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Woody Guthrie - Some Folk |
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| | Perhaps the most revered of pre-Dylan American folk artists, Woody Guthrie’s name is synonymous with earthy, bluesy tales of everyday life. Some Folk is a four-disc, career-spanning collection featuring most of his finest work, recorded between 1940 and 1947, and it’s a simply stunning compilation.
Having influenced everyone from Dylan and Donavan to Billy Bragg and The Pogues, Guthrie’s importance to modern song writing is beyond debate. But what will be eye opening to many when listening to these four discs is the sheer volume of incredible songs that Guthrie wrote during his relatively short career. A life filled with a mentally unstable mother, cheating on his wife, left-wing singing groups and serving jail time for writing obscene letters provided much of the fuel for his lyrics, but aside from his own life Guthrie was always the champion of the underdog, as the lyrics to songs like ‘Chain Around My Leg’ and ‘Dirty Overalls’ attest.
Elsewhere, ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ was later made famous by The Animals while ‘Muleskinner Blues’ has been covered by country, blues, bluegrass and folk bands around the world, and provides the perfect example of just how far reaching Guthrie’s influence has been.
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