Mountain Soul
A bluegrass record built around her family and the Kentucky coal country she came from.
Patty Loveless, 2001
- Released
- 26 June 2001
- Recorded
- January to March 2001
- Studio
- Franklin, Tennessee
- Label
- Epic
- Producer
- Emory Gordy Jr.
She had wanted to make an acoustic bluegrass record since meeting Ralph Stanley in 1992. Epic agreed after noticing how fans responded when she sang bluegrass in concert, and at a time when bluegrass-flavored records such as the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and the work of Nickel Creek were selling. She recorded the album with Emory Gordy Jr. over three months in 2001, with Justin Niebank recording and mixing. The cover was shot in Kentucky coal country at an old boarding house tied to a local mine, and the booklet carries photographs of both families. She said the whole record was meant to revolve around family. Songs from the Stanley show reappear on it, among them The Boys Are Back in Town, Daniel Prayed and Soul of Constant Sorrow.
Singles were The Boys Are Back in Town and Out of Control Raging Fire, the latter a duet with Travis Tritt that also got a video. The album reached number five on the Top Bluegrass Albums chart, number 19 on Top Country Albums, where it spent 87 weeks, and number 159 on the Billboard 200. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, and both The Boys Are Back in Town and You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive were nominated for Song of the Year at the 2002 International Bluegrass Music Awards. Rolling Stone rated it 3.5 out of 5 and Spin gave it 9 out of 10. Eli Messinger of Country Standard Time called it the most emotion-drenched and uncompromisingly powerful album of her career. It placed on decade lists at Rhapsody (number nine), Country Universe (number ten) and Engine 145 (number six).
Track listing
- The Boys Are Back in Town2:34 Written by Don Humphries, Pat Enright and Stuart Duncan
- The Richest Fool Alive3:22 Written by Kostas, Bobby Boyd and Don Mealer
- Daniel Prayed2:45 Written by Ralph Stanley
- Someone I Used to Know2:17 Written by Jack Clement. Duet with Jon Randall
- Out of Control Raging Fire3:33 Written by Kostas and Melba Montgomery. Duet with Travis Tritt
- Rise Up Lazarus2:21 Written by Emory Gordy Jr. and Patty Loveless
- Cheap Whiskey3:42 Written by Jim Rushing and Emory Gordy Jr.
- Pretty Little Miss2:41 Written by Emory Gordy Jr. and Patty Loveless
- I Know You're Married (But I Love You Still)2:54 Written by Don Reno and Mack Magaha. Duet with Travis Tritt
- Sorrowful Angels3:58 Written by Leslie Satcher and Tommy Conners
- Soul of Constant Sorrow3:04 Written by Emory Gordy Jr. and Patty Loveless
- You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive6:06 Written by Darrell Scott
- Two Coats3:18 Arranged by Emory Gordy Jr. and Patty Loveless
- Sounds of Loneliness3:48 Written by Patty Loveless
Personnel
- Patty Loveless vocals
- Emory Gordy Jr. guitar, bass, slack key, producer
- Clarence "Tater" Tate bass, fiddle
- Stuart Duncan mandolin, fiddle
- Deanie Richardson fiddle
- Rob Ickes dobro
- Alan O'Bryant banjo
- Ricky Skaggs mandolin, backing vocals
- Earl Scruggs banjo
- Jon Randall duet vocals on Someone I Used to Know
- Travis Tritt duet vocals on Out of Control Raging Fire and I Know You're Married (But I Love You Still)
- Darrell Scott banjo and additional dobro on You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive
- Gene Wooten dobro
- Butch Lee banjo, bass, tremolo mandolin
- Tim Hensley mandolin, backing vocals
- Carmella Ramsey backing vocals, drone fiddle
- Jeff White guitar, backing vocals
- Biff Watson guitar
- Steve Gibson mandola
- Tom Britt slide guitar
- Justin Niebank recording and mixing
- Glenn Meadows mastering
More from Patty Loveless
Honky Tonk Angel (1988), Only What I Feel (1993), When Fallen Angels Fly (1994), The Trouble with the Truth (1996), Mountain Soul II (2009)
Sources
- Mountain Soul, Wikipedia
- Patty Loveless bares her Mountain Soul, Country Standard Time (2001-07)
- Mountain Soul II, Wikipedia
- Mountain Soul (master release), Discogs
- Mountain Soul (US CD release), Discogs