O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the soundtrack album of music from the 2000 American film of the same name, written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Soundtrack album by
various artists
ReleasedDecember 5, 2000 (2000-12-05)
Recorded(modern tracks) Spring 1999
StudioSound Emporium, Nashville
Genre
Length61:24
LabelLost Highway/Mercury
ProducerT Bone Burnett

The film is set in Mississippi during the Great Depression. The soundtrack, produced by T-Bone Burnett, uses bluegrass, country, gospel, blues, and Southern folk music appropriate 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."[1]

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.[2] T-Bone Burnett and Alan Larman were invited to design collections of music.[3]

Dirges and other macabre songs recurring in Appalachian music,[4] 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".[5][6]

"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.[7] 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.[8]

Reception and legacy
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The Austin Chronicle[11]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[12]
Pitchfork8.3/10[13]
Q[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[16]
Uncut[17]

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.

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.[18] 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").[19]

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.[20] Engine 145 Country Music Blog ranked it No. 5 on the "Country's Best Albums of the Decade" list.[21] In 2010, All Songs Considered, a program on NPR, included the soundtrack album on their list of "The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings".[22]

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.[23][24]

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.[25] It has sold 8,175,800 copies in the United States as of October 2019.[26]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Po' Lazarus" (recorded 1959 by Alan Lomax)traditionalJames Carter and the Prisoners4:31
2."Big Rock Candy Mountain" (recorded 1928)Harry McClintockHarry McClintock2:16
3."You Are My Sunshine"Jimmie Davis, Charles MitchellNorman Blake4:26
4."Down to the River to Pray"traditionalAlison Krauss2:55
5."I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (radio station version)Dick BurnettDan Tyminski, Pat Enright, & Harley Allen (credited as The Soggy Bottom Boys)[27]3:10
6."Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"Skip JamesChris Thomas King2:42
7."I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (instrumental)Dick BurnettNorman Blake4:28
8."Keep on the Sunny Side"Ada Blenkhorn, J. Howard EntwisleThe Whites3:33
9."I'll Fly Away"Albert E. BrumleyAlison Krauss, Gillian Welch3:57
10."Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby"traditionalEmmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch1:57
11."In the Highways"Maybelle CarterThe Peasall Sisters1:35
12."I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)"Pete RobertsThe Cox Family3:13
13."I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (instrumental)Dick Burnett, arranged by Ed HaleyJohn Hartford2:34
14."O Death"Lloyd ChandlerRalph Stanley3:19
15."In the Jailhouse Now"Blind Blake, Jimmie RodgersTim Blake Nelson and Pat Enright (credited as The Soggy Bottom Boys)[28]3:34
16."I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (with band)Dick BurnettDan Tyminski, Pat Enright, & Harley Allen (credited as The Soggy Bottom Boys)4:16
17."Indian War Whoop" (instrumental)Hoyt MingJohn Hartford1:30
18."Lonesome Valley"traditionalThe Fairfield Four4:07
19."Angel Band" (recorded 1955)traditionalThe Stanley Brothers2:15
Total length:60:18
10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition bonus disc
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"Colin Linden1:15
2."You Are My Sunshine"Alan O'Bryant3:29
3."Tishomingo Blues"John Hartford2:01
4."I'll Fly Away" (recorded 1956)The Kossoy Sisters with Erik Darling2:32
5."Big Rock Candy Mountain"Van Dyke Parks1:42
6."Tom Devil" (recorded 1959 by Alan Lomax)Ed Lewis and the Prisoners5:19
7."Keep on the Sunny Side"The Cox Family2:36
8."Angel Band"Hannah, Leah, Sarah Peasall and Robert Hamlett0:58
9."Big Rock Candy Mountain"Norman Blake2:18
10."Little Sadie"Norman Blake1:50
11."In the Highways"The Cox Family2:12
12."Hogfoot"John Hartford3:47
13."The Lord Will Make a Way"The Fairfield Four2:36
14."In the Jailhouse Now"Harley Allen3:05
Total length:35:40

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. Both the original soundtrack 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.

Personnel

Chart performance

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[56] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[57] 4× Platinum 400,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[25] 8× Platinum 8,175,800[26]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
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