Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard in Concert

[Todd A. Gracyk]

It was a pleasure for me to see Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard in
concert at Berkeley's Julia Morgan Center last night. I certainly
couldn't expect their singing to sound as great as it does on their
landmark 1973 recording "Hazel and Alice", Rounder 0027, but at times
they came awfully close. Wow!

Dickens and Gerrard took the stage holding guitars and went right into
a nice version of the old Carter Family gem "Hello Stranger". They
were then joined on stage by their West Coast touring band, Jody
Stecher (mandolin and guitar), Brantley Kearns (fiddle and mandolin),
and Todd Phillips (bass). Next up was "Mining Camp Blues" and "The
Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia". Good thing the old church had
a stained wood interior; Dickens' harmony singing is capable of
peeling paint off walls. Gerrard's lead singing was strong, too.

The 2 artists presented a few of their original songs and I was again
reminded what a fine songwriter Dickens is. We didn't get to hear "A
Few Old Memories" or "Won't You Come And Sing For Me?" but were
treated to "Mama's Hand", "My Better Years", "You'll Get No More Of
Me", and "West Virginia, My Home".

The concert was billed as "Pioneering Women of Bluegrass", which is
the title of their wonderful re-issue of 1965 and 1967 recordings made
for Folkways (Smithsonian/Folkways 40065). But there was little
bluegrass played last night and there was not a banjo in sight (I
would have liked to have heard some autoharp, too). We did get to
hear Dickens and Gerrard's bluegrass arrangement of the Carter
Family's "A Distant Land To Roam" and Bill Monroe's "True Life Blues".
And perhaps the highlight of the show was "The One I Love Is Gone", a
great song that Monroe gave to the duo back in the 1960's.

I have long felt that Dickens and Gerrard's finest moment on record is
"The Sweetest Gift A Mother's Smile", a song that has found recent
acclaim because of its association with the Judds (it apparently was
the first song that the Judds sang together in their home, learning it
from the "Hazel and Alice" album). Dickens and Gerrard performed a
lovely version of it last night.

I need to make special mention of Stecher's masterful playing. His
guitar work was exquisite but mostly he played mandolin (brilliantly,
I might add). Kearns certainly looked the part of an old southern
fiddler and I enjoyed more than a few of his pretty solos. Phillips
was his usual self; his often jazzy playing was perhaps a little too
complicated for most of the material.

I'm thrilled with the re-issuing of Dickens and Gerrard's early
recordings on CD (more are forthcoming from Rounder and Arhoolie). In
concert they reaffirmed for me how breathtaking bluegrass and old-time
music can be.

Todd A. Gracyk
Petaluma, CA
ta...@pge.com