Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection

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Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection
Woody guthrie centennial collection.jpg
Compilation album by
ReleasedJuly 10, 2012 (2012-07-10)
Recorded1937–1951
Genre
Length199:08
Label Smithsonian Folkways
Producer Jeff Place, Robert Santelli

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.

Contents

Compilation and release

Robert Santelli, CEO of the Grammy Museum, contacted Jeff Place in October 2010 and suggested they compile a Guthrie box set to go along with the celebration of Guthrie's 100th birthday. Santelli and Place looked for the most important and representative of Guthrie's compositions. [1] They also included the earliest known recordings of Guthrie (made in 1939), which were discovered by researcher Peter LaChapelle in 1999. [2]

Design

The design for Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection was created by Visual Dialogue, a graphic design company from Boston, Massachusetts. The firm based the collection's design on the plain typography and simple design of classic Folkways Records albums. The box set consists of a 150-page hardcover textbook containing Guthrie essays, sketches, and photographs. Three pockets hold CDs in the last pages of the book. [3]

Reception

Woody at 100 currently holds a 92 rating from aggregate review site Metacritic. [4] Rolling Stone critic David Fricke wrote, "This sumptuous birthday celebration of America's greatest folk singer is really a present to us: two CDs of his greatest songs and recordings, mostly from the mid-1940s, and a disc of illuminating rarities." [5]

Rachel Maddux of Pitchfork wrote, "in the world of Woody at 100, everything about Guthrie's career seems fluid, boundaryless, as if considering him just as a great American musician and not also as a man of letters and a painter, too, has maybe been a huge mistake." [6]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 92/100
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Pitchfork (8.5/10) [8]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg

Track listing

Disc 1

  1. This Land Is Your Land (Alternate Version)
  2. Pastures of Plenty
  3. Riding in My Car (Car Song)
  4. The Grand Coulee Dam
  5. Talking Dust Bowl
  6. So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh (Dusty Old Dust)
  7. Ramblin' Round
  8. Philadelphia Lawyer
  9. Hard Travelin'
  10. Pretty Boy Floyd
  11. Hobo's Lullaby
  12. Talking Columbia
  13. The Sinking of the Reuben James
  14. Jesus Christ
  15. Gypsy Davy
  16. New York Town
  17. Going Down the Road (Feeling Bad)
  18. Hard, Ain't It Hard
  19. The Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done (The Great Historical Bum)
  20. This Land Is Your Land (Standard Version)
  21. Jarama Valley
  22. Why, Oh Why?
  23. I've Got to Know

Disc 2

  1. Better World A-Comin'
  2. When That Great Ship Went Down (The Great Ship)
  3. A Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week
  4. Talking Centralia
  5. 1913 Massacre
  6. Dirty Overalls
  7. My Daddy (Flies a Ship in the Sky)
  8. Worried Man Blues
  9. Hangknot, Slipknot
  10. Buffalo Skinners
  11. Howdi Do
  12. Jackhammer John
  13. The Ranger's Command
  14. So Long, It's Been Good to Know You (WWII Version)
  15. What Are We Waiting On?
  16. Lindbergh
  17. Ludlow Massacre
  18. Bad Lee Brown (Cocaine Blues)
  19. Two Good Men
  20. Farmer-Labor Train
  21. The Jolly Banker
  22. We Shall Be Free

Disc 3

  1. I Ain't Got No Home (In This World Anymore)
  2. Them Big City Ways
  3. Do Re Mi
  4. Skid Row Serenade
  5. Radio Program: The Ballad Gazette With Woody Guthrie [This Land Is Your Land; What Did the Deep Sea Say?; Blow Ye Winds; Trouble on the Waters; Blow the Man Down; Normandy Was Her Name; The Sinking of the Reuben James]
  6. BBC: Children's Hour July 7, 1944 [Intro – Wabash Cannonball; 900 Miles; Stagger Lee; Pretty Boy Floyd]
  7. People's Songs Hootenanny [Ladies Auxiliary; Weaver's Life]
  8. WNYC Radio Program: Folk Songs of America December 12, 1940 [John Hardy; Jesse James; Tom Joad]
  9. Reckless Talk
  10. All Work Together
  11. My Little Seed
  12. Goodnight Little Cathy

Credits

Awards

Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection received two 2013 GRAMMY nominations, winning in the category of Best Boxed Set or Limited Edition Package. [9] The box set also won Independent Music Awards for Best Compilation Album and Best Album Packaging [10] as well as an American Association of Independent Music Libby Award for Creative Packaging. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Guthrie</span> American singer-songwriter (1912–1967)

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".

<i>Anthology of American Folk Music</i> 1952 compilation album by various artists

Anthology of American Folk Music is a three-album compilation, released in 1952 by Folkways Records, of eighty-four recordings of American folk, blues and country music made and issued from 1926 to 1933 by a variety of performers. The album was compiled from the experimental film maker Harry Smith's own personal collection of 78 rpm records.

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<i>Dust Bowl Ballads</i> 1940 studio album by Woody Guthrie

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.

Elizabeth Ardis Mitchell is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She began her career performing with Lisa Loeb as the duo Liz and Lisa, then founded the indie rock band Ida in 1991, of which she continues to be a member. As a solo artist, she has been recording and performing music for children since 1998.

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Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion were a musical duo. Guthrie and Irion were married on October 16, 1999, and began performing together as an acoustic duo in late 2000, performing together until they divorced in the mid-2010s. Their music combined Irion's love of rock and blues with Guthrie's roots of folk and country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Guthrie discography</span>

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The Woody Guthrie Foundation, founded in 1972, is a non-profit organization which formerly served as administrator and caretaker of the Woody Guthrie Archives. The Foundation was originally based in Brooklyn, New York and directed by Woody Guthrie's daughter Nora Guthrie.

<i>Nursery Days</i> 1951 studio album by Woody Guthrie

Nursery Days, originally released as Songs to Grow on, Volume One: Nursery Days, is an album of a collection of children's songs by American Folk singer Woody Guthrie. It was released in 1951 by Folkways Records and later re-released in 1992 with four extra songs under the name Nursery Days by Smithsonian Folkways. Several songs in the collection are instructional, helping children learn to count. Others are songs of adoration written by Guthrie with his own children in mind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Guthrie</span> American record producer

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<i>The Asch Recordings</i> 1997 compilation album by Woody Guthrie

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<i>Folkways: A Vision Shared</i> 1988 compilation album by Various artists

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Boys</span> Musical artist

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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.

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"Riding in My Car" is a children's song by Woody Guthrie.

I'm a gonna let you blow the horn,
I'm a gonna let you blow the horn,
A oorah, a oorah, a oogah, oogah,
I'll take you riding in my car.

References

  1. Jeff Place, interview by Marc Steiner. No Depression. July 10, 2011. http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/interview-archivist-jeff-place-discusses-woody-at-100-smithsonian Archived 2013-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
  2. http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/smithsonian_folkways/SFW40200.pdf. Liner Notes to "Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection." Retrieved 7-25-2013.
  3. Weisstuch, Liza. "Fritz Klaetke has designs on a Grammy." January 30, 2013. https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2013/01/30/fritz-klaetke-has-designs-grammy/mkUzV3dFGjg0xlnoiu4erJ/story.html
  4. "Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial." http://www.metacritic.com/music/woody-at-100-the-woody-guthrie-centennial/woody-guthrie
  5. Fricke, David. "Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection." https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/woody-at-100-the-woody-guthrie-centennial-collection-20120731
  6. Maddux, Rachel. "Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection."July 18, 2012. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16812-woody-at-100-the-woody-guthrie-centennial-collection/
  7. Christopher, James (2013-07-22). "Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial – Woody at 100". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  8. Maddux, Rachel (2004-09-12). "Album Reviews: Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  9. Smithsonian Folkways – Awards. http://www.folkways.si.edu/about_us/awards_grammy.aspx Archived 2013-08-05 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 7/30/2013
  10. THE 12TH ANNUAL INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED. http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima/2013/12th-annual-independent-music-awards-winners-announced/. Retrieved 7-30-2013.
  11. "Glassnote, Dualtone, Alabama Shakes & The Lumineers Rule The Night at A2IM LIBBY Awards." http://a2im.org/tag/libera-awards/. Retrieved 7-30-2013.