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The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1-4
Smithsonian Folkways Product Details - Ratings and reviews for the asch recordings, vol. 1-4. |
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by: Woody Guthrie
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Sales Rank: 7018
Smithsonian Folkways
Released: 1999-08-17 |
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1. This Land Is Your Land
2. Riding in My Car (Car Song)
3. Ramblin' Round
4. Talking Fishing Blues
5. Philadelphia Lawyer
6. Lindbergh
7. Hobo's Lullaby - Woody Guthrie, Reeves, Goebel
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 - Woody Guthrie, Seeger, P
17. Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done
18. Picture from Life's Other Side - Woody Guthrie, Baer, Charles E.
19. Jesse James - Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly
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)
28. Mule Skinner Blues - Woody Guthrie, Rodgers, Jimmie [1]
29. Wreck of the Old '97 - Woody Guthrie, Whitter, Henry
30. Sally Goodin' - Woody Guthrie,
31. Little Black Train
32. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?
33. Baltimore to Washington
34. Rubber Dolly - Woody Guthrie,
35. 21 Years - Woody Guthrie, Miller, Bob [6]
36. Sowing on the Mountain - Woody Guthrie,
37. Bed on the Floor
38. Take a Whiff on Me - Woody Guthrie, Miller, Bob [6]
39. Stepstone - Woody Guthrie, Webster, J.O.
40. Put My Little Shoes Away - Woody Guthrie, Mitchell, Charles
41. Hen Cackle
42. Poor Boy
43. Stack-O-Lee - Woody Guthrie,
44. Johnny Hart - Woody Guthrie,
45. Worried Man Blues
46. Danville Girl
47. Gambling Man - Woody Guthrie,
48. Rye Straw
49. Crawdad Song - Woody Guthrie,
50. Ida Red - Woody Guthrie,
51. Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy
52. Train 45 - Woody Guthrie,
53. Hard Travelin'
54. Farmer-Labor Train
55. Howdjadoo
56. Ship in the Sky
57. I Ain't Got No Home
58. Mean Talking Blues
59. Better World A-Comin'
60. Miss Pavlichenko
61. So Long (It's Been Good to Know Yuh)
62. New Found Land
63. Oregon Trail
64. Vigilante Man
65. 1913 Massacre
66. Talking Columbia
67. Two Good Men
68. Sally Don't You Grieve
69. Talking Sailor Blues
70. What Are We Waiting On?
71. Railroad Blues
72. Ludlow Massacre
73. Ladies Auxiliary
74. Miner's Song
75. When the Yanks Go Marching In
76. Union Maid
77. Rubaiyat
78. The Many and the Few
79. Hanukkah Dance
80. Ranger's Command
81. Buffalo Skinners
82. Billy the Kid - Woody Guthrie, Jenkins, Andrew [1]
83. Cowboy Waltz - Woody Guthrie,
84. Pretty Boy Floyd
85. Along in the Sun and the Rain
86. Whoopie-Ti-Yi-Yo, Get Along Little Dogies - Woody Guthrie,
87. Froggie Went A-Courtin' - Woody Guthrie,
88. Buffalo Gals
89. I Ride an Old Paint
90. Dead or Alive (Poor Lazarus)
91. Slipknot (Hangknot, Slipknot)
92. Cocaine Blues (Bad Lee Brown) - Woody Guthrie,
93. Go Tell Aunt Rhody - Woody Guthrie, Traditional
94. Chisholm Trail
95. Stewball
96. Wild Cyclone
97. Train Blues
98. Red River Valley - Woody Guthrie, Traditional
99. Fastest of Ponies
100. Stewball
101. Snow Deer - Woody Guthrie, Mahoney, Jack
102. When the Curfew Blows (Curfew Blow)
103. Little Darling (At My Window Sad and Lonely)
104. Blowing Down That Old Dusty Road (Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad)
105. The Return of Rocky Mountain Slim and Desert Rat Shorty
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
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)
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The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1-4
- Audio CD: 0 pages (1999-08-17)
- Publisher: Smithsonian Folkways
- Label: Smithsonian Folkways
- Format: Box set
- Studio: Smithsonian Folkways
- Average Customer Review: based on 17 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #7018
Avg. Customer Review:
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: An American legend, captured on scratchy tape. 2007-01-06
Comment: 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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: America in a boxed set 2006-04-21
Comment: 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.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Guthrie Box Set 2006-03-15
Comment: This is a great collection. The recordings are great, and there is a lot of information provided in each cd booklet.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: This land was made for you and me. 2005-12-04
Comment:
Woody wrote "This Land is Your Land" on 23 February 1940.It is his best known song and one of the most widely sung songs in the United States.Woody's stated reason for writing it is possibly open to criticism--he said he was tired of hearing Kate Smith,one of the nation's most popular singers during the 1930's,sing "God Bless America".So he voiced a different perspective on the United States,ending each verse with "God blessed America for me".Later he changed the last line to "This land was made for you and me".
Woody wrote six verses,of which two were about Great Depression
experiences and were not heard when the song was first issued in 1951.
They were:
Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said:Private Property
But on the back side it didn't say nothing-
God blessed America for me.
One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people-
As they stood hungry,I stood there wondering if
God blessed America for me.
A seventh verse was added in 1945;the verse is:
Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking my freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
This set of four discs contains 105 of Woody's songs.Each disc is accompained by a 36 page booklet giving all sorts of information and background on the songs and the people Woody worked with.There are many super photos of Woody and others.As an example,one of Woody,Fred Hellerman,Jean Richie and Pete Seeger in the recording studio.Then,how about one of Woody,'s pen and ink drawings from April 23,1946;"Hang down my head and cry".
This fantastic recording was put together by Smithonian Folkways Recordings and no matter how much you try you won't find anything else that comes close to it.
What's your favorite Woody song?
Hobo's Lullaby
Hard,Ain't it Hard
Picture from life's other Side
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
Worried Man Blues
I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore
Pretty Boy Floyd
Blowing Down that Old Dusty Road
Whatever it is,You'll find it here in this collection.
If you like Folk music,and Woody in particular,this is for you.If you have a friend who knows some of Woody's songs,this will make a gift that will be highly treasured.
By the way,if you get it ,never lend it;you'll never see it again!!!
8 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Collection of Guthrie 2004-01-09
Comment: No complaints other than the sound quality--which isn't very good. It's O.K. on some songs, but all in all, it's pretty poor. Everything else is great and at about fifty cents a song it's a really good deal. The liner notes are really great as well and there's a pamphlet for each CD. I've just recently started to listen to Woody Guthrie but have been a Dylan fan for a long time. It's really neat to see all of the similarities in some of Dylan's early work with Guthrie's. Dylan's CD "Good as I Been to You" actually has a few songs that are on this CD. That's a great album as well--1991 I believe. All in all a great deal and great music.
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The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1-4
