h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Greetings.

This entry of mine languished for months until a certain scout said I might want to stick it in Peer Review. Here it is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A411328

Thanks.

Give that Scout a raise!

This is a great little entry. You really do a great job with this topic!

The movie 'O Brother, Where Art Thou' featured Old-time didn't it? If it did, perhaps a mention of that? Just a thought...

Anyway, well done!

- X

Hello,

It's a great little entry, full of the nice detail and smooth flow we've come to expect from you. I can't really think of anything to add, except maybe to mention also the Harry Smith Project, although I'm not sure how much of it is old time vs. blues vs. spirituals, so maybe not.

Yours,
Jake

Jimi,

Thanks!

I thought about mentioning "O Brother, Where Art Thou," except that the soundtrack is sort of both old-time and bluegrass at once, and difficult to parse for people unfamiliar with either style. For instance, "O Death" is a classic old-time song (it orginates with a man named Dock Boggs), but Ralph Stanley sings it in a more bluegrassy fashion. John Hartford (who does "Indian War Whoop") is almost straight old-time--almost, but "Man of Constant Sorrow" is straight-out excellent bluegrass. The album is a fantastic hodgepodge of old-time and bluegrass, great for listening but hard for explaining.

As a point of interest, a strict purist would quibble that the performances in "O Brother" are in fact not exactly authentic. The people in the movie are singing bluegrass, but bluegrass didn't exist until the mid-1940s--so the movie is at least a decade off. Moreover, the style of playing and singing is bluegrass as it's performed today, not as it was performed then. I, of course, would tell that purist to stuff it, because I feel that good music is good music, and don't particularly care how authentic it is. But it's worth pointing out because it's interesting; I imagine that the Coens at some point made the decision to put 90s-00s bluegrass rather than 30s old-time on the soundtrack, and it's fun to imagine what went into that decision.

Thanks again!

Dr. F.

Wow! There was a lot more to that question than I thought!

Thanks for the explanation! Yeah - I reckon I'd leave it out too..

- X

Hey Jake,

You're right about the Harry Smith thing: it's got all kinds of things on it--old-time, blues, spirituals--that man had a great ear. I actually don't own it, so, like the "O Brother" soundtrack, I'm afraid of confusing people by trying to break it down. The people I recommend at the bottom of the entry are almost strictly old-time (though the Horseflies, when they switch to rock-band mode, sound almost like Remain in Light-era Talking Heads), so hopefully if people are interested they can find them.

Yeah, I keep thinking of getting it, but then I look at the $60 price tag or whatever they're charging for it, and I hesitate...

I'm pleased to inform you that this entry has been recommended for the Edited Guide. If you want to make any modifications, you'll need to tackle them before the sub-eds get to their tweaking. You'll be notified via e-mail when it's due to appear. Thank you for writing such a great article - please keep up the good work!

Hello Lentilla,

This morning, I couldn't help noticing that the "recommended" tag on the entry had vanished and was not replaced by the "pending" tag. Have I caught it in a moment of transition, or is it rejected after all?

Hmmm... I'll find out - it may be that the system is having some difficulties.