Ballads from the Dust Bowl is an album from Woody Guthrie, the Okemah, Oklahoma singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose work songs, labor songs, and Depression-era narratives became foundational texts of the American folk tradition. Guthrie sings and plays guitar throughout. The recordings document the Oklahoma and Southwestern experience that Guthrie transformed into lasting compositions — addressing the Dust Bowl migrations, the hardship of itinerant workers, and the landscape of the Great Plains with a documentary directness that allied observation with advocacy. Guthrie's performances are free of studio ornament, and Ballads from the Dust Bowl stands as a primary document of his approach to storytelling: a populist voice that sought clarity above craft, and connection to listener experience above artistic distance.
Tracklist
- 1 This Land is Your Land alt version 2:44
- 2 Pastures of Plenty alt version 2:28
- 3 Riding in My Car (Car Song) 1:52
- 4 The Grand Coulee Dam 2:14
- 5 Talking Dust Bowl 1:54
- 6 So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh (Dusty Old Dust) 3:45
- 7 Ramblin' Round 2:17
- 8 Philadelphia Lawyer alt version 2:46
- 9 Hard Travelin' 2:34
- 10 Pretty Boy Floyd 3:03
- 11 Hobo's Lullaby 2:27
- 12 Talking Columbia 2:31
- 13 The Sinking of the Reuben James 3:02
- 14 Jesus Christ 2:41
- 15 Gypsy Davy 2:53
- 16 New York Town 2:39
- 17 Going down the Road (Feeling Bad) 3:00
- 18 Hard, Ain't It Hard 2:45
- 19 The Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done (The Great Historical Bum) 2:22
- 20 This Land Is Your Land - Standard Version 2:20
- 21 Jarama Valley 2:56
- 22 Why, Oh Why? 3:31
- 23 I've Got to Know 5:32
- 24 Better World A-Comin' 3:05
- 25 When That Great Ship Went Down (The Great Ship) 3:17
- 26 A Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week 1:35
- 27 Talking Centralia 3:24
- 28 1913 Massacre 3:35
- 29 Dirty Overalls 1:55
- 30 My Daddy (Flies a Ship in the Sky) 2:33
- 31 Worried Man Blues alt version 4:02
- 32 Hangknot, Slipknot 2:30
- 33 Buffalo Skinners alt version 5:15
- 34 Howdi Do 1:40
- 35 Jackhammer John 2:36
- 36 The Rangeru2019s Command 2:49
- 37 So Long, It's Been Good to Know You - WWII Version 2:45
- 38 What Are We Waiting On? 2:07
- 39 Lindbergh 3:10
- 40 Ludlow Massacre 3:28
- 41 Bad Lee Brown (Cocaine Blues) 2:14
- 42 Two Good Men 3:45
- 43 Farmer-Labor Train 2:49
- 44 The Jolly Banker 2:50
- 45 We Shall Be Free 3:01
- 46 I Ainu2019t Got No Home (In This World Anymore) 3:29
- 47 Them Big City Ways 2:30
- 48 Do Re Mi 3:37
- 49 Skid Row Serenade 3:04
- 50 Radio Program - The Ballad Gazette with Woody Guthrie: This Land Is Your Land / What Did the Deep See Say 4:00
