By the Sweat of My Brow, originally released in 1984 on Rounder (0200) and reissued on CD in 1999, is Hazel Dickens's catalog of working-class protest and hard-times songs in traditional bluegrass and old-time settings. Dickens sings lead, with the Johnson Mountain Boys as core band — Dudley Connell on guitar and harmony, David McLaughlin on fiddle, Larry Robbins on bass — plus Jerry Douglas on lap steel and Dobro, Blaine Sprouse on fiddle, and Scott Billington on harmonica. The title track is a Jack Rhodes social-protest number, and the album includes "Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again," a signature Dickens cry of rage at rural poverty. The record is one of her sharpest statements of the labor-and-coalfield politics that defined her catalog.
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
