The Columbia River Collection

The Columbia River Collection
Studio album by Woody Guthrie
Released	1988
Recorded	1941
Genre	Folk
Label	Smithsonian Folkways
Producer	Moe Asch
Woody Guthrie chronology
Dust Bowl Ballads (1940) The Columbia River Collection (1941) The Asch Recordings (1944 & 1945)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

The Columbia River Collection, originally released as the Columbia River Ballads, is a compilation of songs folksinger Woody Guthrie wrote during his visit to the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington in 1941. Guthrie traveled to these states on the promise of a part narrating a documentary about the construction of public works dams and other projects in the Pacific Northwest. The documentary never came to fruition, but 17 of the 26 songs he wrote during this period were compiled and released as this collection, including some of his most famous songs, such as "Roll on Columbia", "Grand Coulee Dam", "Hard Travelin’," and "Pastures of Plenty." ^[2]

"I pulled my shoes on and walked out of every one of these Pacific Northwest Mountain towns drawing pictures in my mind and listening to poems and songs and words faster to come and dance in my ears than I could ever get them wrote down."^[3]

Guthrie's introduction in the Columbia River Songbook

Track listing

1. "Oregon Trail"
2. "Roll On Columbia"
3. "New Found Land"
4. "Talking Columbia"
5. "Roll Columbia, Roll"
6. "Columbia’s Waters"
7. "Ramblin’ Blues"
8. "It Takes A Married Man To Sing A Worried Song"
9. "Hard Travelin’"
10. "The Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done"
11. "Jackhammer Blues"
12. "Song of the Coulee Dam"
13. "Grand Coulee Dam"
14. "Washington Talkin’ Blues"
15. "Ramblin’ Round"
16. "Pastures of Plenty"
17. "End of My Line"

See also

• Woody Guthrie in the Pacific Northwest
• Bonneville Power Administration
• Woody Guthrie discography

Sources

Track Listing of the Album from Woodyguthrie.org Woody Guthrie.org Retrieved on April 24, 2008

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Biography Page 5
3. ^ Woody Guthrie Archive Woody Guthrie Biography 1941. Pacific Northwest Columbia River Songbook