A Few Old Memories video from Chad Darou

Bell Buckle Records has released a music video for the current single from Chad Darou, A Few Old Memories.

It’s one of the tracks on Chad’s recent project, Raising The Bar. Written and recorded by Hazel Dickens back in ’80s, the song has also been prominently covered by Dolly Parton and James King.

And it was the latter version that inspired Darou to include it on his album.

“I spent many years on the road with James King. James taught me what it meant to put on the show. This song has always been one of my favorites James did. Shortly after James’ passing I set out playing with my buddy Dave Adkins. Dave is a powerhouse of a singer and when I decided to record this song I knew right away he was the one to sing it. Merl Johnson does a great job on fiddle adding more of that King band sound to this classic. I think ole James would be proud.”

The video was shot during a live performance of Chad Darou and friends at Daryl’s House in Pawling, NY. Darou’s bass player, Mike Pokalsky, provided the cover image for the single, and much of the video footage included in the music video. His grandfather, Peter Pokalsky, is the man shown on the cover, and Mike says that these photos and video are very important to his family history.

“In late winter of 1911, photographer Lewis Hines came to Pittston, PA to photograph workers in the Pittston coal mine, or so he said. His real purpose was to expose the plight of child labor in America. These photos are special to my family because these copies were given to my great grandmother by Mr. Hines, when he visited some of the homes of these children, including the photo depicting my great grandmother, back to camera, and her neighbor in Scranton, PA, just north of the mine. They lived in a ramshackle house on Stanton Street, literally on the wrong side of the tracks. It was to my great grandmother’s dismay that my grandfather took a job in the mine as a breaker boy, and she used to clip newspaper articles about the dangers in an attempt to dissuade him, but nowhere else could he earn as much to help support the family. My grandfather Pete died at age 83 from delayed manifestation of black lung disease. These saved photos and a few old memories are all that’s left.”

Adkins serves as guest vocalist on the track.

Chad’s album and the single are widely available wherever you stream or download music online.

Share this:

About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.