I've been writing this blog since February and haven't written about Kathy Mattea yet. To anyone who knows me, that's about the most impossible thing to imagine! I've been a fan of Kathy for many years, going back to when country wasn't cool in my world. Somehow she managed to break thru my prejudice. Pretty stupid prejudice when you consider how open to diversity country was back then. I heard her song Time Passes By and was gone. Went out and bought the cassette version of the album of the same name and played it to death. I drove my family nuts playing From a Distance over and over again so I could finger pick along (Bette Midler eat your heart out!). I was re-aquainted with Kathy after acquiring a cd player for my commuter car a number of years ago and checking out all her stuff from the Orem public library. Turns out one of the librarians, Sue Phelps, is Kathy's fan club president, so as you can imagine the library's collection of KM albums is pretty complete! I became an official fan and have followed Kathy closely since. Kathy's had 2 careers, one as a country star on a major label and one as an independent Americana artist. Like many another big star she's been privileged to have a second career out of the lime light doing the kind of music she has passion for without having to please record execs. She really started to bend her career away from commercial country with the release of the Time Passes By album with it's many Celtic influences. That just might explain my original fascination with that work. It came about as a result of her making acquaintance with Scottish folkie Dougie MacClean. Kathy has been socially active most of her career. Her latest cause is opposing mountain top removal mining, a method of coal mining that's destroying the beauty of the Appalachian range, poisoning the streams and displacing people from their homes. It's pretty appalling and is a cause I can agree with. From that came the impetus for her latest album titled simply Coal. Coal is a wonderful collection of coal mining songs and at least to me represents the most country album of her entire career. I'm sure the recording industry would disagree, but to me this kind of music represents the heart of true country, harkening back to Jimmy Rodgers and the Carter family. This album garnered a Grammy nomination, her first in many years. It lost out to Pete Seeger's At 89. Too bad for bad timing and going up against a legend. Coal is the superior album! All tracks are good, but my favorites are:
The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore
Red-Winged Blackbird
Green Rolling Hills
Coal Tattoo
Green Rolling Hills was written by Utah Phillips. I find it ironic that a Westerner could capture the spirit of West Virginia so effectively. A fine tune!
Kathy's rendition of You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive is also very good, but I must give Patty Loveless credit for the definitive version.
As you might surmise from the photo, Mary Stuart produced Coal and was a tremendous help and support for Kathy doing something with such a rootsy flavor. I was hesitant to review this album just now, expecting something new from Kathy any time now. Seems like she's over due. Anyway, this album is so relevant, it needed comment and if she comes up with a new record any time soon I'll have more grist for the mill!
Happy listening and have a great 4th!
