Music of Coal

Music of Coal: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields is a 70-page book and two CD compilation of old and new music from southern Appalachian coalfields. The project was produced by Jack Wright and is a benefit for the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth in Wise County, Virginia.

Music of Coal
Compilation album by
Various artists
Released2007
Genreblues, bluegrass, country, folk
LabelLonesome Pine Records & Publishing
ProducerJack Wright

The songs included cover a range of topics related to coal culture such as mining accidents and black lung disease. Some of the artists are natives of the U.S. coal mining region while others have less direct ties. Both vintage recordings and contemporary music have been combined with detailed liner notes giving context to both the songs and the artists. Musicologist Archie Green adds a "Sanctus" note to Wright's "Introduction."

In the preliminary round of nominations for the 50th Grammy Awards the boxed set was under consideration for a number of awards, including, Best Recording Package, Best Liner Notes and Best Historical Album.[1] The compilation did not, however, make it the final round of nominees.[2]

Track listing

Volume one
  1. "Down in a Coal Mine (Excerpt)" - 1:25
    • The Edison Concert Band
  2. "Mining Camp Blues" - 2:59
  3. "Sprinkle Coal Dust on My Grave" - 2:46
    • Orville Jenks
  4. "Coal Miner's Blues" - 3:04
    • The Carter Family
  5. "Hard Times in Coleman’s Mine" - 2:36
  6. "He’s Only a Miner Killed in the Ground" - 2:35
    • Ted Chestnut
  7. "Coal Black Mining Blues" - 1:13
  8. "‘31 Depression Blues" - 2:52
    • Ed Sturgill
  9. "Prayer of a Miner's Child" - 1:51
  10. "That Twenty-Five Cents You Paid" - 2:25
  11. "The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore" - 3:10
  12. "Dark as a Dungeon" - 1:55
  13. "Come All You Coal Miners" - 2:21
    • The Reel World String Band
  14. "My Sweetheart’s the Mule in the Mines" - 0:22
    • Mike Kline
  15. "Thirty Inch Coal" - 2:36
    • Hobo Jack Adkins
  16. "Black Waters" - 3:38
    • Jim Ringer
  17. "Roof Boltin’ Daddy" - 2:26
  18. "Dream of a Miner’s Child" - 2:46
  19. "Coal Miner's Boogie" - 2:57
    • George Davis
  20. "The Yablonski Murder" - 3:00
  21. "What Are We Gonna Do?" - 3:01
    • Dorothy Myles
  22. "Explosion at Derby Mine" - 4:02
    • Charlie Maggard
  23. "Blind Fiddler" - 3:05
    • Jim “Bud” Stanley
  24. "Loadin’ Coal" - 2:29
    • John Hutchison
  25. "Coal Town Saturday Night" - 3:06
    • Randall Hylton
  26. "It’s Been a Long Time" - 3:15
    • Sonny Houston & Roger Hall
  27. "Fountain Filled with Blood" - 3:56
    • Elder James Caudill & Choir

Volume two
  1. "West Virginia Mine Disaster" - 2:48
    • Molly Slemp
  2. "Union Man" - 3:36
    • Blue Highway
  3. "Blue Diamond Mines" - 4:26
    • Robin & Linda Williams
  4. "Set Yourself Free" - :50
    • Billy Gene Mullins
  5. "Redneck War" - 5:22
    • Ron Short
  6. "Sixteen Tons" - 2:32
  7. "There Will Be No Black Lung in Heaven" - 2:05
    • Rev. Joe Freeman
  8. "Deep Mine Blues" - 3:45
    • Nick Stump
  9. "I’m a Coal Mining Man" - 2:22
  10. "Dirty Black Coal" - 4:27
    • Kenneth Davis
  11. "Black Lung" - 3:21
  12. "Coal Dust Kisses" - 4:06
    • Suzanne Mumpower-Johnson
  13. "Coal Tattoo" (Billy Edd Wheeler) - 4:06
    • Dale Jett
  14. "A Strip Miner’s Life" - 3:00
    • Don Stanley & Middle Creek
  15. "Daddy’s Dinner Bucket" - 3:26
    • Ralph Stanley II
  16. "In Those Mines" - 3:43
  17. "Miner’s Prayer" - 3:14
  18. "Dyin’ To Make A Livin’" - 3:47
  19. "You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive" - 6:06
  20. "They Can’t Put It Back" - 2:31
    • Jack Wright
  21. "Which Side Are You On?" - 5:04
gollark: Laptops are stupidly bad in price/performance.
gollark: Indeed.
gollark: I, traitorously, use fancy GUI stuff like Budgie, VS Code and `nano` when I need to edit config files or whatever.
gollark: This is ridiculous.
gollark: Or types of kinds or whatever.

References
  1. "Music of Coal earns Grammy Nominations", Kingsport Times-News, October 6, 2007
  2. Nominees for the 50th Grammy Awards show from grammy.com

Further reading/listening
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