Hazel Dickens is an Appalachian singer and songwriter known for her superb musicianship, feminist country songs, union anthems, and blue-collar laments. Growing up in a West Virginia coal mining community, she drew on the mountain music and repertoire of her family and neighbors when establishing her own vibrant and powerful vocal style that is a trademark in old-time, bluegrass, and traditional country circles. Working Girl Blues presents forty original songs that Hazel Dickens wrote about coal mining, labor issues, personal relationships, and her life and family in Appalachia. Conveying sensitivity, determination, and feistiness, Dickens comments on each of her songs, explaining how she came to write them and what they meant and continue to mean to her. Bill C. Malone's introduction traces Dickens's life, musical career, and development as a songwriter, and the book features forty-one illustrations and a detailed discography of her commercial recordings.
''A fascinating portrayal of how one Appalachian native navigated the American shoals. Dickens's voice illuminates the pristine, original, and enduring folk culture of the region and will stimulate readers to ask larger questions about American polity. Folksong buffs, sophisticated feminists, labor partisans, and American and Appalachian studies scholars will be among the enthusiasts for this phenomenal book.'' Archie Green, author of Tin Men ''As a musician, Hazel Dickens has an immediately recognizable voice that perfectly captures the grittiness of the songs she writes. The songs themselves reflect the lives and struggles of the mountain people she grew up with and have acted as a conduit through which the whole country gained a more intimate knowledge of Appalachia. In this effortless, fastmoving narrative, we hear Dickens telling - in her own voice - how she is influenced by her life and times. A thoroughly enjoyable read.'' Ellen Wright, coauthor of Pressing On: The Roni Stoneman Story ''This new book starts with a brief biography and appreciation by noted authority of traditional country music, Bill C. Malone, and goes on to include the words of some forty of Hazel Dickens' finest compositions, complete with the story behind each one...the book also contains numerous photographs taken through the various stages of Ms. Dickens' impressive career.'' Jim Marshall, BCMA Bulletin, August/September 2008
