Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Drawing from the same deep well as the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack to the Coen Brothers' year 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, this two disc compilation from Not Now Records encapsulates the sheer diversity of pre-war American folk music with elements of Appalachian, bluegrass, country and blues all thrown into the mix. Whilst the film's OST contained mostly modern recordings of old songs, the compilers here have opted for historic versions spanning from 1927 to 1947 in order to highlight the long-lasting appeal of both the artist and the song. Cleverly kicking off with alternative versions of four tracks that featured on the soundtrack album, this collection features a handful of contributions from bigger names such as Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter), Woody Guthrie and Roy Acuff whilst leaving plenty of room for arguably less celebrated acts such as the Alley Boys of Abbeville and Uncle Dave Mason to shine. Although you may have heard seminal numbers like "Rock Island Line", "Goodnight Irene", "John Henry" and "House Of The Rising Sun" countless times before by a plethora of different artists, the chosen versions here give a real historical aspect to each song and there is a sense that the folks at Not Now have gone out of their way to educate as well as entertain the listener. Whilst the OST had some tough listening moments (Ralph Stanley's "O Death" for example), this compilation tends to keep on the sunny side with fun tracks like Vernon Dalhart's "The Runaway Train" and Carson Robison and his Pioneers' "Goin' To The Barn Dance Tonight" ensuring that there is enough light to contrast the sheer heartbreak and tragedy of a song like the Blue Sky Boys' "Garden In The Sky". The likes of "When The Saints Go Marching In" (Fiddlin' John Carson and Moonshine Kate), "Great Speckled Bird" (Roy Acuff) and "You Can't Do Wrong And Get By" (the Delmore Brothers) bring a gospel element to proceedings and add further diversity to an already disparate and worthwhile compilation of tracks that undoubtedly inspired the Coens' film - not the other way round as the misspelt title of this release suggests.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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