Hazel Dickens

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Hazel Dickens
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Hazel Dickens

Hazel Dickens (June 1, 1925, Mercer County, West Virginia) is an American bluegrass singer. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music is characterized by not only her "high lonesome" singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs.

Poverty drove the Dickens to move to the Baltimore, Maryland area when Dickins was nineteen. There she met Mike Seeger, younger 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. 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: "Who's That Knocking (And Other Bluegrass Country Music) (1965)" and "Won't You Come & Sing for Me (1973)". In this regard, Dickens and Gerrard were bluegrass bandleaders at a time when the vast majority of bluegrass bands were led by men.

Dickins appeared in the documentary Harlan County, USA and also contributed four songs to the soundtrack of the same film. She has also appeared in the film Matewan.

Dickins continues to record and perform to this day. Her voice is still among the most powerful and moving of all bluegrass singers, male or female.

Of the songs she's written, "Hills of Home" and "A Few Old Pictures", are regarded by fans and critics as her most moving and powerful.

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] With Alice Gerrard

  • Who's That Knocking (1965)
  • Won't You Come & Sing for Me (1973).

[edit] Solo albums

  • Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People (1981)
  • By the Sweat of My Brow (1983)
  • It's Hard to Tell the Singer From the Song (1987)

[edit] Films

[edit] Films in which Dickens appears

  • Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song (2001). Directed by Mimi Pickering. Whitesburg, Kentucky: Appalshop.
  • Matewan (1987). Directed by John Sayles.
  • Songcatcher (2000). Directed by Maggie Greenwald.

[edit] Films in which Dickens contributes to the soundtrack

  • Coalmining Women (1982). Directed by Elizabeth Barret. Whitesburg, Kentucky: Appalshop.
  • Harlan County U.S.A. (1976). Directed by Barbara Kopple.
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