| The Asch Recordings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 1997–1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1944–1949 [1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Label | Smithsonian Folkways | |||
| Producer | Moe Asch | |||
| Woody Guthrie chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Asch Recordings, recorded between 1944 and 1949, [1] are a series of albums featuring some of the most famous recordings of US folk musician Woody Guthrie. These sessions were recorded by Moses "Moe" Asch in New York City.
The songs recorded by Asch comprise the bulk of Guthrie's original material and several traditional songs. They were issued on a variety of labels over the years under the labels Asch, Asch-Stinson, Asch-Signature-Stinson, Disc, Folkways and Smithsonian Folkways. The tracks for Guthrie's Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child and Nursery Days were from these sessions.[ citation needed ]
Many recordings have unknown session dates. [2] These are included in a list available at the United States Library of Congress titled "Surviving Recordings in the Smithsonian Folklife Archive Made by Woody Guthrie for Moses Asch". Moe Asch says Woody's kids songs were recorded sometime in early 1947 and the Sacco and Vanzetti ballads were recorded January 1947.[ citation needed ]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic Volume 1 |  [3] |
| Allmusic Volume 2 |  [4] |
| Allmusic Volume 3 | [5] |
| Allmusic Volume 4 | [6] |
The Smithsonian Folkways label repackaged and arranged these sessions in a series of 4 discs between 1997 and 1999. The first volume focuses on Guthrie's original compositions, [3] the second on folk and country covers, [4] the third on topical songs, [5] and the fourth on cowboy and western music. [6]
| Year | Title | Record Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | This Land Is Your Land, The Asch Recordings, Vol.1 [7] | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 1997 | Muleskinner Blues, The Asch Recordings, Vol.2 [8] | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 1998 | Hard Travelin', The Asch Recordings, Vol.3 [9] | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 1999 | Buffalo Skinners, The Asch Recordings, Vol.4 [10] | Smithsonian Folkways |
| Title | Catalogue No. | Recording Date | Notes / Instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Hard Ain't It Hard" | LM-1 | April 16, 1944 | |
| "More Pretty Girls Than One" | LM-2 | ||
| "Golden Vanity" | MA 1 | April 19, 1944 | Recordings on this date w/ Cisco Houston |
| "When the Yanks Go Marching In" | MA 2 | ||
| So Long, It's Been Good to Know You | MA3 | ||
| Dollar Down Dollar a Week | MA4 | ||
| Hen Cackle | MA5 | ||
| I Ain't Got Nobody | MA6 | ||
| Ida Red | MA7 | ||
| Columbus Stockade | MA8 | ||
| Whistle Blowing | MA9 | ||
| John Henry | MA10 | ||
| Hammer Ring ("Union Hammer") | MA11 | ||
| Muleskinner Blues ("New Road Line") | MA12 | ||
| What are We Waiting On ("Bloody Fight") | LM-2 | ||
| More Pretty Girls Than One | MA13 | ||
| Ship in the Sky ("My Daddy") | MA14 | ||
| The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done | MA15 | ||
| Stewball | MA16 | ||
| Grand Coulee Dam | MA17 | ||
| Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") | MA18 | ||
| Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") | MA19 | ||
| Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") | MA20 | ||
| New York Town ("My Town") | MA21 | ||
| Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") | MA22 | ||
| Reckless Talk | MA23 | ||
| Reckless Talk | MA24 | ||
| Last Nickel Blues | MA25 | ||
| Guitar Rag | MA26 | ||
| Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet ("Don't Need No Man") | MA27 | ||
| (Those) Brown Eyes | MA28 | ||
| Chisholm Trail | MA29 | ||
| Sowing on the Mountains | MA30 | ||
| Sowing on the Mountains | MA31 | ||
| Right Now | MA32 | ||
| Train-Harmonica | MA33 | ||
| Sally Don't You Grieve | MA34 | ||
| Take a Wiff on Me | MA35 | ||
| Philadelphia Lawyer | MA36 | ||
| Kissing On ("Gave Her Kisses") | MA37 | ||
| Little Darling | MA38 | ||
| Baltimore to Washington ("Troubles Too") | MA39 | ||
| Poor Boy | MA40 | ||
| Poor Boy | MA41 | ||
| Ain't Nobody's Business | MA42 | ||
| Take Me Back Babe | MA43 | ||
| Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad ("Lonesome Road Blues") | MA44 | ||
| Bed on the Floor | MA45 | ||
| One Big Union ("Join It Yourself") | MA46 | ||
| Worried Man Blues | MA47 | ||
| What Did the Deep Say? | MA48 | ||
| Foggy Mountain Top | MA49 | ||
| 21 Years | MA50 | ||
| Roving Gambler ("Gambling Man") | MA51 | ||
| Cindy | MA52 | ||
| Into Season | MA53 | ||
| Red River Valley | MA55 | ||
| Dead or Alive ("Poor Lazarus") | MA56 | ||
| Pretty Boy | MA57 | ||
| John Hardy | MA58 | ||
| Bad Lee Brown ("Cocaine Blues") | MA59 | ||
| Whistle Blowing | MA66 | ||
| Billy The Kid | MA67 | ||
| Stagger Lee | MA68 | ||
| Down Yonder | 674 | April 20, 1944 | |
| Guitar Blues | 675 | ||
| Harmonica Breakdown | 676 | ||
| Fox Chase | 677 | ||
| Train | 678 | ||
| Lost John | 679 | ||
| Pretty Baby | 680 | ||
| Old Dog a Bone | 681 | ||
| Turkey in the Straw | 687 | ||
| Give Me That Old Time Religion | 688 | ||
| Glory ("Walk and Talk with Jesus") | 689 | ||
| Hard Time Blues | 690 | ||
| Bus Blues | 691 | ||
| Devilish Mary | 692 | ||
| Cripple Creek | 693 | ||
| Sandy Land | 694 | ||
| Old Dan Tucker | 695 | April 24, 1944 | |
| Bile Them Cabbage Down | 696 | ||
| Old Joe Clark | 697 | ||
| Buffalo Girls | 698 | ||
| Rain Crow Bill | 699 | ||
| Skip to my Lou | 700 | ||
| Lonesome Train | 701, 702 | ||
| Blues, Harmonica Breakdown | 703, 704 | ||
| Harmonica Rag | 705,706 | ||
| Crawdad Hole | 707 | ||
| Bury Me Beneath the Willow | 708 | ||
| I Ride an Old Paint | 709 | ||
| Blue Eyes | 710 | ||
| Going Down the Road Feeling Bad ("Lonesome Road Blues") | 711 | ||
| Old Dog a Bone | 712 | ||
| Having Fun | 713 | ||
| Blues | 714 | ||
| Talking Fishing Blues | MA75 | April 25, 1944 | |
| Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") | MA76 | ||
| Union Burial Ground | MA77 | ||
| Jesse James | MA78 | ||
| Rangers Command | MA79 | ||
| Sinking of the Ruben James | MA80 | ||
| Put My Little Shoes Away | MA81 | ||
| Picture From Life's Other Side | MA82 | ||
| Will You Miss Me | MA83 | ||
| Bed on the Floor | MA84 | ||
| 900 Miles | MA85 | ||
| Sourwood Mountain | MA86 | ||
| Hoecake Baking | MA87 | ||
| Ezekiel Saw the Wheel | MA88 | ||
| Little Darling | MA89 | ||
| Lonesome Day | MA90 | ||
| Cumberland Gap | MA91 | ||
| Fiddling Piece | MA92 | ||
| Carry Me Back to Old Virginny | MA93 | ||
| Step Stone | MA94 | ||
| House of the Rising Sun | MA96 | ||
| Browns Ferry Blues | MA98 | ||
| What Would You Give in Exchange For Your Soul? | MA99 | ||
| When That Ship Went Down | MA99-1 | ||
| Dust Bowl | MA100 | ||
| Guitar Rag | MA101 | ||
| I Ain't Got Nobody | MA102 | ||
| Going Down This Road Feeling Bad ("Lonesome Road Blues") | MA103 | ||
| Polly Wolly Doodle | MA104 | ||
| Guitar Rag | 1230 | ||
| Blowin' Down This Old Dusty Road | 1231 | ||
| Hey Lolly Lolly | MA105 | ||
| Budded Roses | MA106 | ||
| House of the Rising Sun | MA107 | ||
| I Don't Feel at Home in the Bowery | MA108 | ||
| Hobo's Lullaby | MA109 | ||
| Froggy Went a Courtin' | MA110 | ||
| Bad Reputation | MA111 | ||
| Snow Deer | MA112 | ||
| Ladies Auxiliary | MA113 | ||
| This Land is Your Land | MA114 | ||
| Hang Knot ("Slip Knot") | MA115 | ||
| Breakdown | MA116 | ||
| Go Tell Aunt Rhody | MA117 | ||
| Union Going to Roll | MA118 | ||
| Who Broke the Lock on the Hen House Door | MA119 | ||
| What Did the Deep Sea Say | MA120 | ||
| Strawberry Roan | MA121-1 | ||
| When the Yanks Go Marching in | MA122-1 | ||
| Bed on the Floor | MA123-1 | ||
| We Shall Be Free | MA124-1 | ||
| Right Now | MA125-1 | ||
| Jackhammer John | MA126-1 | ||
| Woody | MA127-1,127-2 | ||
| Keep Your Skillit Good and Greasy | MA129-1 | ||
| Home | MA130-1 | ||
| Lost You | MA131 | ||
| Slip Knot ("Hang Knot") | MA134 | ||
| Jesus Christ | MA135 | ||
| Hobo Bill | MA136 | ||
| Little Black Train | MA137 | ||
| Cannon Ball | MA138 | ||
| Gypsy Davy | MA139 | ||
| Bile Them Cabbage Down | MA140 | ||
| Woody | MA1240 | May 8, 1944 | |
| Get Along Little Dogies | 860 | March 1, 1945 | |
| Waltz | 861,862 | ||
| Union Breakdown | 863 | ||
| Cackling Hen | 864 | ||
| Chishom Trail | 865 | ||
| Bed on Your Floor | 866 | ||
| Rye Whiskey | 867 | ||
| Old Joe Clark | 868 | March 23, 1945 | |
| Long Way to France | 869 | ||
| Woody Blues | 870 | ||
| Down Yonder | 871 | ||
| Gal I Left Behind | 872 | ||
| Mean Talking Blues | 900 | May 24, 1945 | |
| 1913 Massacre | 901 | ||
| Ludlow Massacre | 902 | ||
| Buffalo Skinners | 903 | ||
| Harriet Tubman | 904,905 |
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and composer who was one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as "This Land Is Your Land".
Gilbert Vandine "Cisco" Houston was an American folk singer and songwriter, who is closely associated with Woody Guthrie due to their extensive history of recording together.
Dust Bowl Ballads is an album by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. It was released by Victor Records, in 1940. All the songs on the album deal with the Dust Bowl and its effects on the country and its people. It is considered to be one of the first concept albums. It was Guthrie's first commercial recording and the most successful album of his career.
Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, donated the entire Folkways Records label to the Smithsonian. The donation was made on the condition that the Institution continue Asch's policy that each of the more than 2,000 albums of Folkways Records remain in print forever, regardless of sales. Since then, the label has expanded on Asch's vision of documenting the sounds of the world, adding six other record labels to the collection, as well as releasing over 300 new recordings. Some well-known artists have contributed to the Smithsonian Folkways collection, including Pete Seeger, Ella Jenkins, Woody Guthrie, and Lead Belly. Famous songs include "This Land Is Your Land", "Goodnight, Irene", and "Midnight Special". Due to the unique nature of its recordings, which include an extensive collection of traditional American music, children's music, and international music, Smithsonian Folkways has become an important collection to the musical community, especially to ethnomusicologists, who utilize the recordings of "people's music" from all over the world.
American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie's published recordings are culled from a series of recording sessions in the 1940s and 1950s. At the time they were recorded they were not set down for a particular album, so are found over several albums not necessarily in chronological order. The more detailed section on recording sessions lists the song by recording date.
"Ludlow Massacre" is a song by Woody Guthrie about the Ludlow Massacre, a labor conflict in Ludlow, Colorado, in 1914. A related song is the "1913 Massacre".
"1913 Massacre" is a topical ballad written by Woody Guthrie, and recorded and released in 1945 for Moses Asch's Folkways label. The song originally appeared on Struggle, an album of labor songs. It was re-released in 1998 on Hard Travelin', The Asch Recordings, Vol.3 and other albums. The song is about the death of striking copper miners and their families in Calumet, Michigan, on Christmas Eve, 1913, in what is commonly known as the Italian Hall disaster.
The Union Boys was an American folk music group, formed impromptu in 1944, to record several songs on an album called Songs for Victory: Music for Political Action. Its "all-star leftist" members were Josh White, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, Tom Glazer.
Jack Elliott Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie is an album by American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott, released in September 1960. It consists of songs written or well known as performed by Woody Guthrie.
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.
Moses Asch was an American recording engineer and record executive. He founded Asch Records, which then changed its name to Folkways Records when the label transitioned from 78 RPM recordings to LP records. Asch ran the Folkways label from 1948 until his death in 1986. Folkways was very influential in bringing folk music into the American cultural mainstream. Some of America's greatest folk songs were originally recorded for Asch, including "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie and "Goodnight Irene" by Lead Belly. Asch sold many commercial recordings to Verve Records; after his death, Asch's archive of ethnic recordings was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, and released as Smithsonian Folkways Records.
Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collectionis a 150-page large-format book with three CDs containing 57 tracks, including Woody Guthrie's most important recordings such as the complete version of "This Land Is Your Land," "Pretty Boy Floyd," "I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore," and "Riding in My Car." The set also contains 21 previously unreleased performances and six never-before-heard original songs, including Woody's first known—and recently discovered—recordings. It is an in-depth commemorative collection of songs, photos and essays released by Smithsonian Folkways in June 2012.
Folkways: The Original Vision was released in 1989 and is the first album created by Folkways Records under new acquisition by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage following the death of the record label's founder, Moses Asch. Funds were raised for the acquisition of the label to be established as a non-profit entity in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution by the collaborative recording A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and U2. Folkways: The Original Vision was digitally remastered and re-released in 2005 by Folkways Records.
Struggle is an album released by Folkways Records as a vinyl LP in 1976 and as a CD in 1990. It contains recordings by folk artist Woody Guthrie, accompanied on some of the tracks by Cisco Houston and Sonny Terry. Songs on this album are commonly referred to as protest music, songs that are associated with a movement for social change.
My Dusty Road is a 4 CD box set of Woody Guthrie music containing 54 tracks and a book. It is a collection of the newly discovered Stinson master discs. It was released by Rounder Records in 2009.
Stinson Records was an American record label formed by Herbert Harris and Irving Prosky in 1939, initially to market, in the US, recordings made in the Soviet Union. Between the 1940s and 1960s, it mainly issued recordings of American folk and blues musicians, including Woody Guthrie and Josh White.
Jeff Place is the Grammy Award-winning writer and producer and a curator and senior archivist with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He has won three Grammy Awards and six Indie Awards.
Leadbelly Sings Folk Songs is a remastered compilation album of American folk songs sung by legend Leadbelly accompanied by Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, and Sonny Terry, originally recorded by Moses Asch in the 1940s and re-released in 1989 by Folkways Records.
Play Parties in Song and Dance is an album by Lead Belly recorded in 1941 and released a few months later by Asch Recordings.
Midnight Special is an album by Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, and Cisco Houston, recorded in 1946 and released as an album in 1947.
