Old Times and Hard Times
Hedy West was the daughter of Don West, a poet and labor organizer throughout the south. In the 1930's, he learned songs from coal miners during his work as a relief worker - these make up the most recent songs to appear on Old Times and Hard Times, while other songs were passed down from the longstanding musical tradition of her family in the mountains of northern Georgia. Initially a student of classical music at the Mannes School, West participated in the Greenwich Village scene during the Folk Revival, performing alongside Pete Seeger in the early 1960's. In the liner notes, West explains that she makes music "neither for diversion nor escape. Not for irrelevant play. But because music is one part of the creative activity of man that gives vital evidence that he has value and is worth continuing".
Track Listing
101
|
The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin | Hedy West | 2:33 | |
102
|
Fair Rosamund | Hedy West | 1:33 | |
103
|
Barbara Allen | Hedy West | 5:20 | |
104
|
Old Joe Clark | Hedy West | 2:57 | |
105
|
The Coal Miner's Child | Hedy West | 1:40 | |
106
|
Gambling Man | Hedy West | 2:54 | |
107
|
Brother Ephus | Hedy West | 2:13 | |
108
|
Polly | Hedy West | 1:33 | |
109
|
The Davison-Wilder Blues | Hedy West | 3:50 | |
110
|
Lament for Barney Graham | Hedy West | 1:14 | |
111
|
The Rich Irish Lady | Hedy West | 3:01 | |
112
|
Shut up in the Mines at Coal Creek | Hedy West | 1:24 | |
113
|
The Wife of Usher's Well | Hedy West | 3:46 |