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.
The list here is organized by recording session and is mostly sourced from the discography put together by Dr. Guy Lodgson in 1990-1991 at the Smithsonian Institution as it appears in the book "Hard Travelin' The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie".[24]
Note: A blank cell below a date indicate that the date is repeated on that row.
1940, Library Of Congress, Washington, D.C., sessions with Alan Lomax
* These recording were released on the record Talking Dust Bowl on Folkways Records in 1950 by Moe Asch, but without RCA's licences.
All these recordings were made by RCA Records in 1940 and released on the albums Dust Bowl Ballads vol 1 and 2. These records have been subsequently reissued in 1964 and 1977.[24]
1941, Bonneville Power Administration, The Columbia River Songs
The masters of this session were lost, but a collection of 6 discs was collected from BPA employee copies from the time. Most were eventually released on Rounder Records Woody Guthrie, Columbia River Collection C1036 in 1987.[26] The 6 discs are housed in the National Archives, Washington D.C. The catalogue numbers here relate to National Archive listings.
Title
Catalogue No.
Recording Date
Notes / Instrument
Pastures of Plenty
305.01
May 1941
Vocals / Guitar
The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done
305.01
Vocals / Guitar
Roll Columbia, Roll
305.01
Vocals / Guitar
Washington Talkin' Blues
305.02
Vocals / Guitar
The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done
305.02
Vocals / Guitar
Ramblin' Blues (Portland Town)
305.03
Vocals / Guitar
It Takes a Married Man to Sing A Worried Song
305.03
Vocals / Guitar
Song of the Grand Coulee Dam ("Way Up in That Northwest")
Unissued LOC Recordings: Home Disc Recordings & 1941 Almanac Singers
Series of Discs for the Library of Congress, recorded by the Almanac Singers, only those written by or featuring Woody Guthrie are included here. Notes are Woody's parts.
Title
Catalogue No.
Recording Date
Notes / Instrument
Round and Round Hitler's Grave
6100-B
February 1942
Guitar
Hulaballobalay
6101-A
Guitar
Taking it Easy
6101-B
Guitar
Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done
6102-B
Guitar / Vocals
High Cost of Living
6103-A
Guitar
Sinking of the Ruben James
6103-B
Guitar
Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad
6105-A
Guitar
Pretty Boy Floyd
4793-A
August 1941
Vocals
Keynote Recordings
Title
Catalogue No.
Recording Date
Notes / Instrument
Song for Bridges
QB 1548
June 1941
Guitar / Vocals
* Babe O' Mine
QB 1549
Guitar / Vocals
* Boomtown Bill
x-5000
June 1942
* Keep That Oil a Rollin'
QB 1548
June 1942
Vocals
* Songs that have been released on Songs for Political Action, Bear Family Records BCD 15270
The Martins and the Coys: A Contemporary Folk Tale
Recorded by Decca Records in March 1944, and written by Elizabeth Lomax. Alan Lomax shopped this around but no stations were interested, eventually it was sold the BBC.
The recordings included Woody as well as several members of the Almanac singers.
Possibly Guthrie's most famous recordings, conducted over a series of days by Moses "Moe" Asch in 1944 and 1945. They were issued on a variety of labels under Asch, Asch-Stinson, Asch-Signature-Stinson, Disc, Folkways and Verve/Folkways.
Many recordings have unknown session dates. 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 song were recorded sometime in early 1947 and the Sacco and Vanzetti ballads were recorded January 1947.
1947 Songs to Grow On
The recording dates for the Songs to Grow On series of children's song are mostly lost due to the record keeping of Moe Asch, but the tracks are included here as they are some of Guthrie's most well known tracks. In this case the Date is the release date of the original 78 records.
Title
Catalogue No.
Recording Date
Notes / Instrument
Songs to Grow On: Nursery Days issued 1947,1950,1951
On September 6, 2007, Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc., in cooperation with the Woody Guthrie Foundation released The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949, accompanied by a 72-page book describing the performance and the project. Paul Braverman, a student at Rutgers University in 1949, made the recordings himself using a small wire recorder at a Guthrie concert in Newark, New Jersey.[10] On February 10, 2008, the release was the recipient of a Grammy Award in the category Best Historical Album.[11]
^ abSanteli, Davidson, Robert and Emily (1999). "Hard Travelin' The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie". Wesleyan, Hannover and London. pp. 247, 181–243. ISBN0-8195-6391-9.
