Sharing the vision

Press, 10 February 1989, Page 23

Sharing the vision

VARIOUS ARTISTS “Folkways — A Vision Shared” (CBS, 460095 I). “A Vision Shared,” featuring a selection of songs recorded on the famous Folkways label by Woody Guthrie and Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly), has the services of the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Brian Wilson, and U2. However, it is not the superstars, but the songs which make it. Listening to songs such as “This Land Is Your Land,” “Do Re Mi,” “Goodnight, Irene,” and “Rock Island

Line,” makes a person realise that it was Guthrie and Leadbelly who wrote these songs, songs which are still considered golden oldie hits today. The album has some priceless moments on it. In particular, Bob Dylan singing “Pretty Boy Floyd” and sounding like he did before the Newport Jazz Festival of 1965 — just him, his guitar, and harmonica. John Mellencamp’s version of “Do Re Mi,” about the dustbowl migration to California, is haunting, as is the Depression song “East Texas

Red,” sung by Woody Guthrie’s son, Arlo. Another highlight on the LP is Taj Mahal singing Leadbelly’s “The Bourgeois Blues,” about white Washington D.C., and it is surprising to find Little Richard playing “Rock Island Line” without camping it up. The rural blues also gets attention on “Gray Goose,” with Sweet Honey in the Rock using Leadbelly’s call and response gospel tradition. “A Vision Shared” is exactly that. The album ends on “This Land Is

Your Land,” featuring among the singers, Pete Seeger, a United States folk artist that has strongly followed Woody Guthrie’s stand. It’s no coincidence that this is the last track. The inside sleeve has a small photo of Guthrie with the notice on his guitar: “This machine fights fascists.” It proves that you don’t have to spend SUS 37 million, stand in front of giant flags, and take the pledge of allegiance every day to have credibility in what is now Bush country. NEVIN TOPP