''Columbia River Collection'', originally released as the ''Columbia River Ballads'', is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of songs folksinger

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

wrote during his visit to the U.S. states of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

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 Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. 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 Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhous ...

", "Hard Travelin’," and "

Pastures of Plenty "Pastures of Plenty" is a 1941 composition by Woody Guthrie. Describing the travails and dignity of migrant workers in North America, it is evocative of the world described in John Steinbeck's ''The Grapes of Wrath.'' The tune is based on the ball ...

Production

In May 1941, after a brief stay in Los Angeles, Guthrie moved to Portland, Oregon, in the neighborhood of Lents, on the promise of a job.

Gunther von Fritsch Gunther von Fritsch (15 July 1906, Pula – 27 August 1988, Pasadena, California, Pasadena) was an American film director born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Biography Gunther von Fritsch was born 15 July 1906 in Pula. He studied in Paris, and ...

was directing a documentary about the

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to constr ...

's construction of the

on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, and needed a narrator. Alan Lomax had recommended Guthrie to narrate the film and sing songs onscreen. The original project was expected to take 12 months, but as the filmmakers became worried about casting such a political figure, they minimized Guthrie's role. The

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

hired him for one month to write songs about the

and the construction of the federal dams for the documentary's soundtrack. Guthrie toured the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest. Guthrie said he "couldn't believe it, it's a paradise", which appeared to inspire him creatively. In one month Guthrie wrote 26 songs, including three of his most famous: "

Roll On, Columbia, Roll On "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" is an American folk song written in 1941 by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, who popularized the song through his own recording of it. The song glamorized the harnessing of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northw ...

", "

", and "

".Klein, ''Woody Guthrie'', pp. 195, 196, 202, 205, 212 The surviving songs were released as '' Columbia River Songs''. The film ''Columbia'' was not completed until 1949.

Track listing

# "Oregon Trail" # " Roll on Columbia" # "New Found Land" # "Talking Columbia" # "Roll Columbia, Roll" # "Columbia’s Waters" # "Ramblin’ Blues" # "It Takes a Married Man to Sing a Worried Song" # "Hard Travelin’" # "The Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done" # "Jackhammer Blues" # "Song of the Coulee Dam" # "

" # "Washington Talkin’ Blues" # "Ramblin’ Round" # "

" # "End of My Line"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia River Collection, The Woody Guthrie albums New Deal in Oregon 1988 compilation albums Articles containing video clips

Production

Track listing

See also

Sources

References