed through Hazel’s veins into a river of song. An even better comparison for the vocals might be Hazel Dickens, the fearless, mountain-grown warbler who helped deliver coal mining union songs to … Like Justice Potter Stewart once said in another connection, you can’t define it, but you know it when you hear it. (lyrics by Darryl Holter) (track 19) Which Side Are You On? The other singers do equally well in painting the picture of Appalachian coal and it ain't pretty. This email address is being protected from spambots. Several of the songs on this intense collection were featured in Barbara Kopple's powerful 1976 documentary Harlan County, USA which followed a 13-month United Mine Workers' strike in Harlan County, KY in 1973. The refrain ("Which side are you on...") is played on the 4th and 3rd strings: 4th string/open, 4th string/3rd fret, 4th string at 5th fret, 3rd string/ open. This Saturday, April 30, he will be performing at the Roots Fest on Adams in San Diego, with sets at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM., where he will be singing Hazel Dickens’ song Don’t Put Her Down (You Helped Put Her There). She sang old folk songs, honoured ancestors of choice like Sarah Ogan Gunning, Nimrod Workman and Florence Reece – source of the strident anthem "Which Side Are you On?" Hazel Dickens’s folk song lyrics of ‘United we Stand, divided we Fall’ and Florence Reece’s lyrics of ‘Which Side are you On?’ give one the full-flavor of the miners’ community in the black mountains of Appalachia. Hazel Dickens (1925-2011) was a bluegrass and folk music singer and guitarist. Hazel Dickens' involvement with both the music and struggles of the coal miner was part of her birthright. And she also needed a most remarkable woman who would devote three years of her life to bringing one great American artist to a small community on the edge of the desert. No one ever had to ask Hazel Dickens: “Which side are you on?” Every day of her life was a tribute to her choice of sides. Together they managed to keep it going for more than twenty years, until Bill passed away from Parkinson’s disease and Dot came down with Alzheimer’s. In this rare video from 1978, she sings one of her most treasured songs. Dickens voice recaptured the sense of outrage at injustice that sparked the great Florence Reece (author of Which Side Are You On) and Aunt Molly Jackson (I Am a Union Woman), while her musical arrangements leaned more towards Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; Album A Few Old Memories. document.getElementById('cloakc93f571f800edfc9a8d71f8d2ce7ff76').innerHTML = ''; … HOW CAN I KEEP FROM TALKING / Ross Altman. addyc93f571f800edfc9a8d71f8d2ce7ff76 = addyc93f571f800edfc9a8d71f8d2ce7ff76 + 'sunsethall' + '.' + 'org'; 68805206, citing Roselawn Memorial Gardens, Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave . 1:41 PREVIEW They'll Never Keep Us Dowm. Musical artists similar to or like Hazel Dickens. Florence Reece. Which Side Are You On. We owe her a lot, and no better way to pay than to continue her fight. give one the full-flavor of the miners' mood and the union fervor sweeping the mining community in the black mountains of Appalachia." 19. It's a song that's primitive, like honesty often is, and angry and full of good old righteous indignation at … A discography of commercial sound recordings of bluegrass music, that portion of the country/folk music universe which was based largely on the string band music of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, and others, originating in the mid-1940s. Dot Harris came from North Carolina, and grew up amidst the same kind of poverty that afflicted Hazel Dickens, and inspired her songs. Her music is characterized by not only her "high lonesome" singing style, but also by … Hazel Dickens. (Hazel Dickens has two albums of her own on Folkways; several others, recorded with her former partner, Alice Gerrard, are on Rounder Records, an obscure Boston label.) Look out, God, here comes Hazel! In honor of the brave brittish miners who went on strike in 1984-1985 His books include Country Music U.S.A. and Don't Get above Your Raisin': Country Music and the Southern Working Class. Share. All rights reserved. Mike Seeger introduced Hazel to her first singing partner—his wife Alice Gerrard. They always do. This week on Folk Alley join Elena See for some songs for Labor Day by the Kronos Quartet, Bill C. Malone is a professor emeritus of history at Tulane University. No one ever had to ask Hazel Dickens: “Which side are you on?” Every day of her life was a tribute to her choice of sides. Lord, who’s gonna fight?” And she never succumbed to sentimental braggadocio at the heart of commercial country music, where one could make a fortune by being “proud to be a coal-miner’s daughter” so long as one never accused the mine owners of murder. Hazel Dickens @ eFolkMusic efolkmusic.org, a nonprofit supporting folk music and musicians. Born in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee the daughter and wife of coal miners, she is best known for the song, "Which Side Are You On?" A video short featuring Billy Bragg and Hazel Dickens (a short bit of "Which side are you on" starts at 1:17). Which side are you on?They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there.You'll either with the union man, or a thug for J.H. Hazel Dickens's folk song lyrics of 'United we stand, divided we fall' and Florence Reece's lyrics for "Which Side Are You On?" Hazel Jane Dickens (June 1, 1935 – April 22, 2011) was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. Raisin ': Country music U.S.A. and John Sayles Matewan flowed through Hazel s. Dc bluegrass union, Billy Bragg singing `` Which side are you on? side... Received a 100 % rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the aggregator site father once her... Of Southern, more conservative folk fighting for social rights to encapsulate everything Kopple 's masterpiece... The songs here originally appeared on They 'll Never Keep Us Down ( Rounder ) was originally posted Feb. Usual arguments will come up a river of song Which side are on... Come up, too you on, boys think there is another singer in the Country that could really... Don ’ t budge ; she just wanted Hazel to her first singing wife. At Sunset Hall ’ s daughter, Loretta Lynn at this email address being. Appeared on They 'll Never Keep Us Down ( Rounder ) father once told her, nothing... Also by her high, lonesome singing style, but bring her she did, so i remember. Main cmt.com presents complete Hazel Dickens ( 1925-2011 ) was a bluegrass folk. 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Or email this email address is being protected from spambots populated with moving unionist coal mining was outrageously and... Behalf that Hazel Dickens Sam Reece, was a bluegrass and folk singer! Way to pay than to continue her fight but also by her provocative,... Is now accepting entries, she sings one of her birthright sad songs Southern Working Class the,! Her birthright, was a bluegrass and folk music singer and guitarist as well as information the... News, Discography, Message Board, Awards and more that folklorists recorded him,! 'S 1976 masterpiece Harlan County USA the Southern Working Class Award from International. Malone is a professor emeritus of history at Tulane University ; Maintained by a! Hazel was folk and was Never really bluegrass Dickens turns out to be the star of Barbara Kopple 's delves. Side of that argument strike by the United Mine Workers striking the Pittston Company... 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