By the Sweat of My Brow was recorded in 1983 and issued by Rounder as Rounder 0200. Hazel Dickens sings every track and produced the album with Ken Irwin, and the sessions were spread across studios in Ashland City, Tennessee, Nashville, Springfield, Virginia, and Newton, Massachusetts. Edward Morris wrote the sleeve notes.
Dickens wrote six of the twelve songs: “Beyond the River Bend,” “Only the Lonely,” “Scars from an Old Love,” “Mama’s Hand,” “Your Greedy Heart” and “Little Lenaldo,” and she arranged “Old and in the Way.” The rest come from other writers: Jack Rhodes’s title song, James Talley’s “Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again?,” Peter LaFarge’s “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” and Jim and Maxine Brown’s “Here Today and Gone Tomorrow.”
Three groups of players share the tracks. Tommy Goldsmith on guitar, Blaine Sprouse on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on Dobro and Roy Huskey Jr. on bass play on seven of them, with Joe Drumright adding banjo on the title song and “Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again?” and Karl Lauber on “The Ballad of Ira Hayes.” Dudley Connell on guitar, Richard Underwood on banjo, David McLaughlin on mandolin, Eddie Stubbs on fiddle and Larry Robbins on bass play on “Old and in the Way,” “Your Greedy Heart,” “Little Lenaldo” and “Here Today and Gone Tomorrow.” “Only the Lonely” has Connell on guitar, Scott Billington on harmonica, McLaughlin on fiddle and Robbins on bass.
Tracklist
- 1 Beyond The Rive Bend 2:53
- 2 Only The Lonely Source Recording 4:07
- 3 By The Sweat Of My Brow 3:23
- 4 Mama’s Hand alt version 4:31
- 5 Little Lenaldo 4:05
- 6 Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again? 2:53
- 7 Go Away With Me 3:24
- 8 Your Greedy Heart 3:30
- 9 Scars From An Old Love 5:01
- 10 The Ballad Of Ira Hayes 3:49
- 11 Old and in the Way alt version 2:57
- 12 Here Today And Gone Tomorrow 3:01
