Dust Bowl Ballads [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

The scale of the DUSTBOWL BALLADS is breathtaking, and Guthrie takes a wide sweep over a broad canvas of social issues and mostly social wrongs of the 1930s. As with John Dos Passos' fantastic novel sequence 'USA' that deals with the 1900-20s, and of course THAT Steinbeck novel, here we have all the problems of America: division, poverty, dispossession, under-class, climatic adversity, failing crops, famine, vigilantes, being on the wrong side of the law for no right reason, unlistening and uncaring politicians. The album is more like a book in some ways. Whereas many of the protest songs of the 'sixties seem so dated now, Guthrie of the 'thirties sounds so fresh (and this quality Dylan also fortunately took). For example, 'Do Re Mi' is timelessly apt for any age.

Musically, the delight of the album is Guthrie's guitar playing. I'd hitherto assumed that it would all be just a bit of strumming over simple open chords, but he actually demonstrates some pretty nimble picking on some songs, such as 'Talking Dust Bowl Blues', 'Blowin' Down This Road', and 'Dust Pneumonia Blues'. Then there is the harmonica, which he uses to great effect (which as mentioned, Dylan also adopted). Along with the fiddle and banjo, the guitar and harmonica are the real backbone of American twentieth-century music; and let's face it, only Americans can make this kind of music so well, partly because of the themes that the songs describe, and the sense of wide-open space and horizons of such a huge country....

Guthrie also created an album of songs independent of himself; I mean that, the listener doesn't need to read details of Guthrie's life to 'improve' the album, in the same way that many people look retrospectively (and often wrongly) at the songs of an artist who had died before their time (Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, etc.). DUSTBOWL BALLADS stands up by itself.

One final charm of this album, is Guthrie's voice. It does sound a bit thin, but that only adds to the vulnerability of the songs' themes of the plight of the people. He also has a rather charming inflexion, and in 'Talking Dust Bowl Blues' where he does talk, there is a good use of dialect and 'burr' and he even throws in a few laughs when talking about "these here polly-ticians". I reckon that this album is essentially a first-hand historical source and the student of 1930s American history will find a lot in this album.

Really, there is nothing bad to say about this album - only praise to be heaped on it. Don't take my word though - Go buy it! Read more ›

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. Read more ›