Nearly 60 years after
Woody Guthrie
recorded most of his best work comes a series that finally does it total justice. The music all issues from the master tapes of
Folkways Records
founder
Moses Asch
, for whom
Guthrie
made his most important recordings. Sound quality is uniformly pristine, the liner notes are extensive and exceptional, and the gritty, direct, idiosyncratic performances leave no doubt why
is considered a giant of
American folk
. This second in a series of four CDs focuses on 25 examples of
's interpretive work -- classic
folk
and
country
songs, most of which he learned on the road in Oklahoma, Texas, and California. The uninitiated should start with volume one, which contains mostly original compositions, but the present set proves that
was almost as interesting a performer as he was a writer. And he had great taste in material. Among the many highlights, some of which feature accompaniment by
Cisco Houston
,
Sonny Terry
, and
Pete Seeger
, are
Jimmie Rodgers
'
"Muleskinner Blues"
traditional
numbers like
"Stackolee,"
"Danville Girl,"
A.P. Carter
's
"Worried Man Blues."
~ Jeff Burger