My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall

by My Black Country: The Songs Of Alice Randall / Var

Overview

A novelist and professor based at Vanderbilt University, Alice Randall first tasted success as a Nashville songwriter when Trisha Yearwood brought "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)" to the top of the Billboard Country charts in 1994. Randall spent much of the next decade as a successful songwriter, eventually transitioning out of professional music after the publication of The Wind Done Gone in 2001. Twenty-three years later, she published My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future, which explores her history with country along with the genre's history with race. To accompany its publication, Oh Boy released My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall, a collection of 11 new recordings of tunes from her songbook, all delivered by Black women. Prior to My Black Country, none of Randall's songs had been recorded by a Black woman, so this album is as overdue and necessary as it is revelatory. Most of Randall's songs were cut by musicians firmly within Nashville's commercial mainstream, whereas the artists on My Black Country are typically classified as Americana, even when they're fairly traditional country singers such as Miko Marks. Hearing Randall's songs sung in atmospheric, folk-inflected arrangements helps place her songbook within a rich vein of American music, one that stretches back to folk and blues and runs through soul, pop, and beyond. Each artist here stays true to their own voice -- Sunny War testifies like a street-punk preacher on "Solitary Hero," Rhiannon Giddens gives "The Ballad of Sally Anne" a dexterous and adventurous arrangement that blends folk and jazz, and Valerie June lingers in the luxurious corners of "Big Dream" -- which in turn helps illustrate the depth of Randall's work, a trick that only the best tribute albums accomplish. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	05/10/2024
Label:	Oh Boy
UPC:	0732388929603
Rank:	45068

Tracks

1. Small Towns (Are Smaller for Girls)  - Alice Randall  - Mark Sanders  - Verlon Thompson
2. Girls Ride Horses  - Alice Randall  - Mark Sanders
3. Went for a Ride  - Radney Foster  - Alice Randall
4. The Ballad of Sally Anne  - Mark O'Connor  - Alice Randall  - Harry Stinson
5. Solitary Hero  - Carol Elliott  - Alice Randall
6. I'll Cry for Yours (Will You Cry for Mine)  - Robert Jetton  - Alice Randall
7. Many Mansions  - Carol Ann Etheridge  - Alice Randall  - Mark Sanders
8. Get the Hell Outta Dodge  - Walter Hyatt  - Alice Randall
9. Who's Minding the Garden  - Bruce Bouton  - Alice Randall
10. Big Dream  - Matraca Berg  - Alice Randall
11. XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)  - Matraca Berg  - Alice Randall

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bruce Bouton   Primary Artist
Harry Stinson   Primary Artist
Carol Elliott   Primary Artist
Walter Hyatt   Primary Artist
Carol Ann Etheridge   Primary Artist
Mark Sanders   Primary Artist
Alice Randall   Primary Artist
Verlon Thompson   Primary Artist
Mark O'Connor   Primary Artist
Radney Foster   Primary Artist
Matraca Berg   Primary Artist
Robert Jetton   Primary Artist
Luke Schneider   Lap Steel Guitar
Rhiannon Giddens   Banjo,Vocals
Miko Marks   Vocals
Rissi Palmer   Vocals
Darion Alexander   Bass
Valerie June   Vocals
Megan McCormick   Bass,Guitar
Saaneah Jamison   Vocals
Ebonie Smith   Piano,Keyboards
Dan Knobler   Guitar (Acoustic)
Leyla McCalla   Banjo,Cello,Vocals
Francesco Turrisi   Percussion
Michael Johnson   Drums,Percussion
Branden Williams   Piano,Keyboards
Adia Victoria   Vocals
Mason Hickman   Bass,Guitar
Sunny War   Guitar,Vocals
Jen Gunderman   Piano,Keyboards
Allison Russell   Banjo,Vocals
Timothy Beaty   Drums,Percussion
Will Honaker   Bass,Juno
Meg Coleman   Drums,Percussion
Monique Ross   Vocals,Strings
Chauntee Ross   Vocals,Strings
Curtis Olawumi   Horn
Caroline Randall Williams   Vocals
Jamal Cole   Horn
Charles Newkirk   Guitar
Octave Mandolin   Guitar (Electric)

Technical Credits

Darron "Tripp" Thomas   Assistant Engineer
Steve Wyreman   Engineer
Ebonie Smith   Engineer,Producer
Mason Hickman   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Steven Raets   Engineer
Kate Haldrup   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Lake Wilkinson   Assistant Engineer
Eli Webb   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Jack Tellerman   Assistant Engineer