Woody Guthrie - Struggle album appreciation thread

This document of Guthrie's dedication to working class Americans, recorded in the '40s with Cisco Houston and Sonny Terry, contains gritty classics like 1913 Massacre and Pretty Boy Floyd. A superbly remastered and annotated treasure which includes lyrics. "Raw, gut wrenching protest songs of toil, turmoil and the American worker. His charismatic style gets back to the roots of folk and the voice of the people." — The Patriot Ledger

Struggle is an album released by Folkways Records as a vinyl LP (catalogue no. FA 2485) in 1976 and as a CD in 1990. It contains recordings by folk artist Woody Guthrie, accompanied on some of the tracks by Cisco Houston and Sonny Terry. Songs on this album are commonly referred to as protest music, songs that are associated with a movement for social change.

The 1976 LP contains a 12-page booklet containing the complete lyrics of each song and detailed stories about many of them. In the boolklet, Moses Asch, then the director of Folkways Records, wrote the following as a general introduction: "This album came about this way: It was originally called 'STRUGGLE: DOCUMENTARY #1' and I issued it in 1946 on ASCH RECORDS. I had recorded the 6 songs, Pretty Boy Floyd, Buffalo Skinners, Union Burying Ground, Lost John, Ludlow Massacre, and The 1913 Massacre, on Woody's insistence that there should be a series of records depicting the struggle of working people in bringing to light their fight for a place in the America that they envisioned. ... The other songs are from my recordings of Woody during the many years that he was associated with me in ASCH, DISC, and FOLKWAYS RECORDS."

The album is dedicated to Marjorie Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

1. Struggle Blues
2. A Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week
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

Struggle - Smithsonian Folkways

This album is protest music at its finest and you can either buy this album on CD to this very day although much of this material is also on the Asch Recordings series this is an early example of a concept album.

 

This is another early example of the concept album, BTW and as a historical document and a classic folk album this is required listening.

 

Great album. But I prefer Guthrie’s so-called Columbia River songs commissioned by, and recorded for, the Bonneville Power Administration, which, when pulled together, would also qualify as a concept album. Sadly, no good-quality tapes or discs exist of many of the Columbia River songs; what we are left with, in some cases, are barely listenable transfers of landmark recordings like “Roll On, Columbia, Roll On.” I keep hoping someone will find a trove of mint condition discs of all these songs.

 

I agree with you on the Columbia River stuff being great. Too bad that the surviving tapes and discs are in poor shape though. Still, for listenable Guthrie for most people, the RCA Dust Bowl Ballads and the Asch stuff are essential, Struggle included. 1913 Massacre is one of the most powerful Christmas songs ever written and recorded.

 

From this thread from last year
Woody Guthrie Recordings*

 

I’ll also say the “Library of Congress” recordings are great, too, particularly since the sound quality is good and Woody talks about his life and the individual songs between each performance.

 

Thanks for drawing attention to Woody Guthrie and STRUGGLE. Every performance on it generates its own heat, as they say. It may be the definitive protest album and in influential one.

 

You're welcome. The link to order it from Smithsonian Folkways is in the opening post for those who haven't heard it. One can download it (MP3 or FLAC) or order it on physical CD.

 

Even if one has the Asch Recordings boxed set, Struggle is an essential album.

 

Of course. Definitely essential. I used to have Struggle on vinyl, now I have it on CD. But all of Woody Guthrie is essential so far as I'm concerned. I've been listening to him since the 1970s. Recently my enthusiasm has been rekindled.

 

Struggle will be reissued on vinyl: Struggle - Smithsonian Folkways

 

I got my new reissue of Woody Guthrie's Struggle on vinyl and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings reproduced the classic Folkways aesthetic with their pressings, packaging, liner note booklets, etc. perfectly. Great reissue.

 

has the audio quality improved or is it identical?

 

Identical to the digital issue. Instead of seeking out a 1976 vinyl pressing, buy a new copy or buy a 1990 pressing of it.

 

There is no digital download code for those that use these coupons inserted in many new LPs, but for those that want digital downloads, Smithsonian Folkways does sell the downloads on their site and you can choose MP3 or FLAC.

 

Happy Birthday Woody!

 

As a matter of fact, I just played 1913 Massacre on the radio today.