My Dusty Road

My Dusty Road is a 4 CD box set of Woody Guthrie music containing 54 tracks and a book.[1] It is a collection of the newly discovered Stinson master discs. It was released by Rounder Records in 2009.

My Dusty Road
Compilation album by
Woody Guthrie
Released2009
Recorded1944
GenreFolk/Americana
LabelRounder Records
ProducerMoses Asch and Herbert Harris for Stinson Records, reissue producers: Scott Billington, Michael Creamer, and Bill Nowlin

Discovering the Stinson Masters

According to the album liner notes by Ed Cray and Bill Nowlin, the master discs were housed in the basement of the Brooklyn apartment of Lucia Sutera.

In June 2003, Boston music manager Micheal Creamer was informed by Jim Farrow that he had made contact with Mrs. Sutera, who had inherited a collection of recording masters from her friend Irene Harris.

Irene Harris died of a heart attack in 1999; she was the wife of Robert Harris, the son of the founder of Stinson records, Herbert Harris. Harris had founded Stinson records in 1939 and during the 1940s, he had been in partnership with Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records in New York City. During World War Two, Stinson had helped Asch to procure shellac, the raw material for manufacturing 78 rpm records which was in short supply due to war-time restrictions.[2][3]

Ultimately, the recordings of artists like Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and The Almanac Singers were released under three different labels: Asch, Stinson and Disc.

When Moses Asch went bankrupt in 1947 with the Disc label some of the master discs fell to Harris as part of the bankruptcy settlement.[4]

In the years later Asch released the recordings of his artists under the Label Folkways. He also reissued several of the older recordings on his new label. But he could not use the Master discs which were released here for the first time.[5]

Creating the Woody Guthrie recordings

The recordings represented in these Box were made in April and May 1944 in New York City. They were cut partly on aluminum discs or glass masters. The masters were never released on any Folkways or Smithsonian Folkways album. They have clearer sound than older compilations of Guthrie's recordings of that time.

The Box consists of 4 CDs:

  1. Woody's "Greatest" Hits
  2. Woody's Roots
  3. Woody the Agitator
  4. Woody, Cisco, and Sonny Jam the Blues, Hollers, and Dances

Track lists
Track Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument Time
Woody's "Greatest" Hits
01. This Land Is Your Land Master Ma 114 1944-04 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:47
02. Going Down The Road (I Ain't Gonna Be Treated This Way) Master Ma 711 April 24, 1944 Woody Guthrie mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:59
03. Talking Sailor Master Ma 20 April 25, 1944 Woody Guthrie guitar 3:09
04. Philadelphia Lawyer Master Ma 36 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie guitar 2:35
05. Hard Travelin' Master Ma 689 Woody Guthrie mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:41
06. Jesus Christ Master Ma 135 1944-04 Woody Guthrie vocal and guitar 2:44
07. The Sinking of the Reuben James Master Ma 80 Woody Guthrie vocal and guitar 3:28
08. Pretty Boy Floyd Master Ma 57 Woody Guthrie vocal and guitar 3:09
09. Grand Coulee Dam Master Ma 17 Woody Guthrie vocal and guitar 2:12
10. Nine Hundred Miles Master Ma 702 April 24. 1944 Woody Guthrie mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:54
11. Going Down The Road (I Ain't Gonna Be Treated This Way) Master Ma 44 Woody Guthrie guitar, Cisco Houston guitar 3:00
12. My Daddy (Flies a Ship in the Sky) Master Ma 14 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie guitar 2:36
13. Bad Reputation Master Ma 111 Woody Guthrie vocal and guitar 2:50
Woody's Roots
01. Poor Boy Master Ma 50 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:29
02. Worried Man Blues Master Ma 47 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 3:04
03. A Picture from Life's Other Side Master Ma 82 Woody Guthrie vocals and mandolin, Cisco Houston Guitar and harmony vocal 3:08
04. The Buffalo Skinners Master 902 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 3:23
05. Hard, Ain't it Hard Master LM 1 April 16, 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals and mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar 2:43
06. Stewball Master Ma 16 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 3:30
07. Stackolee Master Ma 68 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 3:04
08. Gypsy Davy Master Ma 139 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:52
09. Little Darling Pal of Mine Master Ma 38 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar, Cisco Houston guitar 2:57
10. What did the Deep Sea say? Master Ma 48 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals and mandolin, Cisco Houston Guitar and harmony vocal 3:02
11. Chisholm Trail Master Ma 29 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals, Cisco Houston Guitar 2:39
12. Put My Little Shoes Away Master Ma 81 April 24, 1944 Woody Guthrie mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:52
13. Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone Master Ma 83 Woody Guthrie mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar 2:39
14. John Henry Master Ma 10 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie mandolin and vocals, Cisco Houston guitar and vocals 2:39
Woody The Agitator
01. I'm Gonna Join That One Big Union (you Gotta Go Down and Join the Union) Master Ma 9 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:32
02. Hangknot, Slipknot Master Ma 115 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:35
03. Gonna Roll the Union On Master Ma 118 April 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:40
04. Ludlow Massacre Master 902 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:26
05. Sally Don't You Grieve Master Ma 34 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 3:24
06. and 07. The Ballad of Harriet Tubman, Part 1 + 2 Master 905 / Master 904 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 3:12
08. Tear The Fascists Down Master Ma 13 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:09
09. Yanks Go Marching In Master Ma 2 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie vocals and Mandolin, Cicso Houston guitar and harmony vocals 2:45
10. You Can Hear My Whistle Blow Master Ma 35 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:26
11. Union Burying Ground Master Ma 77 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 3:08
12. You Gotta Go Down and Join the Union Master Ma 46 Woody Guthrie vocals and guitar 2:42
Woody, Cisco, And Sonny Jam The Blues, Hollers, And Dances
01. Train Breakdown Master Ma 103 Woody Guthrie guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:34
02. Do You Ever Think Of Me? (aka At My Window) Master Ma 89 Woody Guthrie guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals 3:08
03. Guitar Rag Master Ma 101 Woody Guthrie guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:22
04. Square Dance Medley Master 1225 Woody Guthrie mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 3:53
05. Guitar Breakdown Master Ma 25 Woody Guthrie guitar, Cisco Houston guitar 2:23
06. Raincrow Bill Master 699 Woody Guthrie guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:39
07. Ain't Nobody's Business Master Ma 42 April 19, 1944 Woody Guthrie mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:45
08. Goodbye to My Stepstone Master MA 94 April 25, 1944 Woody Guthrie Vocals and Mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:55
09. Ezekiel Saw the Wheel Master Ma 88 Woody Guthrie Vocals and Mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:45
10. Bile Them Cabbage Down Master Ma 140 Woody Guthrie Vocals and Fiddle, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:49
11. Danville Girl Master Ma 1226 Woody Guthrie Vocals and guitar, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals 2:45
12. Guitar Blues Master 675 April 20, 1944 Woody Guthrie guitar, Cisco Houston guitar 2:58
13. Brown's Ferry Blues Master Ma 98 April 25, 1944 Woody Guthrie Vocals and mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals, Sonny Terry harmonica 2:48
14. More Pretty Gals than One Master LA-2 April 16, 1944 Woody Guthrie Vocals and mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals 2:19
15. Sonny's Flight Master Ma 705 Woody Guthrie Vocals and mandolin, Cisco Houston guitar and harmony vocals 2:57

Footnotes
  1. "The Woody Guthrie Store: My Dusty Road – CD Box set". Woodyguthrie.org. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  2. Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Band 1, edited by Frank Hoffman, 2004, ISBN 0-203-48427-4
  3. Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, Jeff Place, p.49, 2015
  4. "Re: [ARSCLIST] J Folksay records label vs. Stinson records". Cool.conservation-us.org. 2006-08-11. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  5. "Smithsonian Folkways - A Sound Legacy : 20 Years of Folkways Records at the Smithsonian". Folkways.si.edu. 1987-02-28. Retrieved 2015-04-07.

References
  • Place, Jeff (2015). Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection. Washington DC: Smithsonian Folkways recordings. ISBN 978-0-9704942-5-2.
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