**** Woody Guthrie

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND: THE ASCH RECORDINGS, VOLUME ONE

(Smithsonian Folkways)

This generous program of 27 Guthrie performances from the 1940s is primo stuff for two reasons, one expected and the other an eyebrow raiser. Guthrie sounds comfortable, robustly healthy, and full of whimsy (his "Car Song" has a priceless scat imitation of an engine) and righteous rage ("Lindbergh" is a scathing attack on the bigotry of an American hero). The material here is generally familiar; only the title cut (offered in three versions when one would have sufficed) fails to connect.

But the real surprise is the sound quality of these remastered acetates. Although there are plenty of Guthrie CDs on the market already, this is the first one where the real depth and clarity of his vocals comes across. Once in a blue moon, some sound engineers actually do give old recordings a glowing new identity; that's the case here with Jeff Place and Pete Reiniger of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife Programs. They offer us essential American folk recordings resurrected -- just when you thought you'd have to buy the new Bruce Springsteen CD in order to guess at what Guthrie really sounded like.

-- Norman Weinstein