American protest songs have a long history, especially on the picket lines of bygone labor struggles. During the 1950s and '60s they confronted popular culture as part of the folk music revival that nurtured Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Culling from the archives of a label that was at the forefront of the folk revival, Classic Protest Songs presents the roots of modern protest music in Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly, along with less familiar versions of famous tunes from the '60s and more recent work. Included are pleasant surprises such as haunting versions of Dylan's "Masters of War" by The Bergerfolk and Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" by Brother John Sellers. A few tunes are embarrassingly awful, but most of the collection consists of rousing reminders of the power of song to stir conscience.
