SEPTEMBER CD RELEASES: SEEGER & SPRINGSTEEN DUETS AND A LIVE WOODY GUTHRIE RECORDING
For those of us who are fans of folk music, this September will find a number of gems being released including a two “duets” featuring Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen as well as a live concert recording featuring Woody Guthrie! The Woody Guthrie CD will be the first gem to come our way in September.



Paul Braverman recorded Woody at the Newark YW-YMHA in 1949. At the time Paul was a student at Rutgers-Newark and he held onto the wire recording until April of 2001, when he donated the recording to the Woody Guthrie Archives. In the years following the donation, the Woody Guthrie Archives has been restoring these recordings with the help of state of the art technology and some of the finest engineers in the business. While the CD has some imperfections, it will become the only commercially available of Woody performing before a live concert audience. There are recordings of Woody performing on radio as well as the historic Library of Congress recordings of Alan Lomax, but this is the first opportunity that we will have to hear Woody as he gave a concert.
Looks like a good year for “live” Guthrie recordings. As mentioned in a previous article, Woody’s son Arlo recently released a live concert CD. Click
here for more information about that CD as well as some remarks from Arlo himself!Speaking of live music, earlier this year, Bruce Springsteen released a CD and DVD of a performance with his band in Dublin. The “Sessions” Band (previously known as the Seeger Sessions Band) has breathed new life into songs that Springsteen learned after being inspired by Pete Seeger. While I doubt that Pete Seeger will ever put together a “Springsteen Session” band in return, Pete did record Springsteen’s song “The Ghost of Tom Joad” in collaboration with the boss. Springsteen and Seeger also recorded the classic “Hobo’s Lullaby”, and both songs will be released on CD projects in September.
Appleseed Records, the record label responsible for introducing Springsteen to the work of Pete Seeger, is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. In commemoration of the anniversary, Appleseed will release a two CD compilation set on September 11 called “Sowing the Seeds”. The collection will feature 27 songs, including the Seeger-Springsteen version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad”. The CD set will also feature new recordings from Ani DiFranco (her take on Seeger’s “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”) and Donovan (a new recording of Buffy Ste.-Marie’s “Universal Soldier”). The collection will also include Kim and Reggie Harris with guests Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary) and the duo of Bethany & Rufus (Bethany is Peter Yarrow’s daughter) singing “If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus.” The collection will also feature selections from some of the 80 plus CD’s that Appleseed has released since they began operations.
Appleseed has two other releases planned for September. “Feels Like Home”, a multi-artist collection that will benefit the homeless will be released on September 25th. The diverse collection features, Springsteen and Seeger (“Hobos Lullaby”), Jon Bon Jovi (yes, THAT Jon Bon Jovi!), Natalie Merchant, Sonya Kitchell, Madeleine Peyroux, Jewel, Keb Mo, John Sebastian and Bonnie Raitt among others.

As you can see, it does promise to be an exciting month!