Miner's Prayer (From Helen Schneyer's 1974 Album 'Ballads, Broadsides And Hymns')

My experiment with a song from my sister's repertoire I thought the song lent itself to having multiple harmonies.

Here is my first attempt made this morning, it's a little rough but I think I can improve it now I have created this to follow as a template.

Sorry it isn't in HD (I forgot to change the settings and I really do not want to re-record the same song 5 times if I have to!

About the artist; Helen Schneyer
Born; 10th January 1921
Died; 16th July 2005


By Joshua Larkin Times Argus Staff

PLAINFIELD – Helen Bonchek Schneyer could belt out work songs, African American spirituals and hymns like few others. With an unmistakable contralto voice and the ability to pour her entire being into each song, she is one of folk music's most remarkable and beloved characters.

Known internationally for her emotionally charged renditions of traditional folk, labor and spiritual music, Helen Bonchek Schneyer died July 16 of cancer at the age of 84 at the Berlin Health and Rehabilitation Center.

Schneyer had a long music career, during which she performed for Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House, shared the stage with folk legends such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and served as a founding member of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, but friends and relatives remember her sense of humor, her strength of character and her ability to throw a really good party.

"Helen had a way of putting together a party that I think was unequaled in my experience," said longtime friend, Hilari Farrington. "She had a knack for bringing the right people together with just the right amount of food and drink. And there was always a lot of silliness and great music."

Miner's Prayer was released on the album Ballads, Broadsides And Hymns in 1974 and is a lament regarding the struggles of miners in the early 70's -

Although I am not certain if Helen wrote the song or if the climate of turmoil with miners inspired her to record a collected song. In 1973 (the year prior to release) Duke Power workers at the Brookside Mine in Harlan County decided to strike which lead to violence.

Hope you like the rough edited version :)