O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	December 5, 2000 (2000-12-05)
Genre	Country, bluegrass
Length	61:24
Label	Mercury Records
Producer	T-Bone Burnett
Various Artists chronology
The Big Lebowski (1998) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) Music sample "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow"

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the soundtrack 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.

With the film set in Mississippi during the Great Depression, the soundtrack, produced by T-Bone Burnett, uses bluegrass, country, gospel, blues, and 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]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

The soundtrack CD became a best seller, certified eight times platinum as of October 2007^[3] with sales of 7,421,000 copies in the United States up to November 2008.^[4] It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2001, the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (for singer Dan Tyminski, whose voice overdubbed George Clooney's in the film on "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.

Some of the artists on the soundtrack played a concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, which was recorded in the documentary film, Down from the Mountain.

In 2006, the album ranked #38 on CMT's 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music.

In 2009, Rhapsody ranked it #8 on the "Country's Best Albums of the Decade" list.^[5] The 9513 Country Music Blog named ranked it #5 on the "Country's Best Albums of the Decade" list.^[6]

In 2010, All Songs Considered, a program on NPR, included the soundtrack on their list of "The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings." ^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Po' Lazarus"	traditional	James Carter and the Prisoners	4:31
2.	"Big Rock Candy Mountain"	McClintock	Harry McClintock	2:16
3.	"You Are My Sunshine"	Davis, Mitchell	Norman Blake	4:26
4.	"Down to the River to Pray"	traditional	Alison Krauss	2:55
5.	"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (radio station version)	Dick Burnett	Soggy Bottom Boys & Dan Tyminski	3:10
6.	"Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"	James	Chris Thomas King	2:42
7.	"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (instrumental)	Burnett	Norman Blake	4:28
8.	"Keep On the Sunny Side"	Blenkhorn, Entwisle	The Whites	3:33
9.	"I'll Fly Away"	Brumley	Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch	3:57
10.	"Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby"	traditional	Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch	1:57
11.	"In the Highways"	Carter	Leah, Sarah, and Hannah Peasall	1:35
12.	"I Am Weary, Let Me Rest"	Roberts (Kuykendall)	The Cox Family	3:13
13.	"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (instrumental)	Burnett	John Hartford	2:34
14.	"O Death"	traditional	Ralph Stanley	3:19
15.	"In the Jailhouse Now"	Blind Blake, Rodgers	Soggy Bottom Boys & Tim Blake Nelson	3:34
16.	"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (with band)	Burnett	Soggy Bottom Boys & Dan Tyminski	4:16
17.	"Indian War Whoop" (instrumental)	Hoyt Ming	John Hartford	1:30
18.	"Lonesome Valley"	traditional	The Fairfield Four	4:07
19.	"Angel Band"	traditional	The Stanley Brothers	2:15
Total length:				61:24

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 Buck White - Mandolin, Vocals, Harmony Vocals Ed Haley - Arranger The Whites - Performers Mike Compton - Guitar, Mandolin Alan Lomax - Arranger The Cox Family - Performers Harley Allen - Vocals, Harmony Vocals Barry Bales - Bass Ron Block - Banjo Curtis Burch - Dobro T-Bone Burnett - Arranger, Producer 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 - Sax (Tenor), Vocals Cheryl White - Bass, Vocals, Harmony Vocals Sharon White - Guitar, 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 Sarah Peasall - Vocals, Harmony Vocals Hannah Peasall - Vocals Leah Peasall - Vocals, Harmony Vocals Soggy Bottom Boys - Performer Tim Blake Nelson - Vocals, Performer Porter McClister - Tenor Backup Vocals James Carter and The Prisoners - Performers Sandy Wilbur - Musicologist

Chart performance

Album

Chart (2000–2002)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	1
U.S. Billboard 200	1
U.S. Billboard Top Soundtracks	1
Canadian Albums Chart	3

Singles

Year	Single	US Country
2002	"Man of Constant Sorrow"	38

See also

• Down from the Mountain

References

1. ^ Germain, David. New 'O Brother' set serves up more old-timey music Yahoo! News (August 22, 2011). Retrieved August 22, 2011
2. ^ O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack) at Allmusic Allmusic Review
3. ^ RIAA certifications
4. ^ Grein, Paul. "Chart Watch Extra: Ropin' The Biggest Country Hits". Yahoo! Music. November 7, 2008.
5. ^ "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" Retrieved 12 January 2010.
6. ^ "Top Country Albums of the Decade (#10-#1)" Retrieved 15 February 2010.
7. ^ "The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings"

External links

• Official website
• BBC News: O Brother, why art thou so popular?

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