Roseanne Cash Dolly Parton Emmylou Harris - Songcatcher Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture (16 tracks) +Album Reviews

Not what you hear in the film, but excellent nonetheless

Catherine S. Vodrey | East Liverpool, Ohio United States | 08/13/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's always disappointing--jolting, really--when you buy the soundtrack to something and find that it bears no resemblance to what you loved in the film. The most glaring example I can think of is the "When Harry Met Sally" soundtrack, which in the theatres featured gorgeous standards rendered by people like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong--but on the CD, has Harry Connick, Jr. singing the same tunes. I like Harry Connick, Jr., but he's not the reason I wanted the "Harry Met Sally" soundtrack. Such is the case with "Songcatcher," which had lots of great songs sung by the actors in the movie--Emmy Rossum, Pat Carroll, Iris Dement, and more. What you have on the CD is a grouping of some of the same songs, all performed by greater-known lights of country and bluegrass music--people like Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, and Dolly Parton. I'm not complaining--they do a super job, and they know this kind of music, so their renditions are heartfelt and gorgeous to listen to. It's just not the same as the music in the film, so it's a little disconcerting.Iris Dement's upright rendition of "Pretty Saro," on which her wiry, plaintive voice is accompanied only by a fiddle, is particularly fine and just as she sang it in the film. And newcomer Emmy Rossum's warm and vigorous version of the quietly horrifying "Barbara Allen" is gorgeous, but it is just one verse leading into Emmylou Harris doing the same song. Frankly, I prefer Emmy Rossum's less prettified version and wish they'd kept it instead of having it segue into Harris. Rossum was in her early teens when she recorded this, but she has a vocal maturity that leaves you wanting more.Patty Loveless on "Sounds of Loneliness" is a revelation, giving full throat to her mountain-music voice. She soars effortlessly on the upper range and does full, dark justice to the lower register. It's worth listening to over and over again. Maria McKee's quiet and intense version of "Wayfaring Stranger" almost makes you hold your breath as you listen--it's that compelling. One I'd never heard before, "Mary of the Wild Moor," is performed by Sara Evans, whose pristine voice stands in stark contrast to the frightening tale she describes. Perhaps one of the best things on the album is actress Pat Carroll's witty, humorous take on "Single Girl," in which she details all the things better about being single than married--particularly fitting when you consider that she plays a mountain woman who'd had eight or nine children. There's lots of gold to mine here, once you get past the idea that what you hear here is not at all the same as what you heard in the film."

Songcatcher "Soundtrack" Totally Misses the Point!

K. N. Beers | Yellow Springs, Ohio | 08/29/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Like another of the above reviewers, I left the theater after seeing this stunningly moving film and drove directly to the music store to buy the soundtrack CD. I was hoping that the music featured in the film would be presented as it was in the movie, maybe even with extended versions of some of the shorter selections included (as was done on the O Brother soudtrack). It is an understatement to say that I was extremely let down!
The music on this CD is disappointing on two levels. The theme of the movie is that a professor of folklore and traditional music travels from Britain to Appalachia to search out and record the regional music of the area, much of which was brought over from the British Isles, and which because of the relative isolation of the area has been preserved in a condition closer to its "roots" than the music being "collected" in Britain. The professor begins collecting the tunes in a very academic/scientific manner, and she ends up completely captivated by the stark beauty of the music and the soul of the local people. Over the course of the movie she falls in love with the music for its own sake, rather than for any academic value it might have, and she becomes dedicated to trying to preserve and promote the music in its natural state, and to prevent its exploitation.
The music on this CD (except for a few "token" tracks and snippets) is mostly commercial, Nashville-influenced music, recorded in a manner that in no way reflects the spirit of the movie. I am an amateur old-time musician (I have actually played with several of the musicians featured in the movie at old-time music workshops in North Carolina), and I can tell you that any resemblance between the commercial country music recorded on this CD and the traditional music featured in the movie is in name only. I am afraid that either the artists featured on the CD are too far removed from their traditional-music roots, or that any of the original soul of the music is effectively removed by the commercial recording formula.
This CD also disappoints on a second level, in that if you take it purely as a compilation of traditional tunes by contemporary artists, it is not really very satisfying. (It reminds me of all the obligatory Christmas albums halfheartedly recorded bt just about every pop and country artist over the last 15 years.) I get the feeling that the CD was put together just so that there would be a "soundtrack" album available, mainly for those interested in collecting soudtracks, and that those responsible for the recording felt that the music actually included in the film just wouldn't "sell".
If you are one of the folks who, like me, were totally captivated by the music in this movie and its performance by the actors, you will be sorely disappointed by this CD. Don't buy it!"

Old music made new

Jerome Clark | Canby, Minnesota | 05/15/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Songcatcher may lack the exuberance of the O Brother, Where Are Thou? soundtrack, but it is still awfully good, with one sublime performance after another. The songs are mostly traditional, and the rest could as well be. They range in style from some that sound almost like field recordings (e.g., Iris DeMent's "Pretty Saro") to others set inside tastefully spare but distinctly modern arrangements (Emmylou Harris's "Barbara Allen"). Some are sung by performers whom one would never have expected to take on folk material (Rosanne Cash, Allison Moorer, Deana Carter), while other artists are at-ease veterans of the genre (Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch, Harris, Hazel Dickens). Whatever their backgrounds, all manage to turn in loving, assured readings. Carter, however, gets a little too close to the original, so faithful to her model, the influential Clarence Ashley variant of "The Cuckoo Bird," that -- just as Ashley's slipped tongue had it -- the bird "wobbles" (as opposed to "warbles") as she flies. The one overlap with O Brother is "Conversation with Death," called "O Death" in Ralph Stanley's version on the other disc. Amazingly, this version holds its own against Stanley's memorably eerie rendition. Like O Brother, Songcatcher gives old music new life, and we are all the better for it."

The roots of American music

K. N. Beers | 07/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD, part movie soundtrack, part separate compilation is a wonderful introduction to the early rural roots of American country music before it went suburban and became watered down Muzak al la Faith Hill and Shania Twain. Like the soundtrack to the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou," it recalls a time when music was enjoyed for its own sake, and not solely drive by spreadsheets and profit margins.But "Songcatcher" actually predates "O Brother" in that the songs that are here are either hundreds of years old ("Fair and Tender Maidens," "Pretty Saro," "Barbara Allen," "Wind and Rain," etc.) or originals heavily influenced by the style the movie and this CD seek to pay homage to ("When Love is New," "All My Tears," etc). These are the old ballads that were sung in rural England in the 16th and 17th centuries and brought over with the English settlers when they settled the southern Appalachians. By the early 20th century, when the movie is set, these ballads had mostly died out in England and in urban American, but survived in the mountains. Folklorists, such as Cecil Sharp and Olive Dame Campbell (among others) helped to see that these ballads were preserved thought their efforts of collecting them. Their efforts helped to inspire the movie "Songcatcher."These old ballads are part of the roots of American country music. The mountain ballads eventually mixed with other genres to form bluegrass and bluegrass, of course, is a significant sub-genre of country music. At a time when Nashville has sold its soul to the highest bidder, the success of the "O Brother" soundtrack is most welcome, and the efforts of "Songcatcher," both the film and this wonderful CD, are helping to remind people just where that music came from."

Not to be missed

Jerome Clark | 07/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Whether or not this album is a "soundtrack" to a movie, or a compilation that stands on its own is really beside the point. Regardless of which category it falls into it deserves to be reviewed for what is here, and what is here is very, very enjoyable.If you have any interest in American roots music, this disc is for your regardless of whether or not you have seen the film. Some of the finest women recording artists today are featured here -- Roseanne Cash, Iris DeMent, Gillian Welch, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, among many others, and they all have recorded songs that have either been steeped in traditional American music for hundreds of years, or songs that were highly influenced by them. While one can justifiably gripe that Emma Rossum's version of the old ballad "Barbara Allen" is way too short (although it is no shorter than the version in the movie) one can also rejoice that a major talent has been "discovered" here. If there is any justice someone will come up with a batch of wonderful traditional songs, give them to Rossum, take her to a recording studio and release the results to the public.But for me, as others have mentioned, the real highlight here is the remarkable version of the old ballad "Pretty Saro," as sung by Iris DeMent. Accompanied only by a fiddle, DeMent's mournful voice creates an exquisite piece that is not to be missed by her fans, or by any and all admirers of American roots music."

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