Music of Coal
Encyclopedia
Music of Coal: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields is a 70 page book and two CD compilation of old and new music from southern Appalachia
n coalfields
. The project was produced by Jack Wright and is a benefit for the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth in Wise County
, Virginia
.
The songs included cover a range of topics related to coal culture
such as mining accident
s and black lung disease. Some of the artists are natives of the U.S. coal mining region while others have less direct ties. Both vintage recordings and contemporary music have been combined with detailed liner notes giving context to both the songs and the artists. Musicologist Archie Green
adds a "Sanctus" note to Wright's "Introduction."
In the preliminary round of nominations for the 50th Grammy Awards
the boxed set was under consideration for a number of awards, including, Best Recording Package
, Best Liner Notes and Best Historical Album
. The compilation did not, however, make it the final round of nominees.
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n coalfields
Eastern Mountain Coal Fields
The Eastern Mountain Coal Fields is part of the Central Appalachian bituminous coal field, covering all or parts of 30 Kentucky counties and adjoining areas in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. It covers an area from the Allegheny Mountains in the east across the Cumberland Plateau and...
. The project was produced by Jack Wright and is a benefit for the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth in Wise County
Wise County, Virginia
Wise County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. In 1856, the county was formed from land taken from Lee, Scott, and Russell Counties. It was named after Henry A. Wise, who was the Governor of Virginia at the time. As of 2010, the population was 41,452, making it the largest...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
The songs included cover a range of topics related to coal culture
History of coal mining
Due to its abundance, coal has been mined in various parts of the world throughout history and continues to be an important economic activity today. Compared to wood fuels, coal yields a higher amount of energy per mass and could be obtained in areas where wood is not readily available...
such as mining accident
Mining accident
A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals.Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially in the processes of coal mining and hard rock mining...
s and black lung disease. Some of the artists are natives of the U.S. coal mining region while others have less direct ties. Both vintage recordings and contemporary music have been combined with detailed liner notes giving context to both the songs and the artists. Musicologist Archie Green
Archie Green
Archie Green was a folklorist specializing in laborlore and American folk music. Devoted to understanding vernacular culture, he gathered and commented upon the speech, stories, songs, emblems, rituals, art, artifacts, memorials, and landmarks which constitute laborlore...
adds a "Sanctus" note to Wright's "Introduction."
In the preliminary round of nominations for the 50th Grammy Awards
50th Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...
the boxed set was under consideration for a number of awards, including, Best Recording Package
Grammy Award for Best Recording Package
The Grammy Award for Best Recording Package is one of a series of Grammy Awards presented for the visual look of an album. It is presented to the art director of the winning album, not to the performer, except if the performer is also the art director....
, Best Liner Notes and Best Historical Album
Grammy Award for Best Historical Album
The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979. During this time the award had several minor name changes:*In 1979 the award was known as Best Historical Repackage Album*In 1980 it was awarded as Best Historical Reissue...
. The compilation did not, however, make it the final round of nominees.
Volume one
- "Down in a Coal Mine (Excerpt)" - 1:25
- The Edison Concert Band
- "Mining Camp Blues" - 2:59
- Trixie SmithTrixie SmithTrixie Smith was an African American blues singer, recording artist, vaudeville entertainer, and actress. She made four dozen recordings.-Biography:...
- Trixie Smith
- "Sprinkle Coal Dust on My Grave" - 2:46
- Orville Jenks
- "Coal Miner's Blues" - 3:04
- The Carter Family
- "Hard Times in Coleman’s Mine" - 2:36
- Aunt Molly JacksonAunt Molly JacksonAunt Molly Jackson was an influential American folk singer and a union activist. Her full name was Mary Magdalene Garland Stewart Jackson Stamos.-Biography:...
- Aunt Molly Jackson
- "He’s Only a Miner Killed in the Ground" - 2:35
- Ted Chestnut
- "Coal Black Mining Blues" - 1:13
- Nimrod WorkmanNimrod WorkmanNimrod Workman was an American singer, coal miner and trade unionist. His musical repertoire included traditional English and Scottish ballads, Appalachian folk songs and original compositions.-Biography:...
- Nimrod Workman
- "‘31 Depression Blues" - 2:52
- Ed Sturgill
- "Prayer of a Miner's Child" - 1:51
- Dock BoggsDock BoggsMoran Lee "Dock" Boggs was an influential old-time singer, songwriter and banjo player. His style of banjo playing, as well as his singing, is considered a unique combination of Appalachian folk music and African-American blues...
- Dock Boggs
- "That Twenty-Five Cents You Paid" - 2:25
- Sarah Ogan Gunning
- "The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore" - 3:10
- Jean RitchieJean RitchieJean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...
- Jean Ritchie
- "Dark as a DungeonDark as a Dungeon"Dark as a Dungeon" is a song written by singer-songwriter Merle Travis. It is a lament about the danger and drudgery of being a coal miner in an Appalachian shaft mine. It has become a rallying song among miners seeking improved working conditions....
" - 1:55- Merle TravisMerle TravisMerle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
- Merle Travis
- "Come All You Coal Miners" - 2:21
- The Reel World String Band
- "My Sweetheart’s the Mule in the Mines" - 0:22
- Mike Kline
- "Thirty Inch Coal" - 2:36
- Hobo Jack Adkins
- "Black Waters" - 3:38
- Jim Ringer
- "Roof Boltin’ Daddy" - 2:26
- Gene CarpenterGene CarpenterGene A. Carpenter was an American football coach and sports figure in the United States. He was the head football coach at Millersville University, located in a suburb of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for 32 years from 1970 to 2001.-Coaching history:Carpenter was the tenth head college football coach...
- Gene Carpenter
- "Dream of a Miner’s Child" - 2:46
- Carter StanleyCarter StanleyCarter Glen Stanley was a bluegrass music lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitar player. He formed the Stanley Brothers band together with his brother Ralph. The Stanley Brothers are generally acknowledged as the first band after Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys to play in the bluegrass genre...
- Carter Stanley
- "Coal Miner's Boogie" - 2:57
- George Davis
- "The Yablonski Murder" - 3:00
- Hazel DickensHazel DickensHazel Jane Dickens was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs...
- Hazel Dickens
- "What Are We Gonna Do?" - 3:01
- Dorothy Myles
- "Explosion at Derby Mine" - 4:02
- Charlie Maggard
- "Blind Fiddler" - 3:05
- Jim “Bud” Stanley
- "Loadin’ Coal" - 2:29
- John Hutchison
- "Coal Town Saturday Night" - 3:06
- Randall Hylton
- "It’s Been a Long Time" - 3:15
- Sonny Houston & Roger HallRoger HallRoger Leighton Hall, CNZM, QSO is a British born New Zealander actor and playwright, known for his comedies that carry a serious vein of social criticism and feelings of pathos.-Early years:...
- Sonny Houston & Roger Hall
- "Fountain Filled with Blood" - 3:56
- Elder James Caudill & Choir
Volume two
- "West Virginia Mine Disaster" - 2:48
- Molly Slemp
- "Union Man" - 3:36
- Blue Highway
- "Blue Diamond Mines" - 4:26
- Robin & Linda Williams
- "Set Yourself Free" - :50
- Billy Gene Mullins
- "Redneck War" - 5:22
- Ron Short
- "Sixteen TonsSixteen Tons"Sixteen Tons" is a song about the life of a coal miner, first recorded in 1946 by American country singer Merle Travis and released on his box set album Folk Songs of the Hills the following year...
" - 2:32- Ned BeattyNed BeattyNed Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
- Ned Beatty
- "There Will Be No Black Lung in Heaven" - 2:05
- Rev. Joe Freeman
- "Deep Mine Blues" - 3:45
- Nick Stump
- "I’m a Coal Mining Man" - 2:22
- Tom T. HallTom T. HallThomas "Tom T." Hall is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100...
- Tom T. Hall
- "Dirty Black Coal" - 4:27
- Kenneth Davis
- "Black Lung" - 3:21
- AJ RoachAJ Roach' is an American singer-songwriter originally from Virginia, but now based in Brooklyn, NY. Roach was born in Newport News, Virginia, but his family moved to his parents ancestral home in Duffield, Virginia when Roach was still very young....
- AJ Roach
- "Coal Dust Kisses" - 4:06
- Suzanne Mumpower-Johnson
- "Coal Tattoo" (Billy Edd WheelerBilly Edd WheelerBilly Edward "Edd" Wheeler is an American songwriter, performer, writer and visual artist. He has written songs performed by over 90 different artists including Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Darin, The Kingston Trio, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Kenny Rogers, Hazel Dickens, and Elvis Presley...
) - 4:06- Dale Jett
- "A Strip Miner’s Life" - 3:00
- Don StanleyDon StanleyDonald Stanley Uglum , known professionally as Don Stanley, was an American radio and television announcer....
& Middle CreekMiddle CreekMiddle Creek may refer to the following streams:*Middle Creek , in Alameda County*Middle Creek , in Maryland*Middle Creek in Pennsylvania*Middle Creek , a tributary of Cocalico Creek...
- Don Stanley
- "Daddy’s Dinner Bucket" - 3:26
- Ralph Stanley II
- "In Those Mines" - 3:43
- Valerie SmithValerie SmithValerie Smith is a left wing social activist who lobbies against violent pornography, violent rap music, and other allegedly misogynist content in Canadian media...
- Valerie Smith
- "Miner’s Prayer" - 3:14
- Ralph StanleyRalph StanleyRalph Stanley , also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.-Biography:...
& Dwight YoakamDwight YoakamDwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
- Ralph Stanley
- "Dyin’ To Make A Livin’" - 3:47
- W.V. Hill
- "You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive" - 6:06
- Darrell ScottDarrell ScottJames Darrell Scott known as Darrell Scott , the son of musician Wayne Scott with whom he has collaborated, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana. He was playing professionally by his teens in Southern California, later living in...
- Darrell Scott
- "They Can’t Put It Back" - 2:31
- Jack Wright
- "Which Side Are You On?Which Side Are You On?"Which Side Are You On?" is a song written by Florence Reece in 1931. Reece was the wife of Sam Reece, a union organizer for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1931, the miners of that region were locked in a bitter and violent struggle with the mine owners. In an attempt to...
" - 5:04- Natalie MerchantNatalie MerchantNatalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.-Early life:...
- Natalie Merchant
Further reading/listening
- "Music of Coal rings so true" by Cheryl Truman, Lexington Herald Leader, October 25, 2007
- "CD Celebrates Music from the Coal Mines" by Melissa BlockMelissa BlockMelissa Block is an American radio host. She is one of the hosts of NPR's All Things Considered news program.-Biography:Block was recording an interview in Chengdu, China when the area was struck by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake. Her coverage of the earthquake earned NPR a George Foster Peabody...
, All Things ConsideredAll Things ConsideredAll Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
, NPR, September 3, 2007 - Archie GreenArchie GreenArchie Green was a folklorist specializing in laborlore and American folk music. Devoted to understanding vernacular culture, he gathered and commented upon the speech, stories, songs, emblems, rituals, art, artifacts, memorials, and landmarks which constitute laborlore...
, Only a Miner: Studies in Recorded Coal-Mining Songs (University of Illinois Press, 1972).