Arachnophonia: America “The Complete Greatest Hits Collection”

Editor’s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student worker Jane (class of 2022) and features the band America’s Complete Greatest Hits Collection. Thanks, Jane!

America

The Complete Greatest Hits Collection

America - Complete Greatest Hits

If you know me, you know I listen almost exclusively to music from the 70’s and 80’s (see my posts about Steely Dan and A Chorus Line, the musical). That’s not to say that I don’t love music being produced today—I do–but my heart lies in my parents’ music. And a band my parents absolutely loved is America.

America has been making music for decades — really. They have 16 albums, not including special anniversary editions, re-releases, or any other specialty disc. They published their first album, America, in 1971, and their most recent album, Back Pages, is from 2011. That might sound like a lot of music, and it is, but we luckily have a Greatest Hits CD, which encompasses almost all of my favorite songs. “Daisy Jane” is one of the sweetest love songs I know (and it’s not just because 7 year-old me liked that my name was in the title).

America - A Horse With No Name single

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19104741

If you’re a beginner at guitar, start with their arguably most famous song — “A Horse With No Name”. It’s literally two chords going back and forth throughout the entire song. When recently asked, I said that “Ventura Highway” is the song that best represents me. “Tin Man” (based on The Wizard of Oz), “Sister Golden Hair”, “You Can Do Magic”, and “I Need You” are some of my other favorites.

America’s music feels home-y. You can tell they’re really playing their instruments, and it’s so clear through their music that they simply love what they do. Their songs fall under the genre of folk rock, and a lot of them are about the experiences they’ve had in California, which I love listening to if I’m ever feeling homesick about being away from LA.

I actually watched America in concert a few years ago. My mom, my sister and I went together, and we couldn’t believe that after 40 years, they still sounded like their records from the 70s. If you’re looking for good, laid-back, driving with the windows down kind of music, I’d check them out.

(And just a hint: if you like this kind of music, go to the library search website, click on the “Subjects” tab, and type in “Rock music—1971-1980.” You can thank me later)

New CD’s added this month!

Classical

Bartlett & Robertson – Selected Recordings, 1927-1947
Harriet Cohen – Complete Solo Studio Recordings
Philip Corner – Satie Slowly
Myra Hess – Complete Solo and Concerto Studio Recordings
Matthay Miscellany – Rare and Unissued Recordings
Moura Lympany – HMV recordings, 1947 – 1952
Irene Scharrer — Complete Electric and Selected Acoustic Recordings
Schnabel, A. – Complete Beethoven Sonatas
Schubert, F. – Die Schöne Müllerin | Winterreise | Schwanengesang
Katrina Szederkényi – Fantasias and Fugues: Music For Harp

Vocal

Ferrera Ensemble – Figures of Harmony – Songs of Codex Chantilly c. 1390
Arvo Pärt – Tintinnabuli
Trio Mediaeval – Aquilonis
Julia Wolfe – Steel Hammer

Electronic

Brian Eno – The Shutov Assembly

Jazz

Nels Cline and Julian Lage – Room
Red Garland Trio – Swingin’ on the Korner

Pop/Rock

D’Angelo and the Vanguard – Black Messiah
Elvis Costello – Beyond Belief: A Tribute to Elvis Costello
The Mavericks – In Time
The Mavericks – Mono
The Mavericks – The Definitive Collection

World Music

Cesaria Evora – The Essential Cesaria Evora

New CD’s added this week!

Electronic Music

Karlheinz Stockhausen – Complete Early Percussion Works

Jazz

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society – Brooklyn Babylon
Jon Irabagon – Foxy
Masters of Jazz – Vol. 1, Traditional Jazz Classics
Masters of Jazz – Vol. 4, Big Bands of the ’50s & ’60s
Masters of Jazz – Vol. 5, Female Vocal Classics
Outright! – Jon Irabagon’s Outright!
Les McCann – Talkin’ Verve!!!
Mostly Other People Do the Killing – Slippery Rock!
Cecile McLorin Salvant – WomanChild

Concert Artistic Music (i.e. “Classical”)

Ian Clarke – Deep Blue
Newspeak – Sweet Light Crude
Now Ensemble – Awake
Frank Martin – Le Vin Herbé
Missy Mazzoli – Cathedral City / Victoire

Opera

World Music

New CD’s added this month!

Classical

Clara Schumann – Complete Piano Works
Javier Camarena – Recitales
Temianka & Shure – Beethoven – 10 Sonatas for Violin and Piano

Jazz

Donald Byrd – Kofi
Duke Ellington – Festival Session
Duke Ellington – At Newport

Pop/Rock

The Beach Boys – Sounds of Summer
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Night moves
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Stranger in Town
Canned Heat – Uncanned – The Best of Canned Heat
Cherryholmes – Cherryholmes
Cherryholmes – Cherryholmes III, Don’t Believe
Cornell Dupree – Child’s Play
Don Henley – Building the Perfect Beast

Soundtracks

Stephen Flaherty – Rocky: Original Broadway Cast Recording
Tom Kitt – If/Then: Original Broadway Cast Recording

New CD’s added this month!

7/2/2014

Pop/Rock

The Band – Islands
Jethro Tull – Stand Up
Led Zeppelin – III
The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Simon & Garfunkel – Old Friends
Sufjan Stevens – The Avalanche
Various – The Swing Time Records Story

Jazz

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra / W. Marsalis – Congo Square
Jimmy Smith – Compact Jazz – Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith – Compact Jazz – Jimmy Smith Plays the Blues
Wynton Marsalis Septet – Citi Movement (Griot New York)

New CD’s added this month!

6/25/2014

Rock

Lyle Lovett – Lyle Lovett and his Large Band
Lyle Lovett – Pontiac
Steely Dan – Everything Must Go
America – The Complete and Greatest Hits
Ringo Starr – Ringo
Traffic – The Best of Traffic
Harry Chapin – The Essentials
Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark
Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey
Van Morrison – Into the Music
Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy
Warren Zevon – Best of Warren Zevon

Additional CD’s added in May!

5/28/2014

Classical

Berio – Chamber Music
Peter Serkin – Beethoven Sonatas

Instrumental

Michael Daugherty – American Icons

Jazz

John Coltrane – Africa/Brass
Donald Byrd – Early Byrd

Pop/Rock

Foy Vance – Joy of Nothing
Bruce Springsteen – Human Torch
Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town

Soul Music

Allen Toussaint – What is Success: The Scepter and Bell Recordings
Charles Wright – Express yourself the best of Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
Gladys Knight – The very best of Gladys Knight & the Pips : the early years

Soundtracks/Film Music

Various – BaadAsssss Cinema (The Sounds of Blaxploitation)
Various – The Best of Blaxploitation

New CD’s added this month!

5/21/2014

Jazz

Ben Powell – New Street
Don Pullen – New Beginnings
Eberhard Weber – Silent Feet
Eberhard Weber – Colours
Ken Peplowski – Maybe September
Pat Metheny Group – Kin()
Steve Turre – In the Spur of the Moment
Steve Turre – Keep Searchin’
Steve Turre – Rhythm Within
Terri Lyne Carrington – Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue

Funk, Soul, R&B

Betty Wright – The Platinum Collection
Impressions – Definitive Impressions
King Curtis – Instant Soul: The Legendary King Curtis
Tyrone Davis – The Ultimate Tyrone Davis

Christian/Gospel

Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out

5/20/2014

Bluegrass

Steep Canyon Rangers – Tell the Ones I Love

Classical

Beethoven – Four Sonatas for Fortepiano
Berio – Sequenzas
Berio – Rendering | Stanze
Messiaen – La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ

Christian

Hillsong – The Very Best of Hillsong Live

Funk, Soul, R&B

Candi Staton – Candi Staton
Eddie Floyd – Rare Stamps
Fatback Band – Fatbackin’
Harlem River Drive – Harlem River Drive
Howard Tate – Get It While You Can
The J.B.’s – Funky Good Time: The Anthology
Various – I’m a Good Woman 2: Funk Classics From Sassy Soul Sisters
Various – Move to Groove: The Best of 1970’s Jazz Funk

Jazz

Dianne Reeves – Beautiful Life
Duke Ellington – Such Sweet Thunder
John Abercrombie Quartet – Within a Song
Miles Davis – Four & More

5/19/2014

R&B, Soul, Funk, African JAZZ, and more…

Abdullah Ibrahim – African Marketplace
Abdullah Ibrahim – African Sun
Abdullah Ibrahim – Blues for a Hip King
Abdullah Ibrahim – Voice of Africa
Aretha Franklin – Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul
Betty Harris – The Lost Soul Queen
Don Covay – The Platinum Collection
Ike and Tina Turner – Proud Mary: The Best of Ike and Tina Turner
James Brown – The Payback
Otis Clay – Testify!
Undisputed Truth – The Collection
Various – For Connoisseurs Only, Vol. 2
Various – For Connoisseurs Only, Vol. 3
Various – Heart of Southern Soul, Vol. 2
Various – Heart of Southern Soul, Vol. 3
Various – Heart of Southern Soul, Nashville/Memphis/Muscle Shoals
Various – Land of 1000 Dances
Various – Land of 1000 Dances 1956-1966, Vol. 2
Various – Rare and Unreissued New York Funk, 1969-1976
Various – Rough Guide to South African Jazz
Wilson Pickett – Very Best of Wilson Pickett

Jazz

Esperanza Spalding – Radio Music Society
Gregory Porter – Liquid Spirit
Miles Davis – My Funny Valentine
Mike Jones Trio – Plays Well with Others
Paul Motion – On Broadway, Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Brazil

Paquito D’Rivera – Song for Maura

Bluegrass

Matt Flinner Trio – Music du Jour

Metal/Industrial

Trevor Jackson Presents Metal Dance

Pop

Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience

Christian

Mandisa – Overcomer

100 Years of Woody Guthrie

 

100 Years of Woody Guthrie, cover imageEditor’s Note: This guest post by one of our Student Managers, Nils Niemeier, is a must-read for any fan of Woody Guthrie. It accompanies the new display put together by Nils on the second floor of Boatwright Library in the study area. Enjoy!

Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) may have only lived to be 55, but his legacy has had a continuous impact on American music, both in the folk scene and outside of it.  Born in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie took to music as a way to support his first wife and three children during the Great Depression, traveling all over the western United States, playing concerts and radio programs and doing itinerant labor.  He finally settled in California in 1937, where he made a name for himself as a social commentator and musician on local radio stations.  He soon became tired of life in California, and headed east to New York in 1940, where he met Alan Lomax and recorded several hours of music and conversation with him for the Library of Congress. In 1941, he joined the Almanac Singers, a pro-Communist, anti-Fascist group of musicians with whom Guthrie wrote many songs urging action against the Fascists in Europe (though the Almanacs had been against US entry into the war prior to the breaking of Hitler’s nonaggression pact with Stalin).  While in New York, Guthrie had his own radio program, and made money for himself and his family through his recordings.  Still a rambler, he traveled constantly across the United States.  Unfortunately, this constant traveling contributed to the dissolution of his first marriage.

By 1942, Guthrie was writing, and he published his semi-fictionalized autobiography, Bound for Glory, in 1943.  Around the same time, Guthrie enlisted in the US military, first in the Merchant Marine, and then in the Army.  All the while he continued writing songs.  Following the end of the war, Guthrie married his second wife, and settled down on Coney Island, where he lived until 1954.  They had three children together.  He continued writing songs and books, including several albums for children.  It was also during the 1940s that he began showing signs of developing Huntington’s disease (which he inherited from his mother).  In 1954, he left his second wife and their children to go to California, where he met his third wife and had a daughter by her.  The rise in anti-Communist feeling and black-listings in California during the 1950s, however, caused him to head east again, this time to Florida, where he lived on a friend’s property and began working on a second book.  As his symptoms worsened, though, Guthrie and his third wife went back to New York.  In 1958, he was diagnosed with Huntington’s and was admitted to Greystone Psychiatric Hospital, where he lived out the rest of his days.  His hospital room became a mecca for young musicians who wished to play for or learn from him.  He died in 1967.

In total, over the span of his life, Guthrie wrote nearly 3000 songs, and two books.  He also left behind an extensive portfolio of paintings and drawings, as well as numerous letters and unfinished writings.

In light of the centennial of his birth, and given the enormous impact Guthrie had on the folk music movement in the United States, I have put together a small exhibit of just a fraction of the books and recordings by and about Woody Guthrie in our physical and electronic holdings.  Here are some excerpts from the exhibit text to pique your interest:

Woody Guthrie, signed letter to Harry Zollars

Autographed copy of Guthrie’s auto-biography, with a letter to Harry Zollars. Bound for Glory, 1943 (Rare Book Room, ML429.G95 A2)

The first edition of Guthrie’s autobiography, with a letter to Harry Zollars written in the endpapers.  The letter outlines Guthrie’s personal political philosophy during the years of the Second World War: “…we will either soon have a union world or a fascist one—and even then the fascist one couldn’t do any more than postpone the Union world—a bad and terrible and useless and bloody delay—so let’s have Union—because Union is the sum total of all ideals and all religion.”

Alan Lomax, written in 100 Years of Woody Guthrie

UPPER RIGHT: Endorsement from Alan Lomax, writing Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People, and the founding of the Almanacs (from Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection, RM1629.G88 W66)
LOWER LEFT: Two letters from Guthrie in 1942: to the Library of Congress and RCA Victor in Pastures of Plenty: A Self Portrait, 1990 (ML410 .G978 A3 1990)

Alan Lomax, known for his collections of American folk songs and field recordings of folk and traditional music made for the Library of Congress, became one of Guthrie’s greatest musical allies.  As evidenced in the letter from Lomax, he held Guthrie in high regard.  With Lomax and Pete Seeger, Guthrie wrote notes for the songs included in the collection of union, work, and protest songs, Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People, which was not published until 1967 due to the controversial nature of the lyrics included, many of which exhibited a pro-union bias.  Not long after Guthrie became associated with Lomax, he also became a member of the Almanac Singers in 1941, a pro-Soviet group featuring Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Millard Lampell (among others. Including Lomax’s wife, Bess, and briefly, Burl Ives), that strongly supported US intervention in the Second World War following Hitler’s violation of the non-aggression pact with Stalinist Russia.

The letter on the left-hand page is Guthrie’s open letter to the Library of Congress thanking them for the preservation of his songbook; in it, he jokingly hopes that members of Congress will gather around and sing his songs, especially “the most radical tunes.”  He jokes, too, that if members of Congress knew that he was going to be published, they would have “cut my original book down by half.  Thank goodness we got it through.”

The letter on the right-hand page is a more serious plea to R. P. Weatherald of RCA Victor to consider publishing an album of “war songs [as] work songs” to motivate the people to work toward the American war effort and defeat the fascists.

Woody Guthrie recordings, property of Parsons Music Library, University of Richmond

Guthrie’s recordings, located at Parsons Music Library on campus

Guthrie’s personal impact on the American Folk genre sometimes overshadows his work with other musicians.  In addition to his solo recordings, Guthrie performed and recorded with many musicians, including those involved with anti-Fascist, Popular-Front group, The Almanac Singers, prior to and during the Second World War.  Some of the musicians with whom Guthrie was associated were Sonny Terry, Cisco Houston, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, and Brownie McGhee.

If you are interested in Guthrie’s life, work, and music, feel free to browse the University of Richmond Libraries Catalog (http://library.richmond.edu), or see the exhibit in the Second Floor Study Area in Boatwright Library.  You can also learn more about Guthrie’s life and music at the official Woody Guthrie Foundation website (http://www.woodyguthrie.org).