Struggle

by Woody Guthrie

Overview

This album was originally released by Moses Asch, founder of the Folkways label, on Asch Records in 1941 as Struggle: Documentary No. 1. It was released by him in 1976 to commemorate the bicentennial of the American Revolution with a special series of liner notes by Asch explaining the importance of Woody Guthrie's history of the working class through song. Both Guthrie's songs and the liner notes are stuff of supreme cultural importance. In the notes, Asch lays out a theory that the American Revolution has not yet been completed and there is a need for a "continuing struggle for human rights and equality." As a collection of songs, this is surely one of the best Guthrie collections, especially once it's known how important it was to him personally. In many ways, it seems as if this album was the fulfillment of a very personal vision, which starts with the songs but is only realized in their collectivity. Included here are such excellent songs as the unsettling "Hang Knot," the elliptic "Union Burying Ground," and the finely spun "Pretty Boy Floyd." These songs define Guthrie at his best, never didactic in tone but supreme in import. The album also features the Cisco Houston (Guthrie's sometime tramping companion) number "Get Along Little Doggies," as well as his vocal accompaniment on several tracks. Sonny Terry guests on "Lost John," lending his harmonica to Guthrie's tale of a chain gang escapee. Both as a historical artifact and as an amazing Guthrie album, this is required listening. ~ Brian Whitener

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/1992
Label:	SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS
UPC:	0093074002520

Tracks

1. Struggle Blues
2. A Dollar Down
3. Get Along Little Doggies
4. Hang Knot
5. Waiting at the Gate
6. The Dying Miner
7. Union Burying Ground
8. Lost John
9. Buffalo Skinners
10. Pretty Boy Floyd
11. Ludlow Massacre
12. 1913 Massacre

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Woody Guthrie   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica
Sonny Terry   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Harmonica
Cisco Houston   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee   Harmonica

Technical Credits

Moses Asch   Audio Engineer,Engineer,Liner Notes
James F. Ryan   Composer
Earl Robinson   Composer
Ward L. Chandler   Composer
Richard A. Whiting   Composer
Woody Guthrie   Composer
Anthony Seeger   Editing,Liner Notes
Mickey Hart   Digital Remastering
Matt Walters   Reissue Production Coordination
Ronald Clyne   Cover Design
Cisco Houston   Performer,Composer
Alfred Hayes   Composer
Sonny Terry   Performer