DESCRIPTION:
Hazel Dickens (1935-2011)

"The Rebel Girl" (rec. 1990)

Performers:
HD - vocals and guitar
Dudley Connell - guitar
Tom Adams - banjo
Marshall Wilborn - bass
David McLaughlin - mandolin & fiddle

"Born in 1935 in Mercer County, West Virginia, Hazel Dickens was one of 11 children raised in a poverty-stricken coal mining community. She experienced economic hardship, the bitter struggles associated with the life of coal miners, and the sexist treatment of women, all before she was out of her teens. At age 19, she moved to Maryland where she and some of her siblings became factory workers, and saw the need for labor unions firsthand.

From the late 1950s, Hazel was playing bass and guitar with the likes of Mike Seeger, Alice Gerrard, David Grisman, Ralph Rinzler, John Herald, Lamar Grier, and Bob Yellin. She formed a popular duo with Alice Gerrard in the 1960s and 70s...

The song 'The Rebel Girl' was written by labor songwriter Joe Hill (1879-1915) and was adapted by Dickens for the soundtrack of the film 'With Banners and Babies'." - Jeff Place