Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. This Land Is Your Land
2. Car Song
3. Ramblin' Round
4. Talking Fishing Blues
5. Philadelphia Lawyer
6. Lindbergh
7. Hobo's Lullaby
8. Pastures Of Plenty
9. Grand Coulee Dam
10. End Of The Line
11. New York Town
12. Gypsy Davy
13. Jesus Christ
14. This Land Is Your Land
15. Do-Re-Mi
16. Jarama Valley
17. The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done
18. Picture From Life's Other Side
19. Jesse James
20. Talking Hard Work
21. When That Great Ship Went Down
22. Hard, Ain't It Hard
23. Going Down The Road Feeling Bad
24. I Ain't Got Nobody
25. Sinking Of The Reuben James
26. Why, Oh Why?
27. This Land Is Your Land (Reprise)

Disc 2:

1. Muleskinner Blues
2. Wreck Of The Old 97
3. Sally Goodin'
4. Little Black Train
5. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet
6. Baltimore To Washington
7. Rubber Dolly
8. 21 Years
9. Sowing On The Mountain
10. Bed On The Floor
11. Take A Whiff On Me
12. Stepstone
13. Put My Little Shoes Away
14. Hen Cackle
15. Poor Boy
16. Stackolee
17. Johnny Hart
18. Worried Man Blues
19. Danville Girl
20. Gambling Man
21. Rye Straw
22. Crawdad Song
23. Ida Red
24. Keep My Skillet Good And Greasy
25. Train

Disc 3:

1. Hard Travelin'
2. Farmer-Labor Train
3. Howdjadoo
4. Ship In The Sky
5. I Ain't Got No Home In This World Anymore
6. Mean Talking Blues
7. Better World A-Comin'
8. Miss Pavlichenko
9. So Long, It's Been Good To Know You (WWII Version)
10. New Found Land
11. Oregon Trail
12. Vigilante Man
13. 1913 Massacre
14. Talking Columbia
15. Two Good Men
16. Sally, Don't You Grieve
17. Talking Sailor
18. What Are We Waiting On?
19. Railroad Blues
20. Ludlow Massacre
21. Ladies Auxiliary
22. Miner's Song
23. When The Yanks Go Marching In
24. Union Maid (Excerpt)
25. Rubaiyat (Excerpt)
26. The Many And The Few
27. Hanukkah Dance

Disc 4:

1. Ranger's Command
2. Buffalo Skinners
3. Billy The Kid
4. Cowboy Waltz
5. Pretty Boy Floyd
6. Along In The Sun And The Rain
7. Whoopie Ti Yi Yo, Get Along Little Dogies
8. Froggie Went A-Courtin'
9. Buffalo Gals
10. I Ride An Old Paint
11. Dead Or Alive
12. Slipknot
13. Cocaine Blues
14. Go Tell Aunt Rhody
15. Chisholm Trail
16. Stewball
17. Wild Cyclone
18. Train Blues
19. Red River Valley
20. Fastest Of Ponies
21. Stewball
22. Snow Deer
23. When The Curfew Blows
24. Little Darling
25. Blowing Down That Old Dusty Road
26. The Return Of Rocky Mountain Slim And Desert Rat Shorty

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37846 in Music
• Released on: 1999-08-17
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set

Album Description
This is the finest Woody Guthrie Collection ever assembled. These 105 songs, including many of his best-known compositions and some of his most unususal, were all recorded in the 1940's by Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records. Carefully selected, exquisitely remastered, and painstakingly annotated in over 100 pages of text in four illustrated booklets. Contains four CDs originally issued as separate volumes. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon.(4 hours and 43 minutes)

Amazon.com essential recording
Poland-born, Brooklyn-reared producer and folk enthusiast Moses Asch maintained a suitably slack but ultimately productive relationship with Woody Guthrie. The notoriously unbound folksinger was free to stop by the New York studio unannounced and Asch would record whatever was running through the folksinger's fertile mind at the time. From the vast body of work the twosome came up with comes this cornerstone four-disc collection. All four CDs included in The Asch Recordings have been released individually--This Land is Your Land (something of a best-of set), Muleskinner Blues (a collection of the singer's old favorites), Hard Travelin' (a topical compilation), and Buffalo Skinners (Western-themed songs). If you have one or more of the aforementioned titles, finish off the set one by one. If you're interested in American folk music and you don't have the Guthrie/Asch collection, do yourself a favor and get it out of the box. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

An American legend, captured on scratchy tape.
Like countless others, I started listening to Woody Guthrie's recordings as a fan of Bob Dylan. I'm happy to say that listening to Woody has enhanced my appreciation for him as a singer and songwriter, and also has made me appreciate Dylan more once I was aware with what elements of Guthrie's influence he incorporated into his art and which he expanded upon. I highly recommend purchasing this entire collection (rather than just one or two discs, since they're available individually) along with the essential Dust Bowl Ballads as a strong foundation for a Woody Guthrie collection (not to mention his amazing autobiography, Bound for Glory).

What can you say about a 4-disc retrospective of such a prolific, improvisational songwriter? In my reviews I generally talk about some specific songs, but there are so many here that I'll try not to get boring and long-winded with too many details. The discs are each loosely-based on a different theme and are named (1) "This Land is Your Land," (2) "Muleskinner Blues" (3) "Hard Travelin'" and (4) "Buffalo Skinners." Although the track sequencing isn't too strict, the songs on each generally do fall in the categories of patriotic, interpretive ballads (mostly classic folk covers), topical/working class ballads, and cowboy ballads. As you'll find out, though, these labels aren't too exclusive, and Woody writes and sings about pretty much anything you could imagine, and he sure was good at it.

As the legend goes, Woody wrote on anything he could get his hands on, and composed songs on the fly (freestyle rap anyone?), so this historical document is also quite amazing considering Asch told Guthrie he could drop by and be recorded whenever he wanted. These off-the-cuff recordings not only represent the broadness of Woody's musical vision, but also a pretty accurate representation of the spontaneous singing he did while wandering the country, living (and hearing about first-hand) the lives of the characters in his songs.

And what great songs they are. The tracks range from classics you may or may not have known Woody wrote and sang; "This Land is Your Land," "Grand Coulee Dam," "Pretty Boy Floyd," "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You," "Hard Travelin'," and "Car song," to name a few. What makes the wealth of music here extraordinary is hearing Woody come up with social anthems, dark ballads, heartbreaking stories, and hilarious blues time and time again. Although folk music is simple (fans of more complex chord changes and instrumentation may take a few listens to appreciate what it is about Woody's music that makes it so classic), the magic is in the storytelling and lyrics. Some of his talking blues like "Talking Hard Work" and "Mean Talking Blues," for example, are laugh-out-loud funny, especially on repeated listens.

Some people have griped about the sound quality, but I personally wouldn't have it any other way. The scratchy, old-timey production fits perfectly, and that analog sound probably accounts for much of Woody's timbre. I'll bet it wouldn't sound half as good if recorded in digital. Woody's signature flat-picked acoustic and occasional harmonica makes most of the accompaniment, although Cisco Houston and a few others make appearances singing and playing acoustic instruments, so there's not really any complex overdubbing that is in danger of being covered up by the quality. As for Woody's voice, it's like a warm blanket or the familiar sound of a grandfather telling a story. Even though it's simple, there's a warmth and magic, subtle wit there all the time that only Woody could pull off so genuinely.

The liner notes only add to the quality of this treasure, providing info for each song, as well as great, informative biographical info. Taken together, this really is an academic historical document both on paper and on CD, but it's also a real pleasure to listen to.

As you might have guessed, I highly recommend this collection, but if you don't have any Guthrie recordings yet, I'd probably recommend the shorter Dust Bowl Ballads first, since it's not as daunting in size or price. Once you're hooked, though, this is the next place to go. I hope you take the time to discover why Woody's such a legend, and treasure this set for years to come.

America in a boxed set
I chose this boxed set over the Library of Congress Collection because the latter did not list "This Land is Your Land." The re-mastered recordings are of good quality and the collection is comprehensive. Each of the four CDs contains a booklet of information about the songs and surrounding events.

The real motivation to own this set is, of course, Woody's songs. Using familiar melodies combined with wry narratives and heart-breaking stories, Woody paints a portrait of America from the turn of the century, through the depression and dust bowl years, to WWII and after. The songs are haunting while being deceptively complex and simple at the same time. In this collection, the gravity of his more serious work is artfully countered by his very funny narrative and nonsense songs (one of my favorites in the latter category is "Mean Talking Blues"). Folk music aficionados or not, this collection will contain that will touch everyone's heart.

A final note: Woody Guthrie is perhaps one of the most under-rated guitar players in the genre. The recordings don't do justice to the subtly of his picking style. The same can be said of his abilities with the harmonica.

Guthrie Box Set
This is a great collection. The recordings are great, and there is a lot of information provided in each cd booklet.