Hazel Dickens, a troubadour of hard times whose raw, heartfelt songs about coal miners and the life of the downtrodden made her a revered figure in country and bluegrass music, died April 22 at the Washington Home hospice in the District. Hazel Dickens grew up in a West Virginia coal-mining community and had a successful career as a bluegrass singer and songwriter. She was 75. Hazel Jane Dickens (June 1, 1925 – April 22, 2011) was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. Biography During the early to mid-1960s, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, two friends living in the Baltimore/Washington DC area started to play bluegrass music together-a heretofore almost exclusively male bastion-creating a style, a repertoire, and a consciousness … Dickens and Gerrard discovered they harmonized well together, and they started playing shows together, quickly developing a loyal following in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. In 2011 Dickens died in a Washington DC hospice from complications of pneumonia. Biography. Earl Gilmore, The Rices and Hazel Dickens at Highlander's Coal Mining Music Workshop Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard discography and songs: Music profile for Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard. Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, 1975. Courtesy of Appalshop. Starting in the early 1960s with singing partner Hazel Dickens, she helped open the doors for a host of up-and-coming women performers and entrepreneurs in the fields of bluegrass and old-time music. Earl Gilmore, The Rices and Hazel Dickens at Highlander's Coal Mining Music Workshop [10][11] After her death, it was reported in major media that she had been born on June 1, 1935, but her relatives and public records confirmed the earlier date of June 1, 1925. [5] In 1978, Dickens performed at the Vandalia Gathering in Charleston, West Virginia, both solo and then with the former coal-miner turned musician, Carl Rutherford. Dickens and Gerrard were bluegrass bandleaders at a time when the vast majority of bluegrass bands were led by men. Hansell, Tom; Beaver, Patricia & Wiley, Angela, (2015). Her songs of hard work, hard times, and hardy souls have bolstered working people at picket lines and union rallies throughout the land. Hazel Dickens’s compelling voice and eloquent songs first reached a large American public in the soundtrack ofHarlan County, USA,a 1976 Academy Award–winning documentary film that told of a protracted and dramatic strike in the eastern Kentucky coalfields.During a graphic description of the ravages wrought by pneumoconiosis midway through the documentary, Hazel is heard singing her … Protest and folksinger Hazel Dickens grew up the eighth of 11 children in a large, poor mining family in West Virginia, and she used elements of country and bluegrass to spread truth about two causes close to her heart: the plight of non-unionized mineworkers and feminism, born not of the '60s movement but traditional values. In this intimate portrait, interviews with Hazel and fellow musicians such as Alison Krauss, Naomi Judd, and Dudley Connell are interwoven with archival footage, recent performances, and 16 powerful songs including “Mama’s Hand,” “ Working Girl Blues,” and “Black Lung.”. She was 75. Hazel Dickens, a troubadour of hard ... received a National Heritage fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and was the subject of a documentary. She no doubt helped pave the way for other female musicians, whether in bluegrass, pop, punk, and beyond. There is a short biography, followed by the lyrics of many of Hazel's songs with brief comments from Hazel herself. Biography of Hazel Dickens on OLDIES.com. Reel South -You Gave Me A Song ^ Sources vary on birth date; see talk page discussion, American bluegrass musician, singer, and activist, Films in which Dickens contributes to the soundtrack, Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song, International Bluegrass Music Association, "Remembering Hazel Dickens: A Feminist Bluegrass Voice", "Hazel Dickens Inspires New Generation of Musicians", "Harlan County, USA | Big Sky Documentary Film Festival", "Hazel Dickens dies at 75; bluegrass pioneer and social activist", "Strange Creek Singers: Get Aquatinted Waltz - Strange Creek Singers - Songs, Reviews, Credits", "57 Champions of Queer Feminism, All Name-Dropped in One Impossibly Catchy Song", Dickens Discography at Smithsonian Folkways, Criterion Films Collection Harlan County, USA, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hazel_Dickens&oldid=999307128, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "They'll Never Keep Us Down" (Rounder Records, 1976) – for the film, "Busted" / "Old Calloused Hands" (Rounder Records, 1980) – from the album. . --Goldenseal "All fans of traditional music and students of feminism, southern culture, and labor movements, should read and revel in Working Girl Blues.--PopMatters For licensing, film rights and permissions, contact Remembering Hazel Dickens Born in West Virginia, Hazel Dickens recorded twice for Folkways Records and was a frequent participant of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, appearing some fifteen times. Hazel Dickens was a musical pioneer for women and the working class. [6] Dickens began to be seen as an activist and a voice for the working people.[7]. Dickens was the first woman to receive the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Merit Award. Hazel Dickens : a brief biography by Bill C. Malone --Songs and Memories by Hazel Dickens. In the same year her story was told in the documentary Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song. Hazel Dickens passed away. She recorded four songs for the soundtrack to the Academy Award-winning documentary about coal mining, Harlan County, USA. True to form, Appalshop has produced quite a line-up for the series—Sunny Side of Life, Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers, From Wood to Singing Guitar, Hazel Dickens: It’s Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song, Quilting Women, The Ralph Stanley Story, Strangers and Kin: A History of the Hillbilly Image, and His Eye is on the Sparrow. Dickens was born liero July 23, 1900, tho daughter ot Mr. and Mre. The singer and songwriter Hazel Dickens was one of the women who changed the face of American country music. Her … [2], Dickens used her music to try and make a difference in the lives of non-unionized mine workers and feminists. The duo produced four classic LPs (recently reissued by Rounder on CD) and influenced scores of young women singers — even The Judds acknowledge Hazel and Alice as an important early inspiration. BIOGRAPHY: Hazel Dickens grew up in the coal-mining country of West Virginia, and the harsh conditions in which her family lived and worked deeply affected her and her art. In the 1960s, Dickens teamed up with another singer, Alice Gerrard, and together they brought a strong feminist viewpoint to traditional music. This page was last edited on 9 January 2021, at 14:40. Interviews with Hazel and fellow musicians such as Alison Krauss, Naomi Judd, and Dudley Connell are interwoven with archival footage, recent performances, and 16 songs including “Mama’s Hand,” “ Working Girl Blues,” and “Black Lung.” New York Times April 22, 2011 Hazel Dickens, Folk Singer, Dies at 75 By BILL FRISKICS-WARREN Hazel Dickens, a clarion-voiced advocate for coal miners and working people and a pioneer among women in bluegrass music, died on Friday in Washington. Genres: Bluegrass, Appalachian Folk Music. Many of Hazels's relatives were miners, including her brothers, cousins, and, eventually, her brothers-in-law.[1][2]. This is an excerpt from the documentary Hazel Dickens: It’s Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song directed by Mimi Pickering. Her … Dickens died Friday morning at a Washington hospice of complications from pn Hazel Dickens was known for her activism on behalf of non-unionized mineworkers. Genres: Bluegrass, Appalachian Folk Music. "[17], Dickens received the Merit Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 1994 and was the first woman to do so. Remembering Hazel Dickens Born in West Virginia, Hazel Dickens recorded twice for Folkways Records and was a frequent participant of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, appearing some fifteen times. Hazel Jane Dickens (June 1, 1925[a] – April 22, 2011) was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. The obituary was featured in Legacy on April 25, 2011. Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song, 2001. WASHINGTON (AP) - Hazel Dickens, a folk singer and bluegrass musician who advocated for coal miners, has died at age 75. Hazel Dickens (June 1, 1935, - April 22, 2011, born Mercer County, West Virginia) an American bluegrass singer. [14], Her name appears in the lyrics of the Le Tigre song "Hot Topic. . Hazel Dickens. Hazel Dickens was born in downstate West Virginia in coal country- her family members were coal miners. 1998 A Few Old Memories. From the coalfields of West Virginia to the factories of Baltimore, Hazel Dickens has lived the songs she sings. From the coalfields of West Virginia to the factories of Baltimore, Hazel Dickens has lived the songs she sings. With Alice Gerrard, Dickens was one of the first women to record a bluegrass album. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Hazel Dickens discography and songs: Music profile for Hazel Dickens, born 1 June 1935. A pioneering woman in Bluegrass and hardcore country music, Hazel has influenced generations of songwriters and musicians. The biography of Hazel Dickens would appear to follow the typical trajectory of many young rural Appalachian women from rural West Virginia raised in coal-mining communities in the 1950s. She appeared in the Oscar winning documentary Harlan County, USA, about the struggle of the county's miners union against scab workers, wage rights, and health conditions; sung about on the picket line in her folk songs as well as contributing those four songs to the soundtrack of the film. The songs in the clip are the powerful and moving “Mannington Mines” and “They’ll Never Keep Us Down.” She had 1 sister and 9 brothers, all of whom were miners. solo career began with the soundtrack to an Academy Award-winning documentary film about a violent miner?s strike. Hazel Dickens : a brief biography by Bill C. Malone --Songs and Memories by Hazel Dickens. Hazel Dickens, Soundtrack: Gifted. WASHINGTON (AP) - Hazel Dickens, a folk singer and bluegrass musician who advocated for coal miners, has died at age 75. [2] She met Mike Seeger, younger half-brother of Pete Seeger and founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers and became active in the Baltimore-Washington area bluegrass and folk music scene during the 1960s. Documentary by Mimi Pickering. She died on April 22, 2011 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. 1987 By the Sweat of My Brow. Three years later, she contributed to the soundtrack for With Babies and Banners and began a solo career five years later. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. [4] Dickens started to write more about the lives of miners and wrote a song titled "Black Lung" about her brother, Thurman, who died from the disease. Please help us preserve films on American folklife. In her 20’s she moved to the Baltimore area and became very active in the folk- bluegrass music scene in the Baltimore -Washington, D.C. area. "Hazel Dickens is an icon, and it is about time a book-length biography was published about her. Alice is particularly known for her groundbreaking collaboration with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and ’70s. She grew up near Montcalm, West Virginia, one of 11 children, and moved away in … ?Harlan County USA? [5] She wrote a song titled "Coal Mining Women" about the hardships women faced in the coal mining world. Hazel Dickens was born on June 1, 1935 in Montcalm, West Virginia, USA as Hazel Jane Dickens. In 2001 she was presented with a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. From this petite, wiry frame came an unexpectedly powerful voice. MUS. Harlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike" a ... "They'll Never Keep Us Down", written and sung by Hazel Dickens, accompanied by Lamar Grier, John Katarakis, John Otsuka, and Gary Henderson; Reception Critical response. I enjoyed reading it, but was left wanting more background, analysis, and comparisons with other musicians similar to her, either historical or contemporary. Protest and folksinger Hazel Dickens grew up the eighth of 11 children in a large, poor mining family in West Virginia, and she used elements of country and bluegrass to spread truth about two causes close to her heart: the plight of non-unionized mineworkers and feminism, born not of the '60s movement but traditional values. Hazel Dickens passed away. The documentary film Hazel Dickens: It’s hard to tell the singer from the song (Appalshop, 1987), and Dickens recent autobiography, co-written with country music scholar Bill Malone, Working Girl Blues: the life and music of Hazel Dickens (University of Illinois Press, 2008), provide remarkable insight into the creative life of an artist as Hazel reflects on her own career. Protest and folksinger Hazel Dickens grew up the eighth of 11 children in a large, poor mining family in West Virginia, and she used elements of country and bluegrass to spread truth about two causes close to her heart: the plight of non-unionized mineworkers and feminism, born not of the '60s movement but traditional values. She was 75 and had complications from pneumonia. She appeared in the films Matewan and The Songcatcher as well as in the documentary Harlan County USA. In the early 1950s she moved to Baltimore. She was herself the subject of a documentary, Hazel Dickens: It’s Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song (2001). Directed by Barbara Kopple. The New York Times extolled her as "a clarion-voiced advocate for coal miners and working people and a pioneer among women in bluegrass music." Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. In the early 1950s she moved to Baltimore. Her three solo … I was watching the documentary "Harlan County, USA" last night with my in-laws because my wifes mother lived in Harlan County and remembers the strike in the '30's. Hard To Tell The Singer From The Song profiles a "modern" woman dealing with contemporary issues from a feminist perspective which has evolved from her own experiences, being Appalachian, being displaced physically and culturally, being poor and working class, being a woman artist in a man's world, and being a bearer of tradition. Hazel Dickens? Albums include Classic Mountain Songs From Smithsonian Folkways, Classic Bluegrass From Smithsonian Folkways, and Hand-Picked: 25 Years of Bluegrass Music on Rounder Records. Her music is characterized by not only her "high lonesome" singing style, but also by … Dickens was featured in a number of films, including Songcatcher; Matewan, about the West Virginia mine wars; and the Oscar-winning Harlan County, U.S.A., for which she wrote original music. Well, in this documentary there is a ton of really great rural music and raw, from-the-soul singing throughout. HAZEL DICKENS John Dickens, aged 24, died last evening at her honie on Vino Bt., following two years' Illness of complications.Mrs. Her songs on coal mining caught the attention of producer-director Barbara Kopple, who asked her to provide material for HARLAN COUNTY USA’s … [18][2], a. Known for her high, piercing vocal quality and poignant, topical songwriting, she first gained recognition as one half of the pioneering female bluegrass duo, Hazel and Alice. . the filmmaker the distributor Appalshop, Inc., or Folkstreams. Seeger introduced Gerrard to Hazel Dickens, a West Virginia-born singer living in Baltimore, Maryland who had a passion for classic Appalachian folk songs. Hazel Dickens’s compelling voice and eloquent songs first reached a large American public in the soundtrack ofHarlan County, USA,a 1976 Academy Award–winning documentary film that told of a protracted and dramatic strike in the eastern Kentucky coalfields. During this time she also established a collaborative relationship with Mike Seeger's wife, Alice Gerrard, and as "Hazel & Alice" recorded two albums for the Folkways label:[3] Who's That Knocking (And Other Bluegrass Country Music) (1965) and Won't You Come & Sing for Me (1973). Born in Mercer County, West Virginia on June 1, 1935, Hazel Dickens is considered to be one of the more influential women in bluegrass and traditional folk music. The singer and songwriter Hazel Dickens was one of the women who changed the face of American country music. Folksinger Hazel Dickens, a pioneer for women in bluegrass music, died Friday. Fresh Air remembers the feminist role model with excerpts from a 1987 interview. Her music is characterized by not only her "high lonesome" singing style, but also by … Together, they recorded two additional albums on Rounder Records, but Hazel & Alice broke up in 1976 and Dickens pursued a solo career where her music and songwriting became more political. Bishop.Hcr malden name was Misa Hazel … Hazel Jane Dickens (June 1, 1925 – April 22, 2011) was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. Alice Gerrard looms as a towering female figure in a world that was once the domain of male musicians and business leaders. She appeared in the documentary Harlan County USA in 1970- four of her songs including Mannington Mine Disaster are on that outstanding … She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. • Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976). The obituary was featured in Legacy on April 25, 2011. In the same year her story was told in the documentary Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song. Dickens died Friday morning at a Washington hospice of complications from pn [8][9] She also appeared in the films Matewan and Songcatcher. Harlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike" a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky.It won the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 49th Academy Awards. Hazel Dickens (June 1, 1935, - April 22, 2011, born Mercer County, West Virginia) an American bluegrass singer. Popular Hazel Dickens albums Heart of a Singer. In this rare video from 1978, she sings one of her most treasured songs. Hazel Dickens grew up the eighth of 11 children in a poor mining family in West Virginia. Hazel Jane Dickens, 1 June 1935, Mercer County, West Virginia, USA. The book reads like an extended series of conversations with Hazel Dickens herself. Dickens was born in Montcalm, Mercer County, West Virginia on June 1, 1925, the eighth of eleven siblings born to a mining family. From the coalfields of West Virginia to the factories of Baltimore, Hazel Dickens has lived the songs she sings. She was married to Joseph S. Cohen. 1987 It's Hard to Tell the Singer From the Song. Hazel Dickens performing in 2009. The two separated in 1973 -- two later albums were compiled from previous recordings -- and Dickens began her solo career with a flourish. View their obituary at Legacy.com Hazel Dickens was born in Montcalm, Mercer County, West Virginia on June 1, 1925, the eighth of eleven siblings in a mining family of 6 boys and 5 girls. Albums include Classic Bluegrass From Smithsonian Folkways, Songcatcher, and Classic Labor Songs. She didn’t just have a great singing voice or natural talent: she was incredibly observant and intelligent, and it showed. 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