"Folkways: A Vision Shared" - Various Artists

Compilation Album

U2 Related Content:

"Jesus Christ" (Studio Version) - U2 (03:14)

Full Track Listing:

Sylvie – Sweet Honey in the Rock (2:06)
Pretty Boy Floyd – Bob Dylan (4:26)
Do Re Mi – John Mellencamp (3:24)
I Ain’t Got No Home – Bruce Springsteen (3:44)
Jesus Christ – U2 (3:13)
Rock Island Line – Little Richard / Fishbone (2:34)
East Texas Red – Arlo Guthrie (5:36)
Philadelphia Lawyer – Willie Nelson (3:01)
Hobo’s Lullaby – Emmylou Harris (2:43)
The Bougeois Blues – Taj Mahal (2:46)
Gray Goose – Sweet Honey in the Rock (2:11)
Goodnight Irene – Brian Wilson (2:39)
Vigilante Man – Bruce Springsteen (4:14)
This Land is Your Land – Pete Seegar with Sweet Honey in the Rock, Doc Watson and the Little Red School House Chorus (3:46)

Background Information

The Folkways: A Vision Shared album was compiled to raise funds for the Smithsonian Institute to buy the historical recordings that make up the Folkways Record catalog. The album itself is a tribute to the works of both Woody Guthrie and Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter, a pair of songwriters and singers who had recording careers that took off in teh 1930s. The songs included on the compilation are songs that the pair had recorded. The album was produced by Guthrie’s long-time business manager, Harold Leventhal.

U2’s contribution to the album was the song “Jesus Christ”, a song written by Woody Guthrie in 1940. The song was recorded by U2 at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The studio is a famous one where many greats such as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash had recorded. In the same session, U2 recorded “Angel of Harlem”, “Love Rescue Me”, “When Love Comes to Town” and their own unreleased version of “She’s A Mystery to Me”. These sessions were done with Jack “Cowboy” Clement who had first worked in Sun Studios in 1953. Some of these recording sessions c an be seen in the Rattle and Hum film.

The album was released on August 23, 1988 in North America, and a week later on August 29, 1988 in the rest of the world on CBS / Columbia Records. In September, a film accompanying the release was shown on Showtime networks, and would be released in November to home video. The film includes the same recording of “Jesus Christ” as well as Bono and Edge on “This Land is Your Land” which is not featured on the album version. In the film Bono spoke about choosing the song “Jesus Christ” to record:

‘Jesus Christ’ is a song that has to be sung. No question about it. Well you know U2 wanted to sing it. We have to sing that song. ‘Cause it’s more relevant today than it was even when he wrote it. We decided to do it because of the lines ‘the bankers and the preachers, they nailed him in the air.’ You know I’ve said it before, but these people we see on our television sets, you know the TV evangelists who literally are stealing money from the sick and the old. I suppose the songs of Woody Guthrie had something to do with the truth, whatever that is. There’s a lie that’s very popular right now, which is that you can’t make a difference, that you can’t change our world. The songs on the radio perpetuate that lie. A lot of the songs you hear on the radio today perpetuate the lie. For me. They seem to me, they have words but they don’t mean anything. They have a melody and they have music but they don’t mean anything. They have a melody and they have music but that music just sounds the same. It is the same, it’s the same song. It puts people in this big sleep and I think Woody Guthrie’s music was much more awake than that.

U2 have included “Jesus Christ” on a number of their own releases. It appears on The Complete U2 digital boxset released via iTunes in 2004. In that set it is available on the Unreleased and Rare digital album. “Jesus Christ” was also featured on the fan club releases Medium, Rare and Remastered. In 2025, U2 were awarded the Woody Guthrie Prize, and Bono and The Edge appeared at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma to accept the prize. During the evening Bono and The Edge played a shortened version of “Jesus Christ”.

The album Folkways: A Vision Shared arrived as U2 were releasing “Desire” to radio, ahead of the release of the film and album Rattle and Hum. Although “Jesus Christ” didn’t feature on those projects, it did provide an early look into what the band had been working on. The album would be up for a Grammy Award in 1989, for Best Traditional Folk Recording, and the album did win the award.

Two promotional items to highlight include the promotional single “Jesus Christ“, released on 7-Inch vinyl in the Netherlands. The U2 recording is the title track on the promotional release, and it is backed by John Mellencamp’s cover of “Do Re Me”. A 12-inch promo called Interchords: A Vision Shared features audio from the video, not the album itself. It includes U2’s cover of “Jesus Christ” overlaid with the interview above, but also includes an audio version of Bono and The Edge contributing to “This Land is Your Land” which does not feature on this album.

Liner Notes

Jesus Christ:
Bono: Vocals, Harmonica. The Edge: Guitar. Adam Clayton: Bass. Larry Mullen Jr.: Drums. Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Associate Producer: Jack “Cowboy” Clement. Engineered by David R. Ferguson. Mixed by Shelly Yakus.

Recognition and Awards

Grammy Award, Best Traditional Folk Recording, 1989

Catalog of Releases

Other Known Formats:

12-Inch, Argentina, 70.046 (Columbia)
12-Inch, Australia, 460905-1 (CBS)
12-Inch, Brazil, 188.012/1-460905 (CBS)
12-Inch, Canada, OC 44034 (CBS)
12-Inch, Greece, 460905 1 (CBS)
12-Inch, Japan, 25AP5219 (CBS/Sony)
12-Inch, Netherlands, 460905-1 (CBS)
12-Inch, Spain, 460905-1 (CBS)
12-Inch, UK, 460905-1 (CBS)
12-Inch, USA, OC 44034 (CBS)
12-Inch, Yugoslavia, 460905-1 (Suzy / CBS)
Cassette, Australia, 460905-4 (CBS)
Cassette, Canada, OCT 44034 (CBS)
Cassette, Europe, 460905-4 (CBS)
Cassette, Greece, 460905 4 (CBS)
Cassette, Japan, 25KP5219 (CBS/Sony)
Cassette, UK, 460905-4 (CBS)
Cassette, USA, CT 44034 (CBS)
Cassette, Yugoslavia, 4609054 (Suzy / CBS)
CD, Brazil, 700.827/2-460905 (Columbia)
CD, Canada, CK-44034 (Columbia)
CD, Europe, 460905-2 (CBS)
CD, Italy, DE 34020 (DeAgostini/CBS)
CD, Japan, 25DP5219 (CBS/Sony)
CD, Netherlands, COL 460905 2 (Columbia)
CD, South Korea, DPK-5036 (Columbia)
CD, USA, CK 44034 (USA)