Down from the Mountain (The "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Concert)

Rating:
Summary: What Bliss!
Review: The music on this DVD is exquisite. It is so nice to see John Hartford one last time. His dry witty humor was well in tact on this release. When he sings about "the jerk who invented work" on "Big Rock Candy Mountain," I started to howl with laughter. Canadian Colin Linden isn't very well known in the USA, but he's been a favorite of mine since I discovered his "Raised By Wolves" CD. It's nice to have a bit of blues with the bluegrass; and he teams with Chris Thomas King on "John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto'." Both the Whites and the Cox Family do great little sets, very endearing. The Peasall Sisters are real scene-stealers with "Highways & the Hedges." Alison Krauss is in great voice, perhaps a bit shy on stage, but sings so beautifully. Emmylou Harris is a delight, and funny backstage as the baseball enthusiast. David Rawlings was visually very interesting as his face contorts to wrench emotion as he plays and sings. Gillian Welch does a good job and gets a lot of screen time in this cut. The Fairfield 4's harmonies are classic. Of course, Ralph Stanley is a timeless treasure. Like others, I would have preferred to have the whole concert with the backstage antics as part of a bonus section on the CD; but T-Bone Burnett did an excellent job bringing this music together. I also enjoyed Holly Hunter's humorous opening introduction about John Hartford & the FBI. The DVD is well worth celebrating these artists and this blissful music. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Could have been much better.
Review: I bought this DVD as a result of my love for the movie and its music, but after viewing it, was very disappointed to discover that the song list doesn't include "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow" or Chris Thomas King's performance of "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", the latter is only included as an excerpt on the menu screen. A talent such as Chris Thomas King should have been given more airtime; the blues influence is just as important as important to the soundtrack as the country is, however you wouldn't be able to tell so from the DVD song selection. If you are looking for a concert video will ALL of the songs from "O Brother", this is not it. I look forward to the day when they release a version which includes ALL of the acts and songs from the original concert.

Rating:
Summary: Bliss
Review: Can a person have too much joy in one sitting? After having watched the documentary/film of the concert last night I thought that my heart would burst from the joy. For those who loved "Oh brother where art thou" and who love this type of music, one would be hard pressed to think of what could exceed the joys that flow from the soul as these great artists perform what has got to be the most life affirming music I've heard in years. I cannot get enough of this art, so recently smitten by the kiss of the mountain music. By all means buy this video/dvd and you'll have one of the finest entertainment experiences possible.

Rating:
Summary: Great Music Marred by Awful DVD
Review: The music on this DVD is terrific. How can it not be with the likes of Alison Krauss, Emmy Lou Harris, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Johnny Hartford and the Cox Family. The problem is with the way the concert was filmed/edited and how the DVD was packaged. The entire DVD has a slapdash feel to it that does a major disservice to the music and the artists who appear in it. It looks like rehearsals for the "Oh, Brother" soundtrack album that somebody decided should be filmed and rushed out with little thought.

Many of the songs are interrupted by cuts to extraneous shots of off-stage happenings. You'll be enjoying a song and the DVD will cut backstage for a search of somebody who is part of the next(!) act and can't be located. Is there anything more annoying than getting a concert DVD only to find many of the songs are interrupted in such a manner? I can't. And does the DVD include "Man of Constant Sorrow"? Well, sort of - over the credits!

As for the DVD as a product, there's no track listing and no easy chapter cuts to select songs. Enuf said.

As an alternative to this DVD, I highly recommend getting Alison Krauss and Union Station's "Live." You'll get Dan Tyminski and the rest of the fictional "Soggy Bottom Boys" doing a version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" that's even livelier than the one in "Oh, Brother." Or get Gillian Welch and David Rawling's "Revelator" DVD. Great stuff! Or the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken - Farther Along." All are happily available on Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: True-Blue....
Review: My husband andI caught the "Down From the Mountain" concert at Carnegie Hall. Although it was not long after John Hartford passed away, it was an amazing display of the music we love, by the artists we love. (I'm a Cox family, and The Whites lover.)(my husband likes the down -home sounds of Ralph Stanley) This was also a heart warming tribute to John Hartford. If you didn't love this Video, you can't consider yourself a bluegrass fan.

Rating:
Summary: Down from the Mountain
Review: They sure must have come down from a mountain to do this, as one of the performers read his lyrics off of a stand as he sang it. Plus most of it sounds more like a family get-together of singing with odd stories thrown in for good measure.

Anyway I wouldn't expect much if you buy this, this is backwoods at best.

Rating:
Summary: In Praise of Bluegrass and the Blues Too
Review: This DVD of the concert by the singers and other musicians from the Coen Brothers' movie O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU will bring you pure joy. Some of the songs gave me goose bumps as well-- Emmylou Harris' rendition of "Green Pastures" and The Cox Family singing "Will There Be Any Stars In My Crown?" to name just two. There was not a pretentious singer on stage; and with the exception of David Rawlings, everyone seemed to be having a great time. After all, isn't that what "making music" should be about anyway? (Mr. Rawlings' facial grimaces defy description.) It's easy to see the appeal that bluegrass has for a wide audience and why it should never be compared with the generic music that calls itself "country" now. If there were any bouffants and cowboy hats, they were on members of the audience, not the performers.

There's a good chance one of your favorite singers may sing one of your favorite songs here with the likes of the Fairfield Four, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, The Cox Family, the Whites, Gillian Welch, Chris Thomas King and Colin Linden et al singing. While some of the music from the Coen Brothers movie is included here, there are several different cuts included as well.

The senior statesman Ralph Stanley sang "O Death" a capella, another goose bump maker, and closed the concert singing the verses solo of "O Come Angel Band" and joined by the entire group on the choruses.

John Hartford was the MC. Sadly Death that Stanley sang about did not spare Mr. Hartford for long since he died of cancer soon after this concert.


Rating:
Summary: A rich tradition reduced to cliche
Review: I couldn't get past the first 15 minutes of this film. For starters, Ralph Stanley is no mountain hick. He's a headliner who's performed internationally and whose recordings are still selling after decades! An unworldly man coming "down from the mountain" for a special concert was misleading and ridiculous, considering that this man is a legend. In other words, a marketing trick for the unsuspecting. It recalls to mind the way that in the mid-20th century, string bands in Hollywood wore overalls and bandanas, while they wore suits on stage back in Tennessee & Kentucky. The rest of the musicians assembled, with the exception of The Whites, The Cox Family and John Hartford (and some of the background musicians) totally dumbed-down the quality which would have been amazing had those I've mentioned just been on the stage alone, letting it rip. And I really mean no disrespect to the amazing Emmylou, just, she's no master of the style... Alas! Such is the world of money and marketing. As for the direction, it was filmed like standard news coverage of an event -- all in all, not an exciting film.

Rating:
Summary: down from the mountain
Review: The music on this DVD is exquisite. It is so nice to see John Hartford one last time. His dry witty humor was well in tact on this release. When he sings about "the jerk who invented work" on "Big Rock Candy Mountain," I started to howl with laughter. Canadian Colin Linden isn't very well known in the USA, but he's been a favorite of mine since I discovered his "Raised By Wolves" CD. It's nice to have a bit of blues with the bluegrass; and he teams with Chris Thomas King on "John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto'." Both the Whites and the Cox Family do great little sets, very endearing. The Peasall Sisters are real scene-stealers with "Highways & the Hedges." Alison Krauss is in great voice, perhaps a bit shy on stage, but sings so beautifully. Emmylou Harris is a delight, and funny backstage as the baseball enthusiast. David Rawlings was visually very interesting as his face contorts to wrench emotion as he plays and sings. Gillian Welch does a good job and gets a lot of screen time in this cut. The Fairfield 4's harmonies are classic. Of course, Ralph Stanley is a timeless treasure. Like others, I would have preferred to have the whole concert with the backstage antics as part of a bonus section on the CD; but T-Bone Burnett did an excellent job bringing this music together. I also enjoyed Holly Hunter's humorous opening introduction about John Hartford & the FBI. The DVD is well worth celebrating these artists and this blissful music. Enjoy!