Search - Woody Guthrie :: Til We Out Number Em

THE WOODY RENAISSANCE CONTINUES

Michael D. Zungolo | Philadelphia, PA USA | 06/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As long as young folkies pound old guitars, Woody Guthrie will never die. The current Woody renaissance, more than thirty years after his death and better than half a century since his musical heyday, is among the richest yet, yielding two Billy Bragg/Wilco MERMAID AVENUE compliations, the monumental ASCH RECORDINGS, and now this.This is actually the second Carnegie Hall tribute concert to make it to CD. The first, in 1970, is also available on CD and features stirring performances by Arlo, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Country Joe McDonald, Richie Havens, Odetta, Tom Paxton and Woody contemporaries Jack Elliot, Earl Robinson and Pete Seeger, in addition to dramatic readings of Guthrie's prose by actors Will Geer, Robert Ryan and Peter Fonda. It is well worth seeking out.This set, 26 years later, makes an excellent sequel/companion piece to the original. Arlo, Ramblin' Jack and Country Joe are back for this one, along with Bruce Springsteen (doing an exuberant "Car Car"), The Indigo Girls and Ani DiFranco (Ani's "Pastures of Plenty" and the Amy/Emily/Ani "Ramblin' Round" offers some gorgeous harmonizing), the ubiquitous Mr. Bragg, Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum (!) and actor/filmmaker/second generation folkie Tim Robbins, last heard on Appleseed's Pete Seeger tribute (where's your CD, Tim?).Woody Guthrie was the Twentieth Century's Walt Whitman, a poet/philosopher/social commentator whose work will be remembered far into the next milennium. Last year the United States government finally acknowledged his contributions by putting him on a postage stamp. If they really wanted to do him justice, let them make "This Land is Your Land" the national anthem."

Good Songs, OK Performances

richlandwoman | Los Angeles | 01/08/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I found this a bit on the weak side. Only Ani DiFranco's "Do Re Me" is really distinctive, and most of these songs have been covered much better previously. For instance:"Riding in My Car" -- Bob Dylan; "Deportee" -- Springsteen (in 1981); "Ramblin' Round" -- Odetta; "Pretty Boy Floyd" -- Bob DylanAnd I wish this CD would have included Joe Ely or Jimmie Dale Gilmore, both of whom performed at the show and can be seen in the cover photo.As another reviewer noted, the '68/'70 "Tribute to Woody Guthrie" CD is far better, with excellent performances from Dylan, The Band, Ry Cooder, Arlo Guthrie, etc. Unfortunately, even that CD cuts out a couple of strong tracks that were on the 2-LP original (Richie Havens' "Vigilante Man" and Judy Collins' "So Long" were two of my favorites)."

Buy if you're a fan of any of the performers

P MARTIN | Hertfordshire, UK | 07/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a fan of Billy Bragg, Bruce Springsteen, Country Joe McDonald or of course Woody Guthrie then you must buy this album, and you probably don't need me to tell you that. I must also confess, that though I loved Pete Seeger as much as anybody, I don't really object to his omission from this compilation of highlights. (One of the reasons that I prefer the video version of "Folkways: A Vision Shared" is that the "Sweet Honey in the Rock/Various Artists" version of "This Land is your Land" is fresher and more surprising than the Seeger rendition, which appears on the CD.)Talking about surprising the revelation here is Ani Difranco. I really hated her contribution at first, because it was so unlike any other "Do Re Mi" I had ever heard. It did however grow on me, and now I think it's great.So some good old standards performed by some great artists who clearly are committed to performing brilliant versions of one of America's most wonderful singer-songwriters - that can't be all bad!I've withheld one star because of the inclusion of some banal commentary and in particular Craig Werner's dismal contribution."