Woody Guthrie Albums (17)
'Ballads of Sacco & Vanzetti'
Release Date 2/20/1996
Tracks 12
Label Smithsonian Folkways
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What The Critics Say
Recorded between 1946 and 1947, Woody Guthrie crafted a truly fascinating historical document that serves as something of a prototype for a concept album. The trial of Italian-born radicals Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, which culminated in their execution in 1927, is one of the most controversial murder trials in the history of the American justice system; it remains to this day clouded with inconclusive findings. It was this trial that inspired Woody Guthrie to devote an entire album of songs in their defense, and in the process create some of the most fiery and impassioned verse in his recorded catalogue. Guthrie is known to have considered these songs among the most important that he'd ever written, and he is said to have thought the project to be one of his most significant. Many of the pieces have a strong sense of immediacy in them, with Guthrie stumbling over lines and missing chord changes, seemingly racing to get the message out. Some might not particularly agree with his clearly one-sided view of the entire trial, though the way in which he eloquently presents the facts of the case to the listener is a powerful statement for their defense. Still, Guthrie paints a picture of Sacco and Vanzetti that almost seems too good to be true, leaving them as martyrs for American freedom and legends of the progressive movement, calling them Boston's "most noble sons." This might be Guthrie at his most openly radical, with semi-revolutionary lyrics in "Red Wine" recounting the scene in Boston after the execution: "I thought those crowds would pull the town down./ I was hoping they'd do it and change things around." The songs themselves are in the classic Guthrie vein, in that they're all solo acoustic tracks, with the exception of "Sacco's Letter to His Son," which is a letter Sacco wrote on the eve of his execution, set to music by Pete Seeger. Though the material seems a little biased, and maybe rightly so, this is Woody Guthrie at his most sincere and inspired, and no matter where you stand on the vagaries of the trial, you can't argue with the way he honestly presents the humanity of the condemned. While an album completely devoted to a trial that took place over 75 years ago might not be everyone's ideal Guthrie album, it's a fascinating historical snapshot in time, when the Red Scare was a real threat -- when folk singers saw injustice and tried to do something about it. ~ Matt Fink, All Music Guide
'Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child'
Release Date 9/14/1993
Tracks 18
Label Smithsonian Folkways
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What The Critics Say
Some of the last songs written and recorded by Woody Guthrie were his children's songs. Their strength, shown in Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child, is an unusually strong identification with actually being a child, in all its simplicity and charm, along with the ability to win over listeners. Good examples here are "Rattle My Rattle" and "I Want My Milk." Guthrie is an acquired sonic taste worth acquiring. Ages 3-5. ~ William Ruhlmann & Bob Hinkle, All Music Guide
'Grow Big Songs, Vol. 2'
Release Date 1/1/1992
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
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'Grow Big Songs, Vol. 1'
Release Date 1/1/1992
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
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'Nursery Days'
Release Date 1/1/1992
Tracks 16
Label Smithsonian Folkways
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What The Critics Say
In Songs to Grow On - Vol. 1 (Nursery Days), Guthrie once again effectively evokes the child's point of view with such simple, yet exciting songs as "Car Song" (with its chorus "Goin' for a ride in the car car") and "Put Your Finger in the Air." Ages 3-5. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs'
Release Date 1/1/1988
Tracks 14
Label Smithsonian Folkways
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What The Critics Say
In April 1944, 31-year-old Woody Guthrie discovered a recording outlet when he hooked up with record company owner Moses Asch, who agreed to let him cut a virtually unlimited number of masters informally. Guthrie simply would turn up at Asch's studios alone or with such friends as Cisco Houston, Sonny Terry, Leadbelly, and Bess Lomax Hawes, and record his repertoire of original and traditional songs. The repository soon grew to hundreds of titles, far more than even a major label, much less a tiny independent, could release contemporaneously. Over the decades, Asch did release many of the tracks, but by 1962, when he assembled the LP Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs, he still had a significant caché of unissued material like that found on this disc. In the ensuing 18 years, the folk revival had kicked in, and such artists as Joan Baez were taking folk music into the upper reaches of the charts. Guthrie was considered the godfather of the movement, and Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs played right into that, as he could be heard singing songs like "The Rising Sun Blues" (aka "The House of the Rising Sun") and "The Boll Weevil," the same songs that the new generation of folk singers were performing in coffee houses. In truth, with the combination of guitars, mandolin, harmonica, and fiddle, plus Houston's rough high harmonies, the arrangements often were more evocative of the old-timey country string bands of the '30s, such as the Monroe Brothers, than early-'60s urban folk. Then, too, although some of the songs were credited to Guthrie as a songwriter, this was not the Guthrie of "This Land Is Your Land," but rather Guthrie the traditional folk singer. Still, Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs was an excellent representation of rural folk music that consolidated Guthrie's position as the newly fashionable genre's main progenitor. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
