"A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly" - Various Artists
Video Release
U2 Related Tracks:
- "This Land is Your Land" (Full Length) - Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, Little Richard, Bono and The Edge, John Mellencamp (06:35)
Full Track Listing:
Background Information
The Woody Guthrie / Leadbelly tribute album Folkways: A Vision Shared was released on August 23, 1988 on Columbia Records with proceeds going to the Smithsonian Institute, for use in curating the Folkways record label archives. The album featured U2’s cover of Guthrie’s “Jesus Christ”.
A video was also prepared, titled A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, directed by filmmaker, Jim Brown. The film isn’t a duplicate of the album, and includes a number of songs not featured on the album. The 72-minute program was narrated by Robbie Robertson.
A short version of A Vision Shared aired on Showtime on September 17, 1988. A slightly different version aired in December on PBS. On November 22, 1988, a home video was released on CMV (CBS Music Video.) The video was initially offered in VHS and laserdisc formats. A release on DVD followed on April 3, 2006. (The original VHS release looked more like the album cover, this was changed for the DVD release.) The film has also been available on digital services since 2014.
U2’s participation in the video includes the song “Jesus Christ” which is broken up with interview segments with Bono talking while the song plays in the background. This is set to still photos of the band during the song At the end of the film a number of artists sing “This Land is Your Land”, each taking a verse, and we see Bono singing his verse, while The Edge plays in the background. This is not the version of the song which appears on the Folkways: A Vision Shared album, the version there does not include U2.
A Columbia Records promo, titled Interchords: A Vision Shared was also released to promote the album and video. This recording on vinyl includes the audio from the film, instead of the audio from the album. It includes an edited version of “This Land is Your Land” which includes Bono’s vocals at the end of the record, and also “Jesus Christ” with Bono’s interview segment from the film.
Liner Notes
Narrator: Robbie Robertson
Directed by Jim Brown.
Produced by Jim Brown and Harold Leventhal for The Ginger Group. A production of CBS Music Video Enterprises.
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Other Known Formats:
- 12-Inch Laserdisc, Japan, 42LP 114 (CMV Enterprises) [NTSC]
- 12-Inch Laserdisc, USA, ID6332CB (Image Entertainment Inc.) [NTSC]
- VHS, Europe, 01-049006-81 (CBS) [PAL]
- VHS, France, 01 049006-83 (CMV Enterprises) [SECAM]
- VHS, UK, 49006-2 (CMV Enterprises) [PAL]
- VHS, USA, 19V-49006-2 (CMV Enterprises) [NTSC]
- DVD, USA, 49006 (Legacy) [NTSC]