O Brother, Where Art Thou? (released in Europe as O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack album of music from the 2000 American film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The film was written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and stars George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman, and included original cast members' singing voices. Among other honors, it won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 44th Grammy Awards on February 27, 2002.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is set in Mississippi during the Great Depression in the United States. The soundtrack, produced by T-Bone Burnett, includes a variety of bluegrass music, country music, gospel music, blues, and Southern American folk music with a sound contemporaneous to the time period. With the exception of a few vintage tracks (such as Harry McClintock's 1928 single "Big Rock Candy Mountain"), most tracks are modern recordings.
The soundtrack was reissued on August 23, 2011, with 14 new tracks that were not included in the original album, "including 12 previously unreleased cuts from music producer T-Bone Burnett's O Brother sessions."
Development and sound The soundtrack was conceived as a major component of the film, not merely as a background or support. For this reason it was decided to record the soundtrack before filming. T-Bone Burnett and Alan Larman were invited to design collections of music.
Dirges and other macabre songs recurring in Appalachian music, such as "O Death", "Lonesome Valley", "Angel Band", and "I Am Weary", appear in the film as a contrast to the bright, cheerful songs like "Keep On the Sunnyside" and "In the Highways". Ralph Stanley of The Stanley Brothers personally recorded the a cappella folk song "O Death".
"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" has five variations: two are used in the film, one in the music video, and two in the album. Two of the variations feature the verses being sung back-to-back, and the other three variations feature additional music between each verse. The voices of the Soggy Bottom Boys were provided by Dan Tyminski (lead vocal on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow"), Nashville songwriter Harley Allen, and the Nashville Bluegrass Band's Pat Enright.
Reception and legacy
O Brother, Where Art Thou? won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002, the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (for singer Dan Tyminski, whose voice overdubbed George Clooney's in the film on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", Nashville songwriter Harley Allen, and the Nashville Bluegrass Band's Pat Enright), and the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "O, Death" by Ralph Stanley. It is one of only three movie soundtracks to have ever won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
The album won the Album of the Year Award (only the second soundtrack to ever do so) and Single of the Year Award for "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" at the Country Music Association Awards. It also won the Album of the Year Award at the 37th Academy of Country Music Awards and took home 2 International Bluegrass Music Awards: Album of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year (for Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch on "I'll Fly Away").The version of "I'll Fly Away" on the album is not that heard on the actual soundtrack of the film. In the film, the version used is a 1956 recording by the Kossoy Sisters.
In 2006, the album ranked No. 38 on CMT's 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music. In 2009, Rhapsody ranked it No. 8 on the "Country's Best Albums of the Decade" list."Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" Retrieved 12 January 2010. Engine 145 Country Music Blog ranked it No. 5 on the "Country's Best Albums of the Decade" list. In 2010, All Songs Considered, a program on NPR, included the soundtrack album on their list of "The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings".
Some of the artists on the soundtrack album played a concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, which was recorded in the 2000 documentary film, Down from the Mountain.
On August 23, 2011, a 10th anniversary edition was released featuring a bonus disc with 14 new tracks that were not included in the original album, all but two of which were previously unreleased songs from Burnett's original sessions.
Commercial performance
The album charted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 in 2001 and spent over 20 weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart. The soundtrack CD became a best seller; it was first certified Gold by the RIAA on February 9, 2001, and reached 8 times Platinum by October 10, 2007. It has sold 8,175,800 copies in the United States as of October 2019.
Track listing
The 10th Anniversary bonus disc includes five songs that were used in the movie. The bonus disc versions of "You Are My Sunshine" and "I'll Fly Away" are the ones used in the film, not the versions on the original soundtrack album. Both the original album and the bonus disc versions of "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Keep on the Sunny Side", and "Angel Band" are used in the film.
The music credits for the movie list two songs, "Admiration" (written by William Tyers and performed by Pat Rebillo) and "What Is Sweeter" (written by M. K. Jerome), which are not included on either edition of the soundtrack album.
Personnel
Norman Blake – Performer, guitar, vocals Jerry Douglas – Dobro Alison Krauss – Vocals, harmony vocals Chris Sharp – Rhythm guitar The Stanley Brothers – Performers Ralph Stanley – Performer Sam Bush – Mandolin Emmylou Harris – Performer John Hartford – Fiddle, vocals The Fairfield Four – Performer Ed Haley – Arranger The Whites: Buck White – Mandolin, vocals, harmony vocals Cheryl White – Bass, Vocals, harmony vocals Sharon White – Guitar, vocals Mike Compton – Guitar, mandolin Alan Lomax – Arranger Harley Allen – Vocals, harmony vocals Barry Bales – Bass Ron Block – Banjo Curtis Burch – Dobro T Bone Burnett – Arranger, producer The Cox Family: Evelyn Cox – Guitar Sidney Cox – Banjo, vocals, harmony vocals Suzanne Cox – Mandolin, vocals Willard Cox – Vocals, harmony vocals Stuart Duncan – Fiddle Pat Enright – Vocals, harmony vocals, yodeling Isaac Freeman – Bass, vocals, lead
James Hill – Vocals Harry McClintock – Performer Tim O'Brien – Vocals Maura O'Connell – Vocals Carter Stanley – Arranger Dan Tyminski – Guitar, vocals Wilson Waters – Tenor sax, vocals Robert K. Oermann – Liner notes Sam Phillips – Vocals Gillian Welch – Arranger, vocals Dub Cornett – Vocals Chris Thomas King – Guitar, vocals David Rawlings – Vocals Gavin Lurssen – Mastering Mike Piersante – Mixing Peter Kurland – Location recording First Baptist Church of Norfolk Choir – Vocals Chris Sharp – Guitar Nathaniel Best – Lead Robert Hamlett – Vocals Joseph Rice – Vocals The Peasall Sisters Sarah Peasall – Alto vocal, guitar, harmony vocals Hannah Peasall – Soprano vocal, mandolin Leah Peasall – Tenor vocal, violin, harmony vocals The Soggy Bottom Boys – Performer Tim Blake Nelson – Vocals, performer Porter McClister – Tenor backup vocals James Carter and The Prisoners – Performers Alan Larman – Musicologist
Chart performance
Weekly charts Chart (2000–2002) Peak position
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for O Brother, Where Art Thou? Chart (2001) PositionCanadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)31 Canadian Country Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 2 US Billboard 200 23 US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 2 US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 1 Worldwide Albums (IFPI)16 Chart (2002) PositionCanadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 19Canadian Country Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 3 US Billboard 200 6 US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 1 US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 1 Chart (2003) Position US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 11 Chart (2004) Position US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 14 Chart (2013) Position US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 25 Chart (2014) Position US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 24 Chart (2015) Position US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 22 Chart (2016) Position US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 21 Chart (2017) Position US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) 25
Certifications
See also Down from the Mountain
References
External links
BBC News: O Brother, why art thou so popular?