Hedy West accompanying herself on the 5-string banjo, Hedy West, Vol. 2

Her first two of Hedy West's albums, when she was in her mid-late twenties, which weren't available for over 30 years, have come to life again on one CD. Beauty! Nice to be able to listen to them again. They are an absolute must for any banjoplayer, and ballad singer accompanying him/herself on the 5-string banjo.

I like this CD - it is simple - voice and banjo. Hedy West was a great American folk singer and banjo player and there are some really great songs on this CD - especially 500 miles, which she wrote, and Cotton Mill Girls.

Classic Hedy West. Don't think I need to say more. If you remember her buy it and if you don't you should certainly buy it. An icon of folk music.

Fabulous, simple songs that come alive from Hedy West's lovely voice and banjo playing. If you like clean, uncluttered, folk music then Hedy West is for you.

Great CD, Songs are so well played and recorded.

Già questo doppio cd è puro incanto. Come altro definire i primi due album (del 1963 e 1964) realizzati dalla West per la Vanguard Records? Credo sia utile ricordare come all'epoca molti addetti ai lavori la ritenessero la miglior folksinger in circolazione, sia per capacità vocali che strumentali, ma soprattutto per la sua profonda conoscenza della musica tradizionale. Ed è proprio quello che ci viene offerto in questi due memorabili lavori, un appagante viaggio nel vero e autentico canzoniere americano, quello puro, la veneranda tradizione. La voce del West e il suo banjo sono tutto quello che ascolterete. O meglio, ascolterete la storia della musica americana. Credo di aver detto abbastanza. Aggiungo solo che il libretto allegato è sontuoso e che riporta le note di copertina originali in cui la West racconta nel dettaglio ogni brano proposto. Musica come cultura.

Wer, so wie ich , Fan und Spieler von Banjos ist und amerikanische Balladen mag, kommt hier voll auf seine Kosten. Habe diese Stücke auch schon auf Schallplatten. Gut , dass es dieses jetzt auf CD gibt.

Hedy West, who died in 2005, was a folk singer whom I long overlooked amongst reading about Joan Baez, Judy Collins and such English folk masters as Anne Briggs , Maddy Prior , June Tabor and Shirley Collins . Whilst I have long been familiar with the difference between English and American folk music, it still surprised me to know of the history of folk singers accompanied by a banjo. A banjo, with its sharp, twangy sound, is ideally suited to the rendition of traditional music, and Hedy West, who spent only a small period on the famous Vanguard label, does not disappoint. This reissue disc covers two middle 1960s albums titled "Accompanying Herself on the 5-String Banjo" and "Volume 2". The former album, released in 1963, is a superb collection of traditional songs. Highlights are the relatively little-known "Single Girl", which in its demands for and dreams of female independence reminds me of Ani Difranco seven years before Ani was even born, "Erin's Green Shore" similarly rmonatic but sharply powerful in a manner beyond almost all other folk of the time, and "Cotton Mill Girls", which like all good folk music manages to find joy in the most joyless experiences. Then there are songs such as "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie", Hedy's signature tune "500 Miles" and the epic "Brown Girl" (which reflects the dark realities of and conflicts inherent in a racially segregated society). The last few songs on the original first album are not quite so good, but "Letter from Down the Road" remains surprisingly beautiful as Hedy took on a quieter tone than usual, whilst the short "Fare Thee Well" shows skill on the banjo and as bare - and powerful - a vocal tone as any folksinger ever did. The second album, released in 1964, continued in essentially the same vein as the first, with powerful starkly sang folk piece highlighted by "Lewiston Cotton Mill Girls", "Boston Burglar" and "Anger in the Land". The whole of "Volume Two" had the highly politicised tone that make folk music so favoured by the countercultural movements of the 1960s, but the highly traditional tone and the starkness of West's vocals - there is nothing of the image of women as angels here - militated against its wider acceptance. Nonetheless, this collection is unrivalled for stark power, depth of message, and lacks little for delicacy or even beauty in its own way.

Browsing in the Amazon "record store" one day, I was happy to discover this British reissue of Hedy West's two LP's for the Vanguard label. The title is a bit misleading, since the disc actually includes West's first Vanguard album and volume 2, in addition to two bonus tracks. This material has been out of print in the US for years; and the British as usual have done a superb reissue job, with two complete albums, the original liner notes and a new comprehensive essay. Hedy West was part of the folk music culture of the 'sixties, but more rooted in the culture that produced the music than some of the singers who became more popular. She grew up in Georgia, and her father, Don West, was a poet and labor organizer. Her alto voice gives her singing of traditional ballads a grounded quality, but there is a slight "twang" that adds a sense of color and loneliness. In additon to the traditional Child ballads, West included in her repertoire industrial songs from the women who worked in the local cotton mills. Her banjo accompaniment is adept and appropriate. This album will appeal to those who like their folk music traditional but sung and played with understated musical skill.

I'm very glad to see this back in print. I have the utmost respect for West as a singer and a banjo player; she has an ability to put a song across that can only be compared to Martin Carthy's (they were friends). And I've always thought her best performances were on these two Vanguard albums from the 1960s; in particular, her completely masterful performance of "The Brown Girl", on rhe reissued first album, is worth the price of the set all by itself -- not to mention her setting of her father's poem "Anger in the Land", which is hair-raising.. This is some of the best music the folk revival produced, and I recommend it most highly. Oh, and the engineer did a good job of restoration, too -- good enough that I nearly forgot to mention it.