Name Hazel Dickens | Role Singer | |
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Instruments Vocals, double bass, guitar Spouse Joseph S. Cohen (m. ?–1970) Albums Hazel & Alice, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerr, Pioneering Women of Bluegrass, Hard Hitting Songs for, A Few Old Memories | ||
Won t you come and sing for me hazel dickens and alice gerrard
Hazel Jane Dickens (June 1, 1935 – April 22, 2011) was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. Cultural blogger John Pietaro noted that "Dickens didn’t just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them and her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her into the cause." 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." With Alice Gerrard, Dickens was one of the first women to record a bluegrass album.
Contents
- Won t you come and sing for me hazel dickens and alice gerrard
- Hazel dickens alice gerrard hazel alice 1973 full vinyl album
- Career
- Death
- With Alice Gerrard
- Solo albums
- With Carol Elizabeth Jones Ginny Hawker
- Compilations
- Films in which Dickens appears
- Films in which Dickens contributes to the soundtrack
- References
Hazel dickens alice gerrard hazel alice 1973 full vinyl album
Career
Dickens was born in Montcalm, Mercer County, West Virginia on June 1, 1925, the eighth of eleven siblings born to a mining family.
In the early 1950s she moved to Baltimore. 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.
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). Dickens and Gerrard were bluegrass bandleaders at a time when the vast majority of bluegrass bands were led by men. Hazel & Alice broke up in 1976 and Dickens pursued a solo career where her music and songwriting became more political.
She appeared in the documentary Harlan County, USA and also contributed four songs to the soundtrack of the same film. She also appeared in the films Matewan and Songcatcher.
Dickens received the Merit Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 1994 and was the first woman to do so. In 2001 she was presented with a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Death
Hazel Dickens died in 2011 from complications of pneumonia. After her passing it was reported in major media that she had been born on June 1, 1935, but her relatives and public records confirm the earlier date of June 1, 1925.
Stating that "music saves mountains," fans and supporters of Dickens' activism announced a special memorial, Tribute to West Virginia Music Legend Hazel Dickens at the Charleston, West Virginia Cultural Center on June 5, 2011.
With Alice Gerrard
