Cars: Riding In My Car

Woody Guthrie: Riding in My Car [purchase]

Bruce Springsteen: Riding in My Car [purchase]

Elizabeth Mitchell: Car Car [purchase]

Woody and Arlo Guthrie: Riding In My Car [purchase]

Every time someone tries to deify the great troubadors of early folk in my presence, I remember that I grew up listening to this silly yet classic Woody Guthrie song, thinking this was folk music, and wondering what all the fuss was about. Apparently, I'm not the only one, either. Bruce Springsteen's tribute-album cover is hilariously earnest; Elizabeth Mitchell's duet with her own kid is surprisingly tender. Woody's cross-generational recut, a jouncy hillybilly romp with jaw harp, banjo, harmonica, and son Arlo, is a bit too long for its own good, but a decent novelty all the same.