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Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster
Price: $39.99 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0635759159428
Format: Enhanced
Label: Emergent
Manufacturer: Emergent
MPN: 591594
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Emergent
Release Date: August 24, 2004
Studio: Emergent
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Editorial Review:
Stephen Collins Foster is sometimes called America's first great songwriter, but you could make the case that he was also the country's first real pop star. Writing songs such as "Camptown Races" and "Oh! Susanna," Foster, a college dropout, was self-destructive, couldn't keep a marriage together, and ended tragically. Living on the Bowery, he gashed his throat in a fatal fall in 1864 at age 37, dying with only 38 cents in his pocket. The idea of a Foster tribute record may seem staid and archaic, particularly as his lesser known tunes are parlor and stylized minstrel songs. But minstrelsy was a lot like rock & roll, and the Pittsburgh native left behind an impressive body of work that draws upon the diverse branches of music brought to America by settlers and slaves from Europe and Africa. Beautiful Dreamer, on which 22 artists celebrate 18 of his compositions, surprises with its breadth of subject matter, tempo, and interpretation, including the use of the glass armonica and santour. Most of all, the album is uncommonly soulful--Mavis Staples's dignified but heartbreaking performance of "Hard Times Come Again No More," David Ball's elegiac "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)," and the feathery rendition of "Slumber, My Darling" by Alison Krauss, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor resonate in both the heart and the head. If Foster, the pop star, were alive today, he'd likely sit at the piano in shades and gelled-up hair. But he'd be playing these same songs, timeless and achingly poignant. --Alanna Nash
Although America's first great songwriter, Stephen Collins Foster, died 140 years ago, his legacy lives on in the hundreds of songs he left behind. Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster was recorded to celebrate his enormous gift to American culture. Foster's compositions (including "Oh! Susanna," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Camptown Races," "Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair" and "Hard Times Come Again No More") are woven into the fabric of our national identity, yet most music fans today know little about him. Foster has been unjustifiably overlooked in recent decades. No collection of his music recorded by contemporary artists has existed until now. Although tribute albums have become much too common, this project's historical significance distingusihes it from a crowded field.
Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs Of Stephen Foster is a collection of Foster's most beloved compositions - and lesser-known exquisite parlor songs of his day - sung by some of today's most respected musical artists. The album includes songs by: Raul Malo, Alison Krauss with Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, BR549, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Judith Edelman, The Duhks, John Prine, Henry Kaiser, Beth Nielsen Chapman, David Ball, Michelle Shocked & Pete Anderson, Grey De Lisle, Mavis Staples, Ollabelle, Roger McGuinn, Suzy Bogguss, Will Barrow and Ron Sexsmith.
All of the proceeds from Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster will benefit American Roots Publishing, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving American regional culture through literature and art. Goals are accomplished by supporting artists who honor regional culture through their work and by linking them with communities in focused educational programs.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - NO CD
I never received this item. Apparently the post office lost it? That's what the seller said anyway, and then they said they didn't have a second one to send. So I am waiting for a refund.
Rating:  - Overall good compilation, worth buying
Overall I think this compilation is really good.
My favorite track is definitely "My Old Kentucky Home" performed by John Prine, and some other very good ones include "Nelly Was A Lady" performed by Alvin Youngblood Hart, "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" performed by David Ball, "Hard Times Come Again No More" performed by Mavis Staples (very soulful), "Slumber My Darling" performed by Alison Krauss, Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Mark O'Connor, and the title track "Beautiful Dreamer" performed ... Read More
Rating:  - Taking credit for another's work
I love Foster, but Stephen Foster did NOT compose "In the eyes abide the heart"! He merely translated the words for it from the German. Von Kobell wrote the original words, Franz Abt wrote the music and Foster's friend Henry Kleber arranged it.
Rating:  - Moving Modern Update to Classic American Songs
This collection is a thrilling and moving presentation of the core of American music, uniquely updated with new rhythms and insturments. The "Hard Times Come Again No More", by Mavis Staples, alone is worth the price. The rest of the songs are free.
Rating: - Beautiful Album
This is a beautiful piece of work, obviously a labor of love for all involved. You can hear for yourself that Stephen Foster practically invented the modern song. How incredibly far ahead of his time he was. What other 19th century songwriter has received this kind of reverent modern tribute in the past 50 years??
My favorite track is No One to Love, which will break your heart.
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