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Old Times and Hard Times

Hedy West
Old Times and Hard Times, LP artwork
Old Times and Hard Times by Hedy West, LP artwork
Old Times and Hard Times, CD artwork
Old Times and Hard Times by Hedy West, CD artwork

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
02:33  
102
Fair Rosamund
Hedy West
01:33  
103
Barbara Allen
Hedy West
05:20  
104
Old Joe Clark
Hedy West
02:57  
105
The Coal Miner's Child
Hedy West
01:40  
106
Gambling Man
Hedy West
02:54  
107
Brother Ephus
Hedy West
02:13  
108
Polly
Hedy West
01:33  
109
The Davison-Wilder Blues
Hedy West
03:50  
110
Lament for Barney Graham
Hedy West
01:14  
111
The Rich Irish Lady
Hedy West
03:01  
112
Shut up in the Mines at Coal Creek
Hedy West
01:24  
113
The Wife of Usher's Well
Hedy West
03:46