I highly recommend `Songs of the Civil War' to you and encourage you add not only it but also the soundtrack to the series to your music collection.

Enjoy!


Great Performances from Outstanding Performers   May 4, 2005
 28 out of 28 found this review helpful

Civil War songs haunt my earliest memories. My father was a history buff who had his boys memorizing the Gettysburg Address before they entered kindergarten, and I cannot remember a time when I did not know the songs of the Union and Confederate soldiers. As someone who has known and loved these songs all my life, I must say that `Songs of the Civil War' is simply one of the best collections of this music that I have ever heard.
The songs on this collection were obviously selected with great care. Many of the greatest hits of the Civil War are here, like When Johnny Comes Marching Home, Dixie Land, and Marching through Georgia, but more obscure material has also been included, like Lincoln & Liberty, which was an unofficial campaign song for the Republican in the 1860 election. Both Union and Confederate songs are well represented. These songs do not attempt to recreate arrangements and instrumentation of the 1860s, and might not pass muster at a strict re-enactor's campfire, but they are outstanding examples of the best of folk, country, and gospel music.
The real strength of this CD is the all-star cast that performs these songs. Jay Unger is here, opening the CD with his haunting fiddle tune Ashokan Farewell, which gained fame through Ken Burn's Civil War documentary. The late, great John Hartford performed three songs, including the best rendition of Lorena that I have ever heard. Ever the good ol' Southern boy, Waylon Jennings lent his distinctive growl to fine versions of Rebel Soldier and An Old Unreconstructed. Hoyt Axton turned in my favorite performance on the CD with a near perfect rendition of Yellow Rose of Texas. I was initially put off by the country twang in Kathy Mattea's rendition of the mournful song of loss Vacant Chair, but through repeated listening, it grew on me as a beautiful alternate take on this sad old song. Sweet Honey in the Rock brought their amazing harmonies to songs of the experience of the black men and women around whose fate the Civil War raged. Their performances of No More Auction Block for Me and Run, Mourner Run bristle with power and beauty.
Whether you are an old fan of these songs adding to your Civil War collection, or are new to this music and are looking for a good introduction to this piece of American history in song, `Songs of the Civil War' is outstanding, and will not disappoint.

Theo Logos



An all-star collection of folk and country singers do "Songs of the Civil War"   August 21, 2005
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

If you liked the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" or have actually heard of the album "White Mansions," then you would want to check out this 1991 collection of "Songs of the Civil War." The various artists are not only folk singers like Judy Collins and Richie Havens, but country singers such as Waylon Jennings and Kathy Mattea, and artists who work the area in between, namely John Hartford. But mainly this album is going to be of primary interest to those interested in the Civil War who will most enjoy hearing familiar songs sung by familiar voices, and certainly be introduced to both new songs and singers as well, such as when Sweet Honey in the Rock sings "No More Auction Block." Sometimes you will be surprised to learn who is singing what, as I was when Jennings did "Rebel Soldier," but that just speaks to why this is such a great album.

In fact, when the U.S. Military Band shows up to play instrumental version of "Dixie's Land" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," it is something of a disappointment since these tracks are most like what we have heard on previous collections of Civil War music. I know that Havens is not doing "Follow the Drinking Gourd" the way it was done back in the 1850s, but I do not have a problem with his "modern" interpretation of the song sung by slaves traveling the Underground Railroad. The only one where I did not like the interpretation was when Hartford did "Lorena" more up tempo than I think the song should be sung. There are some liberties taken with the song selection, because while "Ashokan Farewell" is so closely identified with the Civil War because of the Ken Burns documentary, it is not a song "from" the Civil War (I suppose that semantically "of" gets the title off the hook). Not that I have gone through and checked the bona fides of each of these twenty-five songs. When Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers shows up to sign the political song "Lincoln and Liberty," I am not about to complain. Hoyt Axton's "Yellow Rose of Texas" is about as far out of place as anything gets on the album, but he also does "Oh I'm a Good Ole Rebel," which is clearly on firmer ground.

What might be most impressive about this collection is the way it combines so many different musical styles, from Traditional Folk and Black Gospel to Bluegrass and Outlaw Country. There are more and you can quibble on the labels, but you get the point. Standout tracks for me were Mattea's "Southern Solider Boy," Hartford's tender "Aura Lee," Sweet Honey in the Rock's "Run, Mourner, Run," and the McGarrigle sisters on the Stephen Foster song "Better Times Are Coming." Actually, all three of the songs Kate and Anna sing on the album are by Stephen Foster, which certainly suits their harmonic talents. Mattea has three tracks as well and is as much of a standout performer on the album as anyone. Final Note: choosing to do "Marching Through Georgia" as an instrumental strikes me as making a point of avoiding having the lyrics of the most hated song of the Civil War (by far) on the album (not that there is anything wrong with that). The fact that "Songs of the Civil War" ends with Steve Luck blowing "Taps" is just a final reminder that they knew what they were doing when they put this album together.


Takes me back about 140 years   May 11, 2000
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I can't vouch for the authenticity, but to my non-historical-musically-trained ear, it sounds like it could be authentic. This is a collection of Civil War -era songs, and probably more modern songs written about that era. They are performed by a wide variety of musicians, from the U.S. Military Academy Band to Judy Collins to Waylon Jennings to the McGarrigle Sisters. The arrangements sound authentic - I'm not hearing any electronic instruments - but they don't sound like they're performed on "period" instruments. Personal favorites are the gospel-sounding tunes "No More Auction Block for Me" and "Run, Mourner, Run," and the Richie Havens tunes "Follow the Drinking Gourd" and "Give Us A Flag."

The entire collection is interesting and widely varying in mood, from melancholy to gung-ho. Just under 70 minutes of music here. I would recommend it to anybody who loves music, and is interested in the lore of this dark period in history.

There seems to be some confusion between reviewers, as to whether this is the "Ken Burns" music (from the documentary television series). My CD says "Produced by Jim Brown, Ken Burns and Don DeVito." But inside, it says the recordings are from the PBS Special, "The Songs of the Civil War." Have I cleared up the confusion?


Kids Love It   May 14, 2000
 9 out of 13 found this review helpful

I purchased this CD as part of an effort to further my 6-year old son's interest in music - following very little luck with more conventional children's songs. What a success story! He loved it from the first, both he and his younger sister play the songs nearly every day. They'll both dance around the house, sing the songs, or strum their air guitars as they listen. His favorites are "Marching through Georgia" and "Lincoln and Liberty Too". His sister prefers "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". But they enjoy them all - the words are very clear, the verses easy to remember, and the melodies have endured the test of time.

My son's interest has even extended to the precise words themselves - there have been many nights that we've read the words to the songs before bedtime. They've helped him to understand the concepts of freedom and courage, as well as the injustice and horrors of slavery, and the realities of war.

But please be advised - the "n" word is included in one of the songs - not in an intentionally derogatory manner, but it is included, none-the-less. And in typical child fashion, he noticed and picked up on it - we've discussed the terrible hurt the word inflicts and the importance of not using it. It is the single fault of an otherwise exceptional collection of songs.