BY THOMAS CONNER
© Tulsa World Woody Guthrie "The Asch Recordings, Vols. 1-4" (Smithsonian Folkways) Like Little Richard was to rock 'n' roll, or Louis Armstrong was to jazz, Woody Guthrie is to American folk music — the clearest, deepest source. Humble, frank and amazingly prolific, Guthrie churned out more music in a 17-year period than some whole subgenres of pop, and the imprint of these tunes and these lyrics is still being felt. Smithsonian Folkways continues to enshrine America's roots music in valuable boxed sets and CD releases, and the label reaches its apex with this four-CD collection that, as a whole, sums up Guthrie's entire vibrant statement to humanity. Such a summation is no easy task, but Moses Asch was destined for it. The idealistic, workaholic record company owner could usually be found in his small office/studio at all hours of the day or night, and he had enormous respect for truly creative artists — whether or not they were commercially viable. In his lifetime, Asch was responsible for recording and releasing the songs of more than 2,000 artists, including Guthrie cohorts Leadbelly and Pete Seeger, as well as singers like Josh White and Burl Ives. In the spring of 1944, Asch met Guthrie — an Okie who'd been wandering the country much of his young adulthood — and was taken by his political convictions and creative spirit. For the next six years, Asch recorded Woody singing his songs and those of other songwriters. The sessions that survive comprise the bulk of Woody's recorded legacy, and this digitally remastered set may be the definitive Woody collection. "Oh yes, it's definitely definitive," said Guy Logsdon, a Tulsa resident and probably the pre-eminent Guthrie scholar. With sound archivist Jeff Place, Logsdon compiled and annotated these four discs, which were released separately in the last few years and are just now collected in one boxed set. "I read in a music catalog a while back, someone wrote about this that 'anyone interested in American music must have this collection,'" Logsdon said. "That's because Woody was such an influence — not just on folk but on rock 'n' roll, pop music, all the way down the line. He gave us children's songs that people sing and don't even know Woody wrote them. This is the collection." Asch became the source of Guthrie recordings because of his lengthy relationship with him. Guthrie's Library of Congress recordings were made during a two week period in 1940. After that, he put down the "Dust Bowl Ballads" for RCA, plus a few records for small labels. He took a hiatus from recording while he was in the Merchant Marines, and then began his most productive period with Asch. Those six years are expertly compiled on this set, each disc with its own theme. Volume 1, "This Land Is Your Land," presents many of Guthrie's best-known and best-loved songs, from the child-like fun of "Car Song" and "Talking Fishing Blues" to serious issues tackled in "Do-Re-Mi" and "Jesus Christ." Volume 2, "Muleskinner Blues," is a selection of the more traditional folk repertory Guthrie had learned and adopted as his own throughout his life, from "Stackolee" to the "Worried Man Blues." Volume 3, "Hard Travelin'," culls together the best of Guthrie's current-events songs, swinging between the World War II version of "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You" and amusing cultural trendspotting like "Howdjadoo." Volume 4, "Buffalo Skinners," looks at a side of Guthrie many might not have seen before. While compiling a complete discography of Guthrie's songs during a 1990 post-doctoral fellowship, Logsdon explored Woody's unheralded cowboy songs. In Logsdon's extensive liner notes for this set, he traces the development of Guthrie as a cowboy songwriter, starting with "Oklahoma Hills." The eventual recording of that song became a country-and-western hit in 1945, sung by Woody's cousin, Jack Guthrie. The success of that song inspired him to write more, and he enjoyed another hit in 1949 when the Maddox Brothers recorded "Philadelphia Lawyer." "Most people don't associate Woody with cowboy songs," Logsdon said. "Woody's father came to the Creek Nation as a cowboy, though. He worked on a ranch east of Okmulgee. He and his granddad were ranchers in Texas. In Michael Wallis' book about the 101 Ranch, he refers to Gid Guthrie, Woody's great uncle. So this fourth volume may come as a bit of a surprise to some folks." Guthrie's body of work is full of surprises. Those of us who grew up singing "This Land Is Your Land" in grade school and hearing about Woody the serious, hard travelin' folk singer are always taken aback by the depths to which his convictions plumbed, as well as his underappreciated playful side. Both are on parade throughout "The Asch Recordings." Guthrie even wrote songs to accompany Omar Khayyam's ancient "Rubaiyat" poem. Only a few copies of the recordings exist, and Logsdon said no one's sure yet how to sequence them. One of these tracks is featured on Volume 3, and it's a textbook example of Guthrie taking time-worn philosophies and trying to apply them to the events of his day. This set is, indeed, a must-have for anyone with even a passing interest in American music or American history. No other artist in the mid-20th century put down the issues, the angst and the joy more accurately and frankly than Woody. |
Thomas Conner
These online "clips" reproduce a self-selection of my journalism (music etc) during the last 20+ years. It's a lotta stuff, but it only scratches the surface. I do not currently possess the time or resources to digitize the whole body of work. These posts are simply a bunch of pretty great days at the office. Archives
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