| Cool, Blue and Lonesome - Various Artists | |
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Reviewed by Kathy Coleman
It's almost an oxymoron, sad bluegrass music. Usually, no matter how sorrowful the lyrics, bluegrass is the vibrant cheery side of country music, the never-depressing banjo and tinkling joyous mandolin absolutely entreating the listener to get up and dance with delight. But
still, bluegrass IS pure country music, and country music is the "music of pain." With roots in ancient, heart-rending Irish ballads and high lonesome Appalachian loneliness, decorated with a trace of deep south Ozark and Smoky Mountain/Memphis blues, it is possible to turn bluegrass into "blues" grass.
Cool, Blue, and Lonesome is a collection of 18 tracks from all over the wide category
of "bluegrass," the term accidentally coined by Bill Monroe for a music older than the hills.
Bringing together such bluegrass luminaries as Ricky Skaggs, Dan Tyminski, Doyle Lawson,
Larry Cordle, Hot Rize, the Osborne Brothers, and many others, this is a tremendously enjoyable
disc. Five of the songs come from the pen of Bill Monroe himself; other writers include Larry
Cordle (author of the vicious, truthful CMA Song of the Year 2001, "Murder on Music Row"),
Tim O'Brien, Doc Watson, and even a little Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams.
Lonesome heartbreak, sorrow and tears; it's all a part of the whole country blues and
bluegrass package. Real music from the soil that's absolutely guaranteed to make you feel better about your own life. Because no matter the sadness of the lyrics, the music never fails to lift the spirit, which is what music was all about. So let the fiddle cry, this disc will delight even the most heartbroken.
"Lonesome Standard Time" starts the music at a bright high, with a sweet, sorrowful lyric that's a delicious appetizer for what's to come. "When you hear them ol' sad songs, do you hang on every word? Do you swear a cryin' fiddle is the sweetest sound on earth?" This is, plain and simple, country music. Beautiful.
Things only go uphill from there. "Mis'ry River" is that lovely, cheerful, vibrant bluegrass sound wrapped around some of the saddest lyrics in existence. But several cuts prove that the fiddle does cry, and its weeping twists hearts in tracks such as "All Alone" and "Walk the Way the Wind Blows."
But largely, the unrepressed joy of the banjo prevails (Steve Martin used to do a routine
with his banjo that stated there was no way to play unhappy songs on the banjo, they just
naturally ended up cheerful, no matter what you were singing about).
"I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome" is a beautiful true-blue country song, written by Bill Monroe and Hank Williams. Country and bluegrass were always meant to be one, not separated! The sweet sound of the pedal steel brings a touch of honky-tonk to this Appalachian hillbilly weeper.
"Flat Broke and Lonesome" wakes the fiddle up and is a foot-tapping love-lost song; it's
followed by the sweet traditional sounds of "Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow," early Ricky Skaggs at his best, with just him, his mandolin, and Tony Rice on guitar and harmony. It's a wonderful track, sweet as honey.
The Osborne Brothers "kick it up a notch" with their upbeat jig, "Listenin' to the Rain."
"Tuck Away My Lonesome Blues" brings back the pedal steel and some marvelously Jimmie
Rodgers-styled yodeling.
It's a delight to hear Hank Williams' "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" done in this old-time style; although Hank himself leaned to the "modern" drums and steel, his heart was hillbilly soul, and this is as soulful as it gets.
No exception to excellence are the final three tracks on the disc, "Sittin' Alone in the Moonlight," "Drivin' Nails in My Coffin," and "Another Lonesome Day."
On a rainy day when you're feeling blue, flip this disc into your player and just enjoy the sounds of pure country music. This is as good as it gets.
Song List:
Album cover, used with permission of Sugar Hill Records.
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