Customer Reviews

Dust Bowl Ballads

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If you're willing to listen and imagine the time, place and circumstance of this recording, its as remarkable a musical thing can be. This very modest voice coming out of what must seemed an Old testament plague, to tell us stories, sing us a simple song. It is almost like the world was starting again, with its uniquely American voice to piece itself back together, without the trappings of history beyond the memories of this man and his companions. Pretty damn beautiful, Woody.

I have had this release on lp for a number of years now, and am thrilled to see it on cd. There is little that a 30 year old can say about Woody Guthrie that hasn't been said by someone who lived in his generation, went through the hardships that he did, and understands all the nuances of his music. But what I CAN say is that his music resonates wonderfully with ME!

The songs flow wonderfully from one to the next, painting the desolate picture of the Dust Bowl during the drpression. The sorrow, pain, hope, and hopelessnesss that each person must have felt is all right there. From "Tom Joad" to "Pretty Boy Floyd" (covered by the Byrds, among others), the songs are pure and honest- as all of Woody's dittys were.

A brilliant gem of the highest order, "Dust Bowl,Ballads" is essential listening for everyone. Such grace, purity, and honesty rarely shows on lps any more. Woody shows why they should. God bless you, Woody.

I got a vinyl copy of this on RCA some time around 1970 and I am grateful to whichever label[s] has/have taken the initiative to make available on CD. It is an essential item in my collection, and I love to listen to it, i.e. not just academically interesting, IMHO.

This is great recording. Many of Woody's best songs are represented in fine fashion, and I must admit that every time I put it on and hear him start out singing cut #1 " ... On the 14th day of April in 1935 ..." it starts me out on a musical journey that lasts til the last song. Never fails. He was an indominable spirit, and when I think of Woody at his best, I think of this record.

PS If you are ever doing some long-haul driving and you are in the middle of nowhere at 3 in the morning, try putting this CD on your mobile hi-fi. It's an American experience.

"Dust Bowl Ballads" was apparently the most successful album Woody Guthrie ever made, especially since it gained him public acclaim. This reissue of the 1940 album contains Guthrie's original liner notes in which he declares: "This bunch of songs . . . are 'Oakie' songs, 'Dust Bowl' Songs, 'Migracious' songs, about my folks and my relatives, about a jillion of 'em, that got hit by the drought, the dust, the wind, the banker, and the landlord, and the police, all at the same time . . . and it was these things all added up that caused us to pack our wife and kids into our little rattletrap jalopies, and light out down the Highway--in every direction, mostly west to California."

What stands out most for me on this album are the two parts of "Tom Joad." Obviously Guthrie was impressed by both John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath," and John Ford's motion picture, which followed quickly on the heels of publication. In just under 7 minutes time Guthrie relates the story of Tom Joad, in many ways a story song similar to "The Great Dust Bowl (Dust Storm Disaster)" or "Pretty Boy Floyd." What strikes me is that there is no explicit argument as to the meaning or import of the story, as if in telling the tale the point is obvious. Like reading scripture or even the old poets reciting the epic poems, the audience (or congregation if you will), recognizes the moral of the tale. Of course the Oakies would not have to be told the lesson of their lives. Singing the songs and hearing them sung validates their pain and suffering by making sure it is remembered and not blown away on the winds. Once you start thinking along these lines it is hard not to think of Guthrie's folk songs as the most sacred of our secular music.

Whatever they did to remaster these songs is great; they are clear and clean but still retain a sense of the time in which they recorded. In addition to Guthrie's original linear notes, which are quite extensive and extremely insightful, Dave Marsh provides a more contemporary take on the man and his songs, making a compelling argument that "Dust Bowl Ballads" was when the singer "became the voice of his people and in a way that remains intelligible many years later." It is always said that Guthrie was not inclined to sing the same song the same way twice, and this album offers proof of that with an alternate version of "Talking Dust Bowl Blues." In many ways an album like this, where there is a clear thematic unity, represents Guthrie at his best better than a greatest hits collection. If you all you have head of the American folk tradition are Dylan and Springsteen, those who carry on the tradition, then it is about time you went back to the beginning and listed to the stories and songs of Woody Guthrie.

Woody got a record deal with RCA Victor, and miraculously they let him be himself and do his own songs on a multi-record set of 78-RPM discs. In the spring of l940, this collection hit the stores.It didn't sell much in that Depression year...some say 500 sets, some say l,000...but those who responded to these songs must have been changed forever, musically if not politically. It can be argued that Woody, with this effort, invented the "singer/songwriter" genre, the "concept album" and contemporary folk-protest style, all at once. It is offered now on CD with great sound for a wonderful price. I cannot imagine anyone who likes "folk music" or who has an interest in Depression-era America not choosing to buy it. NOW. Today. From this site. On impulse. Because I said so. Because it is the right thing to do.

I admit it. I'm a folkhound from the get go and I love this collection. The selection of songs not to mention the strong lyrics and emotions they evoke is truly a masterpiece. Woody Guthrie was a musical purist in the truest sense of the word. He had a real gift for stirring one's conscience. His songs were widely played at unions, peace marches and other gatherings for generations. He is the Balladeer of the People; the Voice for All.

Please, please, listen to this collection. I really think you will be glad you did. This is truly high caliber work.

Woody Guthrie didn't invent American folk music. It's been around for centuries. Instead, Woody Guthrie arguably invented MODERN American folk music. He did it with these 1940 recordings.

You can read about the Dust Bowl years in any American History book. But these songs actually take you there. Having grown up in Oklahoma (hardest hit dustbowl state) and having lived as a "Dustbowl Refugee", Woody Guthrie sang many of these songs from experience.

Woody takes you there with such harrowing tales as "The Great Dust Storm", "Dusty Old Dust", "Dust Bowl Refugee", and "Vigilante Man". Fortunately, Woody also had a sense of humor ("Talking Dust Bowl Blues").

Now to the burning question. Most of you who are reading this probably already own these same recordings on the out of print Rounder CD from the late '80s. Why should you buy them again? For the bonus track? Not really. While pleasant enough, the alternate take of "Talking Dust Bowl Blues" introduced here doesn't offer any revelations.

You should buy this for the remastering. There is hardly a crackle or a pop to be heard anywhere on here. The sound quality obviously isn't perfect, but it is an amazing improvement over the Rounder CD. It's almost as if you're in the room with Woody as he sings these tales to you.

Finally, Woody's original liner notes have been restored in all of there glory. These notes are as much a part of these recordings as the music itself.

This is simply the greatest collection of folk ballads ever assembled on one CD. Enjoy!

This reissue of the RCA LP from 1964 is truly the best of the best from Woody Guthrie. Had he not contributed a phenomenal wealth of other top-drawer folk music documenting the human condition, this collection of dust bowl originals would have been enough to establish him as the narrator of an era.

"Tom Joad" is Guthrie's retelling of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. He once noted that many who couldn't afford the book could still see the movie. And for those who couldn't afford the price of the movie, Guthrie offered the song.

Do yourself a great favor and get to know the songs included in this set. You'll gain a depth of understanding of America then and realize that we may not have come so far yet.

Every song on this CD is about dust. Every song is about dust and the dust bowl and dust storms and dust old dust and dust pneumonia and being a dust bowl refugee.
"The dust storm hit and it hit like thunder, it dusted us over and buried us under," and fortunately, Woody Guthrie was there to write and sing about it.
This CD is a timeless record of an era of American life when farmland erosion was so severe, and the rain was so sparse, and the winds were so bad, that people's farms became craters, and dust storms swallowed whole barns and crops and houses.
People were poor anyway, and these dust storms, and the "rattling in my lungs" they brought, and the poverty they left in their wakes changed the face of America forever, as Okies abandoned their farms and headed naively, hopefully, to California.
However, not only are these songs historically valuable, they're also great songs. "Dusty Old Dust (So Long It's Been Good to Know Yuh)," "Blowin' Down the Road," and "Do Re Mi" are all classics--catchy and fun and unique.
Woody Guthrie's quirky communist hobo personality shines from every lyric and weird Okie cadence, and the rambling, socially conscious, folksy influence he would later have on Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen already seems apparent in songs like "Talking Dust Bowl Blues" and "Tom Joad."
If you like Americana, American history, (almost) old-time folk music, songs that tell stories, or songs with heroes, get this album. It's a keeper.

this is my favorite woody guthrie disc. the entire asch recordings series is wonderful, as well, but this cycle of short stories told through the medium of the folk song, about the Oakie migration during the great depression, is simply a riveting work of americana music. "tom joad - part 1 & 2," is my all-time favorite guthrie performance. its rhythmic drive, intensity, devotion to detail, and grand narrative structure make it one of the finest achievements in all of american folk music. this whole album is a stark and glorious achievement. mr guthrie's voice was singular, a voice with personality, full of feeling for the downtrodden, for the victims of unrestrained capitalism. no music collection should be without a healthy dose of woody guthrie. if yours has a hole in it where mr guthrie should be, this album makes for a perfect introduction to his work.