History Music / DustBowlBallads

# "Pretty Boy Floyd" [[note]] Originally left off of the recording due to time restrictions, but included when LPs could add more songs on one side [[/note]]

# "Dust Bowl Blues" [[note]] Originally left of the recording due to time restrictions, but included when LPs could add more songs on one side [[/note]]

* FilkSong: "Tom Joad, Part 1" and "Tom Joad, Part 2" basically tell the plot of ''Literature/TheGrapesOfWrath''.

"Dust Bowl Ballads" remains to this day Guthrie's best-selling album and was a major inspiration to many FolkMusic artists and socially conscious singer-song writers. [[BigNameFan Notable admirers]] include Music/BobDylan, Pete Seeger and Music/BruceSpringsteen.

Because of the fact that the entire album was built around one major theme and all of the songs follow a strong narrative it is widely considered one of the oldest examples of a ConceptAlbum, if not the oldest.[[note]]Music historians critics argue about this, though, with many considering it to be a sort of proto-concept album, as its unifying theme is revealed in a more or less continuous narrative without the kind of musical and emotional unity that characterizes the form today. Such critics tend to name Music/FrankSinatra's 1955 ''Music/InTheWeeSmallHoursOfTheMorning'' as the first "true" concept album, while giving due respect to Guthrie's pioneering works. It's basically a question of whether you regard "concept album" as meaning "any album of music with a theme" or "an album of music where the music evokes the theme as much as the words."[[/note]] It could also be considered a very early example of a DistinctDoubleAlbum, as it was originally released as two collections of three 78 rpm discs, although every reissue since the Folkways LP release in 1964 had easily fit every song onto one disc.

Because of the fact that the entire album was built around one major theme and all of the songs follow a strong narrative it is widely considered one of the oldest examples of a ConceptAlbum, if not the oldest.[[note]]Music historians critics argue about this, though, with many considering it to be a sort of proto-concept album, as its unifying theme is revealed in a more or less continuous narrative without the kind of musical and emotional unity that characterizes the form today. Such critics tend to name Music/FrankSinatra's 1955 ''Music/InTheWeeSmallHoursOfTheMorning'' as the first "true" concept album, while giving due respect to Guthrie's pioneering works.[[/note]] It could also be considered a very early example of a DistinctDoubleAlbum, as it was originally released as two collections of three 78 rpm discs, although every reissue since the Folkways LP release in 1964 had easily fit every song onto one disc.

Because of the fact that the entire album was built around one major theme and all of the songs follow a strong narrative it is widely considered one of the oldest examples of a ConceptAlbum, if not the oldest. It could also be considered a very early example of a DistinctDoubleAlbum, as it was originally released as two collections of three 78 rpm discs, although every reissue since the Folkways LP release in 1964 had easily fit every song onto one disc.

Because of the fact that the entire album was built around one major theme and all of the songs follow a strong narrative it is widely considered one of the oldest examples of a ConceptAlbum, if not the oldest. Though it must be noted that "Dust Bowl Ballads" was originally released as two three-disc collections of 78 rpm records, due to LP length limits of the time.

"Dust Bowl Ballads" remains to this day Guthrie's best-selling album and was a major inspiration to many FolkMusic artists and socially conscious singer-song writers. [[BigNameFan Admirers]] are Music/BobDylan, Pete Seeger and Music/BruceSpringsteen.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''A dust storm hit, an' it hit like thunder. It dusted us over, an' it covered us under. Blocked out the traffic an' blocked out the sun. Straight for home all the people did run.'']]

-> ''[[HarshVocals Harsh voiced]] and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings. But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of the people to endure and fight against oppression. I think we call this the American spirit.''

-> '''Creator/JohnSteinbeck''', "Hard Hitting Songs For Hard-Hit People", about "Dust Bowl Ballads".

'''Dust Bowl Ballads''' is a 1940 album by Music/WoodyGuthrie which, because it was his first commercial recording, can be called his debut album. The tracks are semi-autobiographical, and a musical document about the time he spent in Oklahoma during TheGreatDepression, when local farmers and migrant workers were not only hit hard by economic recession, but also by severe dust storms. Guthrie describes their hardships, making the album not only a musical masterpiece but also an UnintentionalPeriodPiece of historical value.

"Dust Bowl Ballads" remains to this day Guthrie's best-selling album and was a major inspiration to many FolkMusic artists and socially conscious singer-song writers. [[BigNameFan Admirers]] are Music/BobDylan, Music/PeteSeeger and Music/BruceSpringsteen.

'''Tracklist'''

--> ''I'm a-goin' where the dust storms never blow,''
--> ''I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow,''
--> ''I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow, blow, blow,''
--> ''An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.''
--> '' (...) I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay,''
--> ''I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay,''
--> ''I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay, Lord, Lord,''
--> ''An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way.''

--> ''That old wind might blow this world down''
--> ''But it can't blow me down''
--> ''It can't kill me.''

# "Pretty Boy Floyd" [[note]] Originally left of the recording due to time restrictions, but included when LPs could add more songs on one side [[/note]]