Struggle (1990)

Thirty years after Woody Guthrie recorded some original songs for a thematic album concerning working-class battles against exploitation and injustice, Folkways added more of the late folk legend's musical essays on the subject and released Struggle as a progressive commemoration of America's bicentennial in 1976. This welcome reissue should keep Guthrie's honest strength available for generations to come. Joined occasionally by Cisco Houston (guitar, vocals) and Sonny Terry (harmonica), Guthrie strums simple chords and sings powerful tales — of miners and cowboys, union men and outlaws — in his inimitably plain style. B+