Folkways: The Original Vision was released in 1988 as a complement to the
Columbia album
Folkways: A Vision Shared (which featured modern performers doing interpretations of
Leadbelly and
Woody Guthrie songs), which in turn was done to help provide funds for the Smithsonian Institution to incorporate the
Folkways Record Company into its archives.
Folkways: The Original Vision thus became the debut release on the new
Smithsonian Folkways record imprint. This expanded version adds six more tracks and greatly extends the liner notes, making what was an impressive introduction to
Guthrie and
Leadbelly an even more impressive one. Both of these men had a detailed knowledge of American
folk music, but what places them at the edge of modern
folk is how both took melodies and motifs from the past and recast them with new lyrics and arrangements, personalizing their songs to particular needs while still retaining the
folk lineage of the original tunes. The songs included here (all drawn from
Moses Asch's
Asch,
Disc, and
Folkways imprints) will be familiar to most Americans in one version or another, but there are some surprises, like
Leadbelly's
"4, 5, and 9," which has guitarists
Leadbelly and
Brownie McGhee and harmonica player
Sonny Terry join in a loose
blues jam with a
jazz rhythm section of
Pops Foster on bass and
Willie "The Lion" Smith on piano, and the set closer,
"We Shall Be Free," which features
Leadbelly and
Guthrie together, along with
Terry again and
Cisco Houston, improvising lyrics to a version of
Chris Bouchillon's
"Talking Blues," originally recorded in the 1920s. Other highlights include
Leadbelly's
"Gallis Pole" (a furious and dynamic version of
"The Maid Freed from the Gallows") and
Guthrie's
"Hobo's Lullaby" (which was actually written by
Goebel Reeves, the so-called "
Texas Drifter"). This expanded edition of
The Original Vision is a fine starting point to get to know the work of both of these men, whose ageless songs formed such a vital bridge between what was and what was becoming. ~ Steve Leggett
![Desire [Remastered]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0827969239322_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Desire [Remastered]")
