There Is No Eye: Music for Photographs

There Is No Eye: Music for Photographs

Track Listings

1. Thank You Lord [#]

2. If I Had My Way [#] - Rev. Gary Davis

3. Have You Ever Been Mistreated [#]

4. I Can't Be Satisfied - Muddy Waters

5. Roll on John [#] - Bob Dylan

6. Man of Constant Sorrow - Roscoe Holcomb

7. Hicks Farewell - Gaither Carlton, Doc Watson

8. Come All You Tenderhearted - Carter Stanley

9. Young But Growing {from Gypsies Sing Long Ballads} [#]

10. TB Blues - Hazel Dickens,

11. John Henry [#] - Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys

12. Sally Goodin [#] - Eck Robertson

13. Twin Sisters - Sidna Myers

14. Sally Johnson [#] - Charlie Higgins, , Wade Ward

15. Pull My Daisy {from Pull My Daisy}

16. So Long: Go [#] - Rufus Cohen, Wade Patterson

17. Who'll Water My Flowers - Sonya Cohen, Dick Connette

18. Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie - Elizabeth Cotten

19. Ramblin' Round - Woody Guthrie

20. Love My Darling-O - Alan Lomax

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
There Is No Eye: Music for Photographs--Recordings of Musicians Photographed by John Cohen is a great mix CD of raw, ragged, and right American folk music. Though that's little surprise as, since the late 1950s, John Cohen has patched together an alchemical body of work as a filmmaker, photographer, self-taught ethnographer, music writer, art professor, and musician. The CD accompanies a book of Cohen's beautiful, black-and-white documentary photos. Cohen really knows his folk music; his 1968 interview with Harry Smith for the Sing Out! fanzine remains the Rosetta stone for the all-important Anthology of American Folk Music, and as one-third of the New Lost City Ramblers he helped bring the visceral pleasures of true traditional Americana to a larger audience during the folk revival. This collection is wide-ranging and largely unerring. From Beat jazz to gospel, Appalachian a cappella singing to a Peruvian string band--it's all here, with no slick O Brother arrangements or anything else to get in the way of the music as it would have been heard on front porches, small clubs, and backyards. About a third of the tracks are previously unreleased; Dylanologists will need this CD for a swell unreleased track by the young Bobby, a version of "Roll on John" from a 1961 WBAI radio broadcast. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description
In Music For Photographs, photographer, film maker, folklorist and musician John Cohen (of the New Lost City Ramblers) presents some of the finest American roots recordings ever made. On their own, these songs are authentic and captivating. Yet, they are only one half of a conceptual whole-- Cohen has also released a book of photographs, There is No Eye, showcasing the musicians featured here as well as many others. Experienced together, the music and the photographs create new dimensions of possibility in our collective drive to understand and appreciate people's music. Includes unreleased music from Rev. Gary Davis and Bob Dylan, as well as classic tracks from Woody Guthrie, Roscoe Holcomb, Bill Monroe, Carter Stanley, Muddy Waters, and many more. 32-page booklet, exquisite photos, extensive notes, 68 minutes.

Tracks:

Thank You Lord [#]
If I Had My Way [#] - Rev. Gary Davis
Have You Ever Been Mistreated [#]
I Can't Be Satisfied - Muddy Waters
Roll on John [#] - Bob Dylan
Man of Constant Sorrow - Roscoe Holcomb
Hicks Farewell - Gaither Carlton, Doc Watson
Come All You Tenderhearted - Carter Stanley
Young But Growing [From Gypsies Sing Long Ballads][#]
TB Blues - Hazel Dickens,
John Henry [#] - Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys
Sally Goodin [#] - Eck Robertson
Twin Sisters - Sidna Myers
Sally Johnson [#] - Charlie Higgins, Dale Poe, Wade Ward
Pull My Daisy [From Pull My Daisy]
So Long: Go [#] - Rufus Cohen, Wade Patterson
Who'll Water My Flowers - Sonya Cohen, Dick Connette
Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie - Elizabeth Cotten
Ramblin' Round - Woody Guthrie
Love My Darling-O - Alan Lomax
Buck Creek Girls - The New Lost City Ramblers
Paloma Blanca
Kitchen Girl [From Holdouts][#]

Amazon.com

There Is No Eye: Music for Photographs--Recordings of Musicians Photographed by John Cohen is a great mix CD of raw, ragged, and right American folk music. Though that's little surprise as, since the late 1950s, John Cohen has patched together an alchemical body of work as a filmmaker, photographer, self-taught ethnographer, music writer, art professor, and musician. The CD accompanies a book of Cohen's beautiful, black-and-white documentary photos. Cohen really knows his folk music; his 1968 interview with Harry Smith for the Sing Out! fanzine remains the Rosetta stone for the all-important Anthology of American Folk Music, and as one-third of the New Lost City Ramblers he helped bring the visceral pleasures of true traditional Americana to a larger audience during the folk revival. This collection is wide-ranging and largely unerring. From Beat jazz to gospel, Appalachian a cappella singing to a Peruvian string band--it's all here, with no slick O Brother arrangements or anything else to get in the way of the music as it would have been heard on front porches, small clubs, and backyards. About a third of the tracks are previously unreleased; Dylanologists will need this CD for a swell unreleased track by the young Bobby, a version of "Roll on John" from a 1961 WBAI radio broadcast. --Mike McGonigal

Album Description

In Music For Photographs, photographer, film maker, folklorist and musician John Cohen (of the New Lost City Ramblers) presents some of the finest American roots recordings ever made. On their own, these songs are authentic and captivating. Yet, they are only one half of a conceptual whole-- Cohen has also released a book of photographs, There is No Eye, showcasing the musicians featured here as well as many others. Experienced together, the music and the photographs create new dimensions of possibility in our collective drive to understand and appreciate people's music. Includes unreleased music from Rev. Gary Davis and Bob Dylan, as well as classic tracks from Woody Guthrie, Roscoe Holcomb, Bill Monroe, Carter Stanley, Muddy Waters, and many more. 32-page booklet, exquisite photos, extensive notes, 68 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

Folkways Sampler in Fancy Packaging.......2002-06-17

This CD is very seductive--the cover looks like a 50s folkways release, the design is sharp; the title is hip and intriguing (music for photographs?), and it's all lower case a la e.e. cummings; Woodie Guthrie looks like a bad mutha in the cover photograph.

Getting past the design, and the john cohen photographs (which are wonderful), however, we realize that this is just another folkways sampler-- sort of a follow-up to the American Roots sampler. There are some great tracks here from the old stand-bys: an early Dylan, Guthrie, Gary Davis, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Muddy Waters, as well as a few surprises, such as a beutiful bluegrass piece from Alice Gerrard and Hazel dickenzs, and a really interesting afro-rootsy piece by rufus cohen and wade patterson. There are a few throw aways as well (leftovers from a less successful musicological expedition, I guess.)

Folkways has no trouble riding the latest roots music wave because it's had cred as an "authentic" roots music label all along. A little slicking up of the packaging serves this comp. well, and it doesn't even take an "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" sticker to give it appeal.

folk music... from the core of the american experience.......2001-11-23

..........twenty three songs that go straight to the core of the american music experience.... everything that we have heard on the radio since the beginning of recorded music... from fats domino to britney spears... can be traced straight to these wonderful songs..... many of them totally reminiscent of harry smith's anthology.. but somehow more accescible..19 year old.. dylan.... sounding so fresh.... but so in touch with the music he was trying to restructure for a brand new audience..
I'll be listening to these songs for a long time..especially when I want to remind myself of how magical music can be..