Hard Travelin': The Asch Recordings, Vol. 3

Hard Travelin': The Asch Recordings, Vol. 3 Artist: Woody Guthrie
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 093074010228
EAN: 0093074010228
ASIN: B00000611V


Release Date: 1998-05-19

Related Categories:

General General
Related | Country | Styles | Music
General General
Related | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk Traditional Folk
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Traditional Folk Traditional Folk
Related | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Listmania:

  1. Aggro, You gro, We all grow! (v.1)
  2. A few favorite albums and the clothes they make me wear
  3. The Albums That Will Make You the Badass Folksinger

Tracks:

  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
  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

Similar Items:

  1. Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4
  2. Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 2
  3. This Land Is Your Land: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1
  4. Dust Bowl Ballads
  5. Songs of Protest

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Still relevant after all these years..........2006-10-15

A changing economy and an increasingly technologized mainstream culture have made Woody Guthrie almost inaccessible to today's Americans. Never a rich man, he used to ramble around to dance halls, local radio shows, and political rallies. A headful of songs went with him. Along the way he witnessed labor riots, wars, dust storms, stifling poverty, and now deceased political ideologies. Much of his life reads like a vagabound's diary. The surreal experiences he relates in "Bound For Glory" sit well outside the purview of today's CD buying masses. Music has changed. America has changed. So why does Woody Guthrie still have relevance for the internet generation?

Testimonies of many of the twentieth century's greatest musicians helped exhume Guthrie's name from obscurity. Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, U2, and others hailed Guthrie as America's musical spokesman for the disdvantaged. They sang his songs. He received the moniker "our first protest singer". In a now legendary story, a very young Bob Dylan visited the ailing and unknown Guthrie as he wasted away from Huntington's Chorea. "This Land is Your Land" became something of an alternate national anthem throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Kids sang it in school. The songs began to overshadow the man. Listeners soon realized that Guthrie embodied the concerns, ideas, and voices of his generation's underclass. He reveled in this niche though it never brought him expansive fame or gushing wealth. Maybe those who listen to Guthrie today feel that he also speaks for them? After all, Americans still struggle with employment, politics, corruption, and war. Only the details have changed. Though few of today's consumers would qualify as "ramblers", we still identify with Guthrie when he sings "I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you know'd." Guthrie isn't remebered for his voice or musical ability, but for capturing a piece of America that no one had previously captured. And that piece still exists, though in a slightly altered form.

This CD, the third in the Asch series, showcases Guthrie's timelessness. The song "Hard Travelin'" sets the mood for the CD's subsequent twenty seven songs. They deal with tragedies, politics, struggles, impending war, and voices rarely heard. "Ludlow Massacre" and "1913 Massacre" tell of labor disputes that turned deadly. "Farmer-Labor Train" was written for the unsuccessful campaign of Henry Wallace. The hypnotic "Miner's Song" depicts the miner's life by repeating the line "I Dig My Life Away-o." Many of the songs relate to World War II. "Better World A-Comin'" promises that the troubles will eventually pay off (though Guthrie also throws in references to unions). Guthrie also altered the lyrics of one of his best known songs, "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You", for the ominous war that affected every American. Not only that, Guthrie and Cisco Houston sing a new version of "When the Saints Go Marching In" that foreshadows the coming allied victory. "Miss Pavlichenko", recorded live in 1946, eulogizes a women that killed 257 Nazis during the siege of Leningrad.

Patches of humor also peek through the heavy themes. "Howdjadoo" hilariously explores how people introduce each other. "Mean Talking Blues" is a hyperbolic character study of an ornery old cuss: "If I ever done a good deed, I'm sorry of it." "Ladies Auxillary" satirizes the hats of the day and the hat craze: "You can sell a woman anything if you tell her it's a hat."

Guthrie wrote much of the words and music on this CD. For some he put his own words to other's music, as was the folk music custom of the day. Twenty-seven songs aptly demonstrate Guthrie's importance and continuing relevance. Some of his most famous tunes are included here. This CD, along with volume one of this series, represents the best introduction to Woody Guthrie currently available. He will doubtless continue to represent and speak for the unprivileged of generations to come.

5 out of 5 stars Hard Travelin'.......2000-11-03

The first track of this CD makes me want to get on the road. I bought this in Tennessee the day before I moved to Florida and it hasn't left my car since. It's the first album of Guthrie I've ever listened to and it's easy to see why this guy was so influential. These songs are great examples of the times he lived in, with each one offering a history lesson and social commentary. They showcase Guthrie's eye for detail, sense of humor and poetic voice. Don't miss this one! I haven't bought the other volumes in this set but I certainly plan on it. Guthrie fans - a must for a collection, the rest of you - pick it up and hear one of the original voices of America.

Music CD:

  1. Wandering Home ~ Maura O'Connell
  2. Rocket Cottage ~ Steeleye Span
  3. An Diolaim: Folk Roots of One of Ireland's Groups ~ Clannad
  4. Wind Beneath My Wings ~ Judy Collins
  5. Bryter Layter ~ Nick Drake
  6. Diary of a Fiddler ~ Darol Anger
  7. Think Before You Think ~ Danu
  8. Music From The Armenian Diaspora ~ John Bilezikjian
  9. Impressionistic ~ Ferron
  10. Prodigal Son ~ Mike Cross

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

No One Stands Alone ~ Blue Murder

Nashville at Newport ~ Various Artists

Greatest Hits Live! ~ Sammy Hagar

Ride the Wind ~ Poison

Dois Na Bossa, No. 2 ~ Elis Regina & Jair Rodrigues

Spirit of Wind ~ Yoshikazu Iwamoto

Ancient Court Raga Traditions ~ Ashok Pathak

Magika Italia ~ Various Artists

Wagamama Prisoner ~ Japanimation

Circuit Breaker ~ ECVM