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Woody Guthrie discography

Woody Guthrie in 1943

American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie's published recordings are culled from a series of recording sessions in the 1940s and 1950s. At the time they were recorded they were not set down for a particular album, so are found over several albums not necessarily in chronological order. The more detailed section on recording sessions lists the song by recording date.

Selected published discography

Year Album details Comments
1940 Dust Bowl Ballads [1]
1951 Nursery Days [3]
1956 Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child [5]
Bound for Glory [7]
1960 Ballads of Sacco & Vanzetti [8]
1962 Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs[10]
1964 Hard Travelin'
Library of Congress Recordings
1972 Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie [12]
1976 Struggle [13]
1987 Columbia River Collection [15]
1994 Long Ways to Travel: The Unreleased Folkways Masters, 1944-1949 [16]
1997 This Land Is Your Land, The Asch Recordings, Vol.1 [17]
Muleskinner Blues, The Asch Recordings, Vol.2 [18]
1998 Hard Travelin', The Asch Recordings, Vol.3 [19]
1999 Buffalo Skinners, The Asch Recordings, Vol.4 [20]
2007 The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949 [21]
2009 My Dusty Road [22]
2012 Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection [23]

Recording sessions

The list here is organized by recording session and is mostly sourced from the discography put together by Dr. Guy Lodgson in 1990-1991 at the Smithsonian Institution as it appears in the book "Hard Travelin' The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie".[24]

  • Note: A blank cell below a date indicate that the date is repeated on that row.

1940, Library Of Congress, Washington, D.C., sessions with Alan Lomax

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
United States Department of Interior, Radio Broadcasting Division, interviewed by Alan Lomax[25]
Monologue; Boyhood of Woody Guthrie 3407 & 3408 March 21, 1940
The Train (Lost Train Blues) 3407-A Guitar / Harmonica
Railroad Blues 3407-B Harmonica
Rye Whiskey 3408-A,B1 Vocals / Guitar
Old Joe Clark 3408-B2 Vocals / Guitar
Beaumont Rag 3408-B3 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue on the "Green Valley Waltz" 3408-B4
Green Valley Waltz 3409-A Vocals / Guitar
Monologue on the youth of Woody Guthrie 3409-A,B1
Greenback Dollar 3409-B1 Vocals / Guitar / Harmonies
Boll Weevil Song 3409-B2 Vocals / Guitar / Harmonies
Midnight Special 3410-A1 Vocals / Guitar / Harmonies
Dialogue on Dust Storms 3410-A2,B1
So Long, It's Been Good to Know You 3410-B2 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue on the Dust Bowl 3410-B3
Dialogue on the Dust Bowl, cont. 3411-A1
Talking Dust Bowl Blues 3411-A2,B1
Dialogue on Experiences in California 3411-B2
Do-Re-Mi 3411-B3 Vocals /Guitar / Harmonica
Hard Times 3412-A1 March 22, 1940 Vocals / Guitar
Bring Me Back to My Blue Eyed Boy 3412-A2 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue on Love Songs 3412-A3
Dialogue on Outlaws 3412-B1
Billy the Kid 3412-B2 Vocals / Guitar (Fragment)
Pretty Boy Floyd 3412-B3 Vocals / Guitar
Pretty Boy Floyd, cont 3413-A
Dialogue about Jesse James 3413-B1 Vocals / Guitar
They Laid Jesus Christ in His Grave 3413-B2 Vocals / Guitar
They Laid Jesus Christ in His Grave, cont. 3414-A1 Vocals / Guitar
I'm a Jolly Banker 3414-A2
Dialogue on Bankers 3414-A2,3
I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore 3414-A3B1 Vocals / Guitar / Harmonica
Dirty Overhauls 3414-B2 Vocals / Guitar
Dirty Overhauls, cont 3415-A1
'Mary Fagen' and Dialogue 3415-A2B1 Vocals / Guitar
Chain Around My Leg 3415-B2 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue on the Blues 3416-A1
The Bluest Blues (900 Miles?) 3416-A2
Worried Man Blues 3416-B1 Vocals / Guitar
Church House Blues - Lonesome Valley 3416-B2 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue on Walking Railroad Ties 3416-B2
Monologue Railroads and Men Out of Work 3417-A
Railroad Line Blues 3417-B1 Vocals / Guitar
Goin' Down the Frisco Line 3417-B2 Vocals / Guitar
I'm Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad 3418-A1 Vocals / Guitar
Seven Cent Cotton 3418-A2 Vocals / Guitar (fragment)
Wagon Yard Blues 3418-A3 Vocals / Guitar (fragment)
Dust Bowl Refugees 3418-B1 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue about man going to California for contract work 3418-B2
Dialogue about man going to California for contract work, cont. 3419-A
Great Dust Storm (Dust Storm Disaster) and dialogue 3419-B1 Vocals / Guitar
I'm Sittin' on the Foggy Mountain Top 3419-B2 Vocals / Guitar
Story Of Oil Booms and Dust Storms 3420-A1 March 27, 1940
Dust Pneumonia Blues 3420-A2 Vocals / Guitar
Dust Bowl Blues 3420-B1 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue about California 3420-B1
California Blues 3420-B2 Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue about Jimmy Rogers and "California Blues" 3421-A
Do-Re-Mi 3421-B1 Vocals / Guitar
Living conditions in California 3421-B1
Dust Bowl Refugees 3422-A Vocals / Guitar
Dialogue about Okies in California, Pride in Oklahoma, and Wil Rogers 3422-B1
Highway 66 / Wil Rogers Highway 3423-A1 Vocals / Guitar
New Years Flood 3423-A2 Vocals / Guitar
Songs by Woody Guthrie and Guitar, Recorded in the Phonoduplication Studio by Alan Lomax and John Langenegger
Stewball 4491-A1 Jan 4 1941 Vocals / Guitar
Stagolee 4491-A2 Vocals / Guitar
One Dime Blues 4491-A3 Vocals / Guitar
Woopie Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Doggies 4491-B1 Vocals / Guitar
Trail To Mexico 4491-B2 Vocals / Guitar (fragment)
The Gypsy Davy 4491-B3 Vocals / Guitar
There is a House in this Old Town 4491-B4 Vocals / Guitar

American Studio of the Air, Radio Show

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
Boll Weevil Library of Congress (LOC) 4507A4 April 2, 1940 Harmonica / Vocals / Guitar with the Golden Gate Quartet
It's Hard on We Poor Farmers LOC 4507A3 Harmonica / Alan Lomax on Guitar & Vocals
Train Blues LOC 4508A1 Harmonica
So Long, It's Been Good to Know You LOC 4508A2 Harmonica / Vocals / Alan Lomax on Guitar
Talking Dust Storm LOC 4508A3 Vocals Guitar

1940, RCA Victor Sessions, Dust Bowl Ballads

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
*The Great Dust Storm ("Dust Storm Disaster") (26622-A) BS-050145-1 April 26, 1940 Guitar
*Talking Dust Bowl Blues (26619-A) BS-050146-2 Guitar
Dust Pnemunonia Blues (26623-B) BS-050147-1 Guitar
*Dusty Old Dust ("So Long, It's Been Good to Know You") (26622-B) BS-050148-1 Guitar
Dust Bowl Blues LPV-502, BS-050149-1 Guitar
*Blowin Down This Road ("I Ain't Gonna Be Treated This Way") (26619-B) BS-050150-1 Guitar / Harmonica
*Tom Joad pt 1 (26621-A) BS-050151-1 Guitar / Harmonica
*Tom Joad pt 2 (26621-B) BS-050152-1 Guitar
Do Re Mi (26620-A) BS-050153-1 Guitar
*Dust Bowl Refugee (26623-A) BS-050154-1 Guitar / Harmonica
I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore (26624-A) BS-050155-1 Guitar / Harmonica
"Vigilante Man" (26624-B) BS-050156-1 Guitar / Harmonica
*Dust Can't Kill Me (26620-B) BS-050600-1 Guitar / Harmonica
Pretty Boy Floyd LPV 502, BS-050601-1 Guitar

* These recording were released on the record Talking Dust Bowl on Folkways Records in 1950 by Moe Asch, but without RCA's licences. All these recordings were made by RCA Records in 1940 and released on the albums Dust Bowl Ballads vol 1 and 2. These records have been subsequently reissued in 1964 and 1977.[24]

1941, Bonneville Power Administration, The Columbia River Songs

The masters of this session were lost, but a collection of 6 discs was collected from BPA employee copies from the time. Most were eventually released on Rounder Records Woody Guthrie, Columbia River Collection C1036 in 1987.[26] The 6 discs are housed in the National Archives, Washington D.C. The catalogue numbers here relate to National Archive listings.

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
Pastures of Plenty 305.01 May 1941 Vocals / Guitar
The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done 305.01 Vocals / Guitar
Roll Columbia, Roll 305.01 Vocals / Guitar
Washington Talkin' Blues 305.02 Vocals / Guitar
The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done 305.02 Vocals / Guitar
Ramblin' Blues (Portland Town) 305.03 Vocals / Guitar
It Takes a Married Man to Sing A Worried Song 305.03 Vocals / Guitar
Song of the Grand Coulee Dam ("Way Up in That Northwest") 305.03 Vocals / Guitar
Roll On, Columbia 305.04 Vocals / Guitar
The Grand Coulee Dam 305.04 Vocals / Guitar
Jackhammer Blues 305.05 Vocals / Guitar
The Grand Coulee Dam 305.05 Vocals / Guitar
Columbia Waters 305.05 Vocals / Guitar
Talking Columbia Blues 305.05 Vocals / Guitar

Unissued LOC Recordings: Home Disc Recordings & 1941 Almanac Singers

Series of Discs for the Library of Congress, recorded by the Almanac Singers, only those written by or featuring Woody Guthrie are included here. Notes are Woody's parts.

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
Round and Round Hitler's Grave 6100-B February 1942 Guitar
Hulaballobalay 6101-A Guitar
Taking it Easy 6101-B Guitar
Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done 6102-B Guitar / Vocals
High Cost of Living 6103-A Guitar
Sinking of the Ruben James 6103-B Guitar
Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad 6105-A Guitar
Pretty Boy Floyd 4793-A August 1941 Vocals

Keynote Recordings

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
Song for Bridges QB 1548 June 1941 Guitar / Vocals
* Babe O' Mine QB 1549 Guitar / Vocals
* Boomtown Bill x-5000 June 1942
* Keep That Oil a Rollin' QB 1548 June 1942 Vocals

* Songs that have been released on Songs for Political Action, Bear Family Records BCD 15270

General Records

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
Blow Ye Winds, Heigh Ho 5015-A, R-4160 July 1941
Away Rio 5017-A, R-4161 Harmonica
Blow the Man Down 5016-A, R-4162 Vocals
The Golden Vanity 5017-B, R-4174 Harmonica
The Coast of Old Barbary 5015-B, R-4176 Harmonica
Haul Away Joe 5015-B, R-4176
House of the Rising Sun 5020-B, R-4163
Ground Hog 5018-B, R-4164
State of Arkansas 5019-B, R-4165
I Ride an Old Paint 5020-A, R-4169 Vocals / Guitar
Hard Ain't It Hard 5019-B, R-4170 Harmonica
The Dodger Song 5018-A, R-4171 Harmonica
The Weavers Song R-4168
Greenland Fishing R-4172

The Martins and the Coys: A Contemporary Folk Tale

Recorded by Decca Records in March 1944, and written by Elizabeth Lomax. Alan Lomax shopped this around but no stations were interested, eventually it was sold the BBC. The recordings included Woody as well as several members of the Almanac singers.

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
You Better Get Ready March 1944 Vocal / Guitar w/Sonny Terry on Harmonica
You Fascists Are Bound to Lose Vocal / Guitar w/Sonny Terry on Harmonica
Bound for the Mountains Group Vocals
Run Boys Run
Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair
On Top of Old Smokey
Gonna Take Everybody (All Work Together)
When We March Into Berlin
How Many Biscuts Can You Eat?
Smokey Mountain Girls
Turtle Dove
Round and Round Hitler's Grave
The Martins and the Coys

1944 & 1945, The Asch Recordings

Possibly Guthrie's most famous recordings, conducted over a series of days by Moses "Moe" Asch in 1944 and 1945. They were issued on a variety of labels under Asch, Asch-Stinson, Asch-Signature-Stinson, Disc, Folkways and Verve/Folkways.

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
Hard Ain't It Hard LM-1 April 16, 1944
More Pretty Girls Than One LM-2
Golden Vanity MA 1 April 19, 1944 Recordings on this date w/ Cisco Houston
When the Yanks Go Marching In MA 2
So Long, It's Been Good to Know You MA3
Dollar Down Dollar a Week MA4
Hen Cackle MA5
I Ain't Got Nobody MA6
Ida Red MA7
Columbus Stockade MA8
Whistle Blowing MA9
John Henry MA10
Hammer Ring ("Union Hammer") MA11
Muleskinner Blues ("New Road Line") MA12
What are We Waiting On ("Great and Bloody Fight") LM-2
More Pretty Girls Than One MA13
Ship in the Sky ("My Daddy") MA14
The Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done MA15
Stewball MA16
Grand Coulee Dam MA17
Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") MA18
Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") MA19
Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") MA20
New York Town ("My Town") MA21
Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") MA22
Reckless Talk MA23
Reckless Talk MA24
Last Nickel Blues MA25
Guitar Rag MA26
Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet ("Don't Need No Man") MA27
(Those) Brown Eyes MA28
Chisholm Trail MA29
Sowing on the Mountains MA30
Sowing on the Mountains MA31
Right Now MA32
Train-Harmonica MA33
Sally Don't You Grieve MA34
Take a Wiff on Me MA35
Philadelphia Lawyer MA36
Kissing On ("Gave Her Kisses") MA37
Little Darling MA38
Baltimore to Washington ("Troubles Too") MA39
Poor Boy MA40
Poor Boy MA41
Ain't Nobody's Business MA42
Take Me Back Babe MA43
Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad ("Lonesome Road Blues") MA44
Bed on the Floor MA45
One Big Union ("Join It Yourself") MA46
Worried Man Blues MA47
What Did the Deep Say? MA48
Foggy Mountain Top MA49
21 Years MA50
Roving Gambler ("Gambling Man") MA51
Cindy MA52
Into Season MA53
Red River Valley MA55
Dead or Alive ("Poor Lazarus") MA56
Pretty Boy MA57
John Hardy MA58
Bad Lee Brown ("Cocaine Blues") MA59
Whistle Blowing MA66
Billy The Kid MA67
"Stagger Lee" MA68
Down Yonder 674 April 20, 1944
Guitar Blues 675
Harmonica Breakdown 676
Fox Chase 677
Train 678
Lost John 679
Pretty Baby 680
Old Dog a Bone 681
"Turkey in the Straw" 687
Give Me That Old Time Religion 688
Glory ("Walk and Talk with Jesus") 689
Hard Time Blues 690
Bus Blues 691
Devilish Mary 692
Cripple Creek 693
Sandy Land 694
Old Dan Tucker 695 April 24, 1944
Bile Them Cabbage Down 696
Old Joe Clark 697
Buffalo Girls 698
Rain Crow Bill 699
Skip to my Lou 700
Lonesome Train 701, 702
Blues, Harmonica Breakdown 703, 704
Harmonica Rag 705,706
Crawdad Hole 707
Bury Me Beneath the Willow 708
I Ride an Old Paint 709
Blue Eyes 710
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad ("Lonesome Road Blues") 711
Old Dog a Bone 712
Having Fun 713
Blues 714
Talking Fishing Blues MA75 April 25, 1944
Talking Sailor ("Talking Merchant Marine") MA76
Union Burial Ground MA77
Jesse James MA78
Rangers Command MA79
Sinking of the Ruben James MA80
Put My Little Shoes Away MA81
Picture From Life's Other Side MA82
Will You Miss Me MA83
Bed on the Floor MA84
900 Miles MA85
Sourwood Mountain MA86
Hoecake Baking MA87
Ezekiel Saw the Wheel MA88
Little Darling MA89
Lonesome Day MA90
Cumberland Gap MA91
Fiddling Piece MA92
"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" MA93
Step Stone MA94
"House of the Rising Sun" MA96
Browns Ferry Blues MA98
What Would You Give in Exchange For Your Soul? MA99
When That Great Ship Went Down MA99-1
Dust Bowl MA100
Guitar Rag MA101
I Ain't Got Nobody MA102
Going Down This Road Feeling Bad ("Lonesome Road Blues") MA103
Polly Wolly Doodle MA104
Guitar Rag 1230
Blowin' Down This Old Dusty Road 1231
Hey Lolly Lolly MA105
Budded Roses MA106
"House of the Rising Sun" MA107
I Don't Feel at Home in the Bowery MA108
Hobo's Lullaby MA109
Froggy Went a Courtin' MA110
Bad Reputation MA111
Snow Deer MA112
Ladies Auxiliary MA113
"This Land Is Your Land" MA114
Hang Knot ("Slip Knot") MA115
Breakdown MA116
Go Tell Aunt Rhody MA117
Union Going to Roll MA118
Who Broke the Lock on the Hen House Door MA119
What Did the Deep Sea Say MA120
Strawberry Roan MA121-1
When the Yanks Go Marching in MA122-1
Bed on the Floor MA123-1
We Shall Be Free MA124-1
Right Now MA125-1
Jackhammer John MA126-1
Woody MA127-1,127-2
Keep Your Skillit Good and Greasy MA129-1
Home MA130-1
Lost You MA131
Slip Knot ("Hang Knot") MA134
Jesus Christ MA135
Hobo Bill MA136
Little Black Train MA137
Cannon Ball MA138
Gypsy Davy MA139
Bile Them Cabbage Down MA140
Woody MA1240 May 8, 1944
Get Along Little Dogies 860 March 1, 1945
Waltz 861,862
Union Breakdown 863
Cackling Hen 864
Chisholm Trail 865
Bed on Your Floor 866
Rye Whiskey 867
Old Joe Clark 868 March 23, 1945
Long Way to France 869
Woody Blues 870
Down Yonder 871
Gal I Left Behind 872
Mean Talking Blues 900 May 24, 1945
"1913 Massacre" 901
Ludlow Massacre 902
Buffalo Skinners 903
Harriet Tubman 904,905

Many recordings have unknown session dates. These are included in a list available at the United States Library of Congress titled "Surviving Recordings in the Smithsonian Folklife Archive Made by Woody Guthrie for Moses Asch". Moe Asch says Woody's kids song were recorded sometime in early 1947 and the Sacco and Vanzetti ballads were recorded January 1947.

1947 Songs to Grow On

The recording dates for the Songs to Grow On series of children's song are mostly lost due to the record keeping of Moe Asch, but the tracks are included here as they are some of Guthrie's most well known tracks. In this case the Date is the release date of the original 78 records.

Title Catalogue No. Recording Date Notes / Instrument
Songs to Grow On: Nursery Days issued 1947,1950,1951
Wake Up 5050A (D301) 1947
Clean-O 5050B (D302)
Dance Around 5051A (D304)
Put Your Finger in the Air 5051B (D303)
Don't Push Me 5052A (D305)
Jig Along Home 5052B (D306)
My Dolly F52B1
Come See F52B2
Race You Down the Mountain F53A1
Pick it up F53A2
Merry Go Round F53B1
Sleepy Eyes F53B2

Honors

On September 6, 2007, Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc., in cooperation with the Woody Guthrie Foundation released The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949, accompanied by a 72-page book describing the performance and the project. Paul Braverman, a student at Rutgers University in 1949, made the recordings himself using a small wire recorder at a Guthrie concert in Newark, New Jersey.[10] On February 10, 2008, the release was the recipient of a Grammy Award in the category Best Historical Album.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Dust Bowl Ballads". FW05212 1964. Folkways. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. ^ "Dust Bowl Ballads".
  3. ^ "Nursery Days". SFW45036 1992. Folkways. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. ^ "Nursery Days".
  5. ^ "Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child". SFW45035 1991. Folkways. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ^ "Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
  7. ^ Guthrie, Woody; Geer, Will. "Bound for Glory: Songs and Stories of Woody Guthrie". Smithsonian Folkways. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  8. ^ "Ballads of Sacco & Vanzetti". SFW40060 1996. Folkways. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. ^ "Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti". Folkways.si.edu.
  10. ^ "Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs". SFW40007 1989. Folkways. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  11. ^ "Woody Guthrie Sings Folk Songs". Folkways.si.edu.
  12. ^ "Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie". Vanguard Records. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  13. ^ "Struggle". SFW40025 1990. Folkways. Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  14. ^ "Struggle".
  15. ^ "Columbia River Collection". Rounder Records. Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  16. ^ "Long Ways to Travel: The Unreleased Folkways Masters, 1944-1949". SFW40046 1994. Folkways. Archived from the original on 2007-07-07. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  17. ^ "This Land Is Your Land, The Asch Recordings, Vol.1". SFW40100 1997. Folkways.
  18. ^ "This Land Is Your Land, The Asch Recordings, Vol. 2". SFW40101 1997. Folkways. Archived from the original on 2007-07-06. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  19. ^ "This Land Is Your Land, The Asch Recordings, Vol 3". Folkways. Archived from the original on 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  20. ^ "This Land Is Your Land, The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4". SFW40103 1999. Folkways. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  21. ^ "The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949". Woody Guthrie Publications. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  22. ^ "The Woody Guthrie Store: My Dusty Road - CD Box set". Archived from the original on 2013-11-19. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  23. ^ "Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection". SFW40200 20120. Folkways. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  24. ^ a b Santeli, Davidson, Robert and Emily (1999). "Hard Travelin' The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie". Wesleyan, Hannover and London. pp. 247, 181–243. ISBN 0-8195-6391-9.
  25. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2007-11-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ "Rounder Records - Woody Guthrie - Columbia River Collection - Album Detail". Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2007-11-15.