Songcatcher
Encyclopedia
The film's score was written by David Mansfield
, who also assembled a roster of female country music
artists to perform mostly traditional mountain ballads
. Some of the songs are contemporary arrangements, and some are played in the traditional Appalachian music style. The artists include Rosanne Cash
, Emmylou Harris
, Maria McKee
, Dolly Parton
, Gillian Welch
and Patty Loveless
. Singers Emmy Rossum
, Iris DeMent
, and Hazel Dickens
, who appeared in the film, are also featured on the soundtrack.
The soundtrack album inspired the 2002 follow-up album by Vanguard Records
, Songcatcher II: The Tradition That Inspired the Movie, that compiled recordings of some of the songs selected for the film as performed by authentic Appalachian artists. The recordings are mostly from the 1960s, out of the Vanguard vaults.
David Mansfield
David Mansfield is an American violinist, mandolin player, guitarist, pedal steel guitar player, and composer....
, who also assembled a roster of female country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artists to perform mostly traditional mountain ballads
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
. Some of the songs are contemporary arrangements, and some are played in the traditional Appalachian music style. The artists include Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Maria McKee
Maria McKee
Maria Luisa McKee is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her work with Lone Justice and her 1990 UK solo chart-topping hit, "Show Me Heaven".-Music:...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
and Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
. Singers Emmy Rossum
Emmy Rossum
Emmanuelle Grey "Emmy" Rossum is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She first starred in a string of movies including Songcatcher , An American Rhapsody, and Passionada . However, it was her role in Mystic River that garnered her wider recognition...
, Iris DeMent
Iris DeMent
Iris DeMent is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres country and folk music.-Early life:...
, and Hazel Dickens
Hazel Dickens
Hazel 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...
, who appeared in the film, are also featured on the soundtrack.
The soundtrack album inspired the 2002 follow-up album by Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
, Songcatcher II: The Tradition That Inspired the Movie, that compiled recordings of some of the songs selected for the film as performed by authentic Appalachian artists. The recordings are mostly from the 1960s, out of the Vanguard vaults.
Track listing
- "Fair and Tender Ladies" (Traditional, performed by Rosanne CashRosanne CashRosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
) - 2:56 - "Pretty SaroPretty SaroPretty Saro is an English folk ballad originating in the early 1700s. The song died out in England by the mid eighteenth century but was rediscovered in North America in the early twentieth century where it had been preserved in the Appalachian Mountains through oral traditions...
" (Traditional, performed by Iris DeMentIris DeMentIris DeMent is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres country and folk music.-Early life:...
) - 2:54 - "When Love Is New" (Composed and performed by Dolly PartonDolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
) - 5:16 - "Barbara Allen" (Traditional, performed by Emmy RossumEmmy RossumEmmanuelle Grey "Emmy" Rossum is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She first starred in a string of movies including Songcatcher , An American Rhapsody, and Passionada . However, it was her role in Mystic River that garnered her wider recognition...
) - 0:43 - "Barbara Allen" (Traditional, performed by Emmylou HarrisEmmylou HarrisEmmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
) - 4:35 - "Moonshiner" (Traditional, performed by Allison MoorerAllison MoorerAllison Moorer is an American alternative country singer and the younger sister of Shelby Lynne. She signed to MCA Nashville in 1998 and made her debut on the U.S...
) - 3:34 - "Sounds of Loneliness" (Composed by Patty Ramey, [performed by Patty LovelessPatty LovelessPatty Loveless , is an American country music singer.Since her emergence on the country music scene in late 1986 with her first album, Loveless has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she has also recorded albums in the Country pop and...
) - 3:44 - "All My Tears" (Composed and performed by Julie MillerJulie MillerJulie Miller is a songwriter, singer, and recording artist currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. She married Buddy Miller in 1981...
) - 3:11 - "Mary of the Wild Moor" (Traditional, performed by Sara EvansSara EvansSara Lynn Evans is an American country singer and songwriter.Evans was one of the few traditional-styled singers to emerge from Nashville in the late 1990s, according to Allmusic. Since emerging in the late 1990s, Evans has made five No. 1 Country hits and Gold and Platinum-certified albums by...
) - 3:51 - "Wayfaring StrangerThe Wayfaring Stranger (song)"The Wayfaring Stranger" , Roud 3339, is a well-known American spiritual/folk song likely originating in the early 19th century about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. It became one of Burl Ives's signature songs, included on his 1944 album The Wayfaring Stranger...
(Traditional, Maria McKeeMaria McKeeMaria Luisa McKee is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her work with Lone Justice and her 1990 UK solo chart-topping hit, "Show Me Heaven".-Music:...
) - 3:24 - "Wind and Rain" (Traditional, performed by Gillian WelchGillian WelchGillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
and David RawlingsDavid RawlingsDavid Todd Rawlings is a professional guitarist and singer. He is best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch.David attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with guitar professor Lauren Passarelli....
) - 3:25 - "The Cuckoo BirdThe Cuckoo (song)"The Cuckoo" is a traditional English folk song. It has been covered by many musicians in several different styles. An early notable recorded version was performed by Appalachian folk musician Clarence Ashley with a unique banjo tuning....
" (Traditional, performed by Deana CarterDeana CarterDeana Carter is a country music artist who broke through in 1996 with the release of debut album Did I Shave My Legs for This?, which was certified 5× Multi-Platinum in the United States for sales of over five million...
) - 3:33 - "Score Suite # 1" (Composed by David MansfieldDavid MansfieldDavid Mansfield is an American violinist, mandolin player, guitarist, pedal steel guitar player, and composer....
) - 5:01 - "Conversation With Death" (Traditional, performed by 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...
) - 3:01 - "Score Suite # 2" (Composed by David MansfieldDavid MansfieldDavid Mansfield is an American violinist, mandolin player, guitarist, pedal steel guitar player, and composer....
) - 4:58 - "Single Girl" (Traditional, performed by Pat CarrollPat Carroll (actress)Patricia Ann “Pat” Carroll is an American actress. She performed in numerous stage productions, and portrayed the roles of "Bunny Halper" on CBS's The Danny Thomas Show, Shirley Feeney's mother on ABC's Laverne and Shirley, and is the voice of the villainous Ursula in The Little Mermaid film...
) - 1:04
Chart performance
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 42 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums | 31 |
Further reading
- Scarborough, Dorothy (1937). A Song Catcher in Southern Mountains: American Folk Songs of British Ancestry. New York, New York: Columbia University Press.
External links
- New York Time's Movie Review for Songcatcher