I am a man of constant sorrow....

[Kaotic Newtral]

Who else besides me...can't get this goddamn song out of your head?

Lemmee tell you a story, I'm 32 years old, I've fought within a war, had a daughter die in my arms...had both of my grand-parents whisper their last words to me, been on the wrong end of a knife fight, and the only end of a divorce. I miss my daughter...God do I.

Well, that's the long and short of it....Somehow that tune from O Brother Where Art Thou helps..I guess it makes me feel like I'm not alone. If I could sing worth a lick, I'd be belting " I am a man of constant sorrow!" with a smile. :)


Smile All.

[Gadarene]

Hell, I've been whistling "I'll Fly Away" since May. Just ask Pucette, Maeglin, vix, TruePisces, and Billdo. :)

[Kaotic Newtral]

Originally posted by Gadarene
Hell, I've been whistling "I'll Fly Away" since May. Just ask Pucette, Maeglin, vix, TruePisces, and Billdo. :)

lol, you've got a point

[pharoah chromium]

It's an incredible song. The day after I saw the movie I went straight out to buy the soundtrack.

[HomeSlice]

Yeah, i when i first heard that song, i dug it and i hated country music.

[Kaotic Newtral]

Originally posted by HomeSlice
Yeah, i when i first heard that song, i dug it and i hated country music.

Same here, something about that 'bluegrass' makes things OK. I wish I knew what it was, I'd bottle it... :)

[Kaotic Newtral]

Expanding on the subject...what songs have an incredible effect on you? For me, there are a few....SRV solos kill me, the whole 'Do you feel' by Frampton leaves me with a lump in my throat...I love the feeling some artist play by(or with) what moves you?


-Kaotic

[Quasimodem]

He's In The Jailhouse Now that I keep singing. It has the distinction of being the only song actually recorded by one of the three main characters in the film.

Sorry, but the one I can't stand from OBWAT?, is Oh, Death. That one just drives me up the friggin' wall.
Jesus, what a whine! ;)

Quasi

[pharoah chromium]

There's a world of difference between bluegrass and country. (At least what passes for country these days -- back when "country" included Hank Williams things were different.) The liner notes for the soundtrack mention how country radio stations were deluged with requests for "Constant Sorrow", but they wouldn't play it because it didn't fit their mold.

[dropzone]

Originally posted by Kaotic Newtral
Who else besides me...can't get this goddamn song out of your head?It's that damned way that Bluegrass uses real-life situations, and not the pretty ones, as its themes. Then it gets sung by someone who you know from his voice has seen troubles. Real Bluegrass and real Blues work that way.

Originally posted by Gadarene
Hell, I've been whistling "I'll Fly Away" since May.Haven't seen the movie yet, but I often have the Carolyn Hester (still going at it (http://www.carolynhester.com/) and still FINE!) rendition stuck in my head.

[Kaotic Newtral]

Originally posted by pharoah chromium
There's a world of difference between bluegrass and country. (At least what passes for country these days -- back when "country" included Hank Williams things were different.) The liner notes for the soundtrack mention how country radio stations were deluged with requests for "Constant Sorrow", but they wouldn't play it because it didn't fit their mold.

I'd agree with that pharoah...I'm not much of a fan of Country music...but g'damn if the "soggy bottom boys" don't make me feel like changing over...the soul and feeling they thrown into a song is incredible........I can't get over it. (yet) ;)

[even sven]

I was working at a video store when OBWAT came out on video. We had to play constantly looping trailers with that song in it.

Within two days all of were singing it at work, at home, in our sleep......

[amarinth]

Nope. But "Down to the River to Pray" and "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby"

I also bought the soundtrack months before I saw the movie. Finally saw it, I loved this movie.

[mblackwell]

"Old Rock Candy Mountian" is my favorite song from that movie. Who originally recorded that? Is it the same person who sang "The Billboard Song?"

[Fern Forest]

Originally posted by mblackwell
"Old Rock Candy Mountian" is my favorite song from that movie. Who originally recorded that? Is it the same person who sang "The Billboard Song?"

ummm, "Big Rock Candy Mountain" is my wake-up song each and every day for the past 4 months. Every mourning at 7am my computer plays it real loud and I get up. It's a good wake up song.

But the whole movie is just filled with awesome music that just touches you. It all just worked so well it's in my heart and in my soul.

[John Carter of Mars]

The whole soundtrack from OBWAT seems to "grab" almost everyone who listens to it. Fantastic! I took the CD to work to play for a few co-workers during lunch. Didn't get much done the rest of the afternoon, with people wandering by wanting to hear one song or the other: "Just once more".

For a version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" that's great in it's own right, but very different, Peter, Paul and Mary did it on a 1962 album titled: "Peter, Paul and Mary". The song title is simply: "Sorrow" on the album.

[ThunderBunny]

I heard the Big Rock Candy Mountain song first when I was a kid -- the refrain and first two verses were on a kid's album I had.

You can imagine my surprise years later when I learned the other verses that weren't so... um... wholesome ;)

That song's such a classic.

[Sunglasses]

It seems I'm humming one of ANY of the songs on that soundtrack. I'll Fly Away is probably the most frequent. When I watched the movie and I heard Big Rock Candy Mountain, I burst into tears (we had to rewind and start over). My dad used to sing that song to me when I was a kid. My dad was always singing songs from the depression era and I told myself many times that I would record him but, he died before I got around to it. Needless to say, I purchased the soundtrack!

[Bumbazine]

Originally posted by mblackwell
"Old Rock Candy Mountian" is my favorite song from that movie. Who originally recorded that? Is it the same person who sang "The Billboard Song?"
I remember Burl Ives recorded Big Rock Candy Mountain long ago, but he might not have been the first.

And I loved the soundtrack to OBWAT too.

[Gadarene]

I think the version of Big Rock Candy Mountain on the soundtrack is one of the original recordings; it's from Harry McClintock circa 1928.

There are two other vintage recordings on the soundtrack--without peeking, anyone wanna guess which ones? :)

[Jonathan Chance]

Well, I know the version of "Po' Lazarus" on the soundtrack (which is NOT the one on the film) is from the Lomax recordings from the 30s. Alan Lomax documented some GREAT stuff. I've just never been able to find what I consider a decent compilation.

Off the top of my head I can't remember the other one. But it's teasing me. Someone guess.

NOW!

[Spoke]

You want a good bluegrassy song that'll tear your heart out, try "There Is a Time" by The Dillards (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000ECZ/qid=1002564290/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_3_1/104-4133933-2526301).

I'm also partial to "Paradise" (a/k/a "Daddy Won't You Take Me Back to Muhlenberg County") by John Prine. There are some good bluegrass covers of this one out there as well.

[GraceTX]

Originally posted by pharoah chromium
There's a world of difference between bluegrass and country. (At least what passes for country these days -- back when "country" included Hank Williams things were different.) The liner notes for the soundtrack mention how country radio stations were deluged with requests for "Constant Sorrow", but they wouldn't play it because it didn't fit their mold.

Don't know where you are, but a couple of radio stations (KSCS and KHYI)in Dallas, Texas play the song quite a bit. KSCS is your typical country music station that plays commercial music. I listen to KHYI (95.3 The Range) and they play outlaw country, americana music, bluegrass, and more alternative-type country. They frequently play music from OBWAT and OBWAT musicians.

[dropzone]

Originally posted by Jonathan Chance
Alan Lomax documented some GREAT stuff. I've just never been able to find what I consider a decent compilation.Isn't the Library of Congress working on making it ALL available, even if you have to take a day off and listen there?

Just my two cents but 1) I love Dwight Yoakam and his blend of bluegrass and rock and all that fun stuff. He's got a good sound that's not this "hot new country!" crud. And he looks durn sexay with that cowboy hat on. But without it, oh god, get the weasel killing machine out, ma!
2) If any of y'all live in the SF Bay area you should check out the Yonder Mountain String Band at the Fillmore coming up later this month. They are a lot of fun.

[Spoke]

By the way, there is a second CD out, entitled Down from the Mountain (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MJYJ/qid%3D1002643894/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/104-4133933-2526301), featuring live performances by the recording artists who appeared on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. There is also a documentary film of the concert currently in theaters in larger cities.

Oh yeah, and check out this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=91696) for recommendations of good bluegrass music in the same vein as "Man of Constant Sorrow."

[TruePisces]

Originally posted by Gadarene
Hell, I've been whistling "I'll Fly Away" since May. Just ask Pucette, Maeglin, vix, TruePisces, and Billdo. :)

As have I... and I'd still love to find it at karaoke some time and get Pucette to sing it with me. :D

:wanders out, finding the harmonies of the song again, just incase she finds it somewhere:

[Johnny Angel]

When people say they hate country music, it's usually because they think that garbage they're cranking out in Nashville nowadays is country music. (Mind you, I think the quality of popular music of all genres took a nosedive sometime in the seventies)

Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou seems to have opened a lot of eyes. Unfortunately, I'm not hopeful that it'll keep. I doubt that most of the people who ran out and bought the soundtrack will continue to explore country music any more than the people who gobbled up the Dirty Dancing soundtrack went on to take a serious interest in oldies.

[Frank O. Pinion]

Originally posted by Johnny Angel
When people say they hate country music, it's usually because they think that garbage they're cranking out in Nashville nowadays is country music. (Mind you, I think the quality of popular music of all genres took a nosedive sometime in the seventies)

You said it! There are a few real country singers on mainstream country radio( Alan Jackson, George Strait, Patty Loveless), but finding good REAL country music is getting harder. I live in the country, and I can't get much good country music on the radio(I can get WSM at night). I think more people would like country music if they actually heard what real, honest-to-godness country music sounded like, instead of Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, etc. Even The Dixie Chicks are more country than they are!

[Labdad]

Appropriate to this thread, we just saw Alison Krauss and Union Station last night. One of her guitar players, Dan Tyminski, was the "voice" of George Clooney when the Soggy Bottom Boys do "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" in OBWAT. Naturally, they performed the song last night. But an unexpected bonus was the encore, when Alison and her band gathered around one microphone to perform "Down to the River to Pray." That's the tune I've been humming all day today!

[moodtobestewed]

Originally posted by Quasimodem
He's In The Jailhouse Now that I keep singing.

You might want to check out Webb Pierce's recording of this song. It's a little more uptempo and catchy. Pierce seems to be mostly forgotten these days, though he had more #1 country hits in the 50s than Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Lefty Frizzell, and Ernest Tubb (at least according to the http://www.allmusic.com).

[moodtobestewed]

Originally posted by Quasimodem
He's In The Jailhouse Now that I keep singing.

You might want to check out Webb Pierce's recording of this song. It's a little more uptempo and catchy. Pierce seems to be mostly forgotten these days, though he had more #1 country hits in the 50s than Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Lefty Frizzell, and Ernest Tubb (at least according to the http://www.allmusic.com).

[Guy Propski]

For you folks who keep saying they hate country music--keep in mind that the music you hear today that's being called "country", is not. It's "country" in the same way the Backstreet Boys are "rock&roll." Don't get your music from popular radio.

The OBWAT soundtrack is just incredible. I can listen to "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" all day.

[caveman]

I love the O Brother... soundtrack; bought it immediately after seeing the movie. Here in Austin, KVET plays songs from it now and then (KVET plays actual country; KASE, its sister station, plays new country, or, "kountry"). It's great stuff. Now, if I could only figure out the words to Po' Lazarus...

[diku]

Here in Nashville, it was a big thing when the movie and soundtrack came out. We, of course, have a multitude of "country" stations that wouldn't play anything off the soundtrack. Even the station that plays classic "country" wouldn't play any of it. They shoot "Down from the Mountain" here at the Ryman, not that you would have know it from the lack of publicity here in town. Even when they were showing Down from the Mountain in local theaters, unless you went to the theater, you didn't know about it. Of course, OBWAT was playing in a few local theaters up until September.

I'm not a country music fan of any stripe, though I do like bluegrass. The morons down on Music Row ignore traditional country and bluegrass music, then wonder why sales are down. Then the OBWAT soundtrack comes out and sells like crazy. Music Row considers in an abberation. We'll see.

[Scotticher]

I didn't see that movie, but I LOVE the song.

I also love "The American Trilogy," which is "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "All My Sorrows," and "Dixie" sort of intertwined. I like the Elvis version the best. And Peter, Paul and Mary did an awesome rendition of "All My Sorrows" that I find playing in my mind often. Even though it makes me kind of choke up.

For some reason, I associate both "Sorrow" songs with each other.

Scotti

[Spoke]

I mentioned this over in the Bluegrass thread, but I want to mention it here too:

If you are a fan of the O Brother soundtrack, do yourself a favor and pick up the Blue Ribbon Bluegrass (http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=11661851122) compilation. It is ridiculously cheap, and for my money it is one of the best bluegrass compilations around. Many great songs in the same traditionalist vein as that tapped by the Coen Brothers.

It's a good way to introduce yourself to some of the better acts that have been recording traditional music over the past few years.

[Kilt-wearin' man]

Hey Caveman - KGSR is pretty reliable for throwing out selections from the OBWAT? sountdtrack for your listening pleasure...trouble is you have to wade through a lot of crud while you wait (sometimes not such a bad thing - they're where I discovered Lyle Lovett...). Every time my wife and I go to Austin I find KGSR and usually get to hear Man of Constant Sorrow within 15 minutes, if it isn't already playing.