Woody Guthrie

Infobox musical artist
Name = Woody Guthrie

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Img_capt = Woody Guthrie with guitar labeled
"This machine kills fascists"
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Woodrow Wilson Guthrie
Alias =
Born = birth date|mf=yes|1912|7|14|mf=y
Okemah, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died = Death date and age|mf=yes|1967|10|3|1912|7|14
New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin =
Instrument = Guitar, Vocal, Harmonica, Mandolin, Fiddle
Genre = Folk
Occupation = Singer-songwriter
Years_active = 1930 – 1956
Influences = Joe Hill, Will Rogers, Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, Lead Belly
Influenced = Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Cisco Houston, Jack Elliott, Phil Ochs
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL =
Notable_instruments = Martin 000-18, Gibson Southern Jumbo, Gibson J-45

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912–October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Guthrie's musical legacy consists of hundreds of songs, ballads and improvised works covering topics from political themes to traditional songs to children's songs. Guthrie performed continually throughout his life with his guitar frequently displaying the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists". Guthrie is perhaps best known for his song "This Land Is Your Land", which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. [ Library of Congress. [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?faid/faid:@field(DOCID+af001001)#Related%20Material%20-%20Woody%20Guthrie%20Sound%20Recordings%20at%20the%20American%20Folklife%20Center Related Material - Woody Guthrie Sound Recordings at the American Folklife Center.] Retrieved on November 27, 2007.]

Guthrie traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. His songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression and he is known as the "Dust Bowl Troubadour." [Alarik, Scott. [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/08/07/robert_burns_unplugged/ Robert Burns unplugged.] "The Boston Globe", August 7, 2005. Retrieved on December 5, 2007.] Guthrie was associated with, but never a member of, Communist groups in the United States throughout his life.Spivey, Christine A. [http://www.loyno.edu/history/journal/1996-7/Spivey.html This Land is Your land, This Land is My Land: Folk Music, Communism, and the Red Scare as a Part of the American Landscape.] "The Student Historical Journal 1996–1997", Loyola University New Orleans, 1996.]

Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children, including American folk musician Arlo Guthrie. He is the grandfather of musician Sarah Lee Guthrie. Guthrie died from complications of the degenerative neurologic affliction known as Huntington's Disease. In spite of his illness, during his later years Guthrie served as a figurehead in the folk movement providing inspiration to a generation of new folk musicians, including mentor relationships with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and to a lesser extent Bob Dylan.Reitwiesner, William Addams. [http://www.wargs.com/other/guthrie.html Ancestry of Arlo Guthrie.] Retrieved on November 7, 2007.]

Biography

Early life: 1912–1930

Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma to Nora Belle Sherman and Charles Edward Guthrie. His parents named him after Woodrow Wilson, then Governor of New Jersey, the Democratic candidate who was soon to be elected President of the United States. Charles Guthrie, known as Charley, was an industrious businessman, owning at one time up to nowrap|30 plots of land in Okfuskee county. Charley was also actively involved in Oklahoma politics and was a Democratic candidate for office in the county. The young Guthrie would often accompany his father when Charley made stump speeches in the area. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 11]

Guthrie's early family life included several tragic fires which caused the loss of their home in Okemah. His sister Clara died in an accidental coal oil fire when Guthrie was seven, and Guthrie's father was severely burned in a later coal oil fire. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 30] The circumstances of these fires, especially Charley's accident, remain unclear. It is not known whether they were in fact accidents or the result of actions by Guthrie's mother who, unknown to the Guthries at the time, was suffering from a degenerative neurological disease. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", pp. 26, 32, 39] Nora Guthrie was eventually committed to the Oklahoma Hospital for the Insane, where she died in 1930. It is believed she was a victim of Huntington's Disease, which would later be the cause of her son's death. It is also suspected that Guthrie's maternal grandfather, George Sherman, suffered from the disease, due to circumstances surrounding his drowning death. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", pp. 1, 4]

With Nora Guthrie institutionalized and Charley Guthrie living in Pampa, Texas working to repay his debts from unsuccessful real estate deals, Woody Guthrie and his siblings were on their own in Oklahoma and relied on their eldest brother, Roy Guthrie, for support. The fourteen year old Guthrie worked odd jobs around Okemah, bumming meals, and sometimes sleeping at the homes of family friends. According to one story, Guthrie made friends with an African-American blues harmonica player named "George", whom he would watch play at the man's shoe shine booth. Before long Guthrie bought his own harmonica and began playing along. [Guthrie's interview with Alan Lomax at the Library Of Congress Recording Sessions, as recorded in Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 28. But in another interview 14 years later, Guthrie claimed that he learned how to play harmonica from a boyhood friend, John Woods, and that his earlier story was false. ibid, p. 410.] He seemed to have a natural affinity for music and easily learned to "play by ear". He began to use his musical skills around town, playing a song for a sandwich or coins. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 28] Guthrie easily learned old Irish ballads and traditional songs from the parents of friends. Although Guthrie did not excel as a student—he dropped out of high school in his fourth year and did not graduate—his teachers described him as bright. He was also an avid reader and read books on a wide range of topics. Friends remember him reading constantly.Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 44]

Eventually, Guthrie's father sent for his son to come to Texas where little would change for the now-aspiring musician. Guthrie, 18 years old, was reluctant to attend high school classes in Pampa and spent a lot of time learning songs by busking on the streets and reading at the library. He was growing as a musician, gaining practice by regularly playing at dances for his cousin Jeff Guthrie, a fiddle player. In addition, Guthrie spent much time at the library in Pampa's city hall and wrote a manuscript summarizing everything he had read on the basics of psychology. A librarian in Pampa shelved this manuscript under Guthrie's name, but it was later lost in a library reorganization.

1930s: Traveling era

At age 19 Guthrie met and married his first wife, Mary Jennings, with whom he had three children. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 62] With the advent of the Dust Bowl era, Guthrie left Texas, leaving Mary behind, and joined the thousands of Okies who were migrating to California looking for work. Many of his songs are concerned with the conditions faced by these working class people.

Quote_box
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quote="This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin' it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."
source= Written by Guthrie in the late 1930s on a songbook distributed to listeners of his L.A. radio show "Woody and Lefty Lou" who wanted the words to his recordings.Curtis, Gene. [http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/itemsofinterest/centennial/centennial_storypage.asp?ID=070317_1_A11_TheOk43770 Only in Oklahoma: This man was our man.] "Tulsa World", March 17, 2007. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.] |

California

In the late 1930s, Guthrie achieved fame in Los Angeles, California, with radio partner Maxine "Lefty Lou" Crissman as a broadcast performer of commercial "hillbilly" music and traditional folk music. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", pp. 90–92, 103–112] Guthrie was making enough money to send for his family still living in Texas. While appearing on radio station KFVD, a commercial radio station owned by a populist-minded New Deal Democrat Frank Burke, Guthrie began to write and perform some of the protest songs that would eventually end up on "Dust Bowl Ballads". It was at KFVD that Guthrie met newscaster Ed Robbin. Robbin was impressed with a song Guthrie wrote about Thomas Mooney, a wrongly convicted man who was, at the time, a leftist cause célèbre. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 139] Robbin, who became Guthrie's political mentor, introduced Guthrie to Socialists and Communists in Southern California, including Will Geer, who would remain Guthrie's lifelong friend, and helped Guthrie book benefit performances in the Communist circles in Southern California. Despite Guthrie's later claim that, "the best thing that I did in 1936 was to sign up with the Communist Party" [Woody Guthrie Archives. "My Constitution and Me" [http://woodyguthrie.org/ Woody Guthrie Archives Collection] . Manuscripts Box 7 Folder 23.1, Unavailable online, link to Woody Guthrie Archives website for contact information.] he was never a member of the Party. He was, however, noted as a fellow traveler, or an outsider who agrees with the platform of the party without being subject to party discipline. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 151] Though not a party member, Guthrie requested to write a column for the Communist newspaper "The Daily Worker". The column, titled "Woody Sez", appeared a total of 174 times from May 1939 to January 1940. The columns were not explicitly political, but rather were about current events that Guthrie observed and experienced. The columns were written in an exaggerated hillbilly dialect and usually included a small comic. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 153] The columns were later published as a collection after Guthrie's death. Steve Earle said of Woody, "I don't think of Woody Guthrie as a political writer. He was a writer who lived in very political times". [Corn, David. [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20021104/corn/2 Jerusalem Calling] , "The Nation", October 17, 2002. Retrieved on November 7, 2007.]

With the outbreak of World War II and the nonaggression pact the Soviet Union had signed with Germany in 1939 KFVD radio owners did not want its staff "spinning apologia" for the Soviet Union; both Robbin and Guthrie left the station. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 161] Without the daily radio show, prospects for employment diminished and Guthrie and his family returned to Pampa, Texas. Although Mary Guthrie was happy to return to Texas, the wanderlusting Guthrie soon after accepted Will Geer's invitation to come to New York City and headed east.

1940s: Building a legacy

New York City

Arriving in New York, Guthrie, known as the Oklahoma cowboy, was embraced by its leftist folk music community and slept on a couch in Will Geer's apartment. Guthrie also made what were his first real recordings—several hours of conversation and songs that were recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress—as well as an album, "Dust Bowl Ballads", for Victor Records in Camden, New Jersey. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 174]

Guthrie was tired of the radio overplaying Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." He thought the song was unrealistic and complacent. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 144] Partly inspired by his experiences during a cross-country trip and his distaste for God Bless America, he penned his most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land" in February 1940. It was titled "God Blessed America." The melody is based on the gospel song "Oh My Loving Brother", best known as "Little Darling, Pal of Mine", sung by the country group The Carter Family. Guthrie signed the manuscript with the comment "All you can write is what you see, Woody G., N.Y., N.Y., N.Y.". [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 165] He protested class inequality in the final verses:

:"In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;":"By the relief office, I'd seen my people.":"As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,":"Is this land made for you and me?"

:"As I went walking, I saw a sign there,":"And on the sign there, It said "no trespassing." [In another version, the sign reads "Private Property"] :"But on the other side, it didn't say nothing!":"That side was made for you and me."

These verses were often omitted in subsequent recordings, sometimes by Guthrie. Though the song was written in 1940, it would be four years before it was recorded by Moses Asch in April 1944, [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 287] and even longer until sheet music was produced and given to schools by Howie Richmond. [Joe Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 375]

In March 1940, Guthrie was invited to play at a benefit hosted by The Steinbeck Committee to Aid Farm Workers to raise money for Migrant Workers. John Steinbeck's book "The Grapes of Wrath" was quite popular. It was at this concert Guthrie met Pete Seeger and the two men became good friends. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 168] Later Seeger accompanied Guthrie back to Texas to meet other members of the Guthrie family and has recalled an awkward conversation with Mary Guthrie's mother in which she asked Seeger's help in persuading Guthrie to treat her daughter better. [Cray, "Ramblin Man"p. 188]

Guthrie had some success in New York at this time as a guest on CBS's radio program "Back Where I Come From" and used his influence to get a spot on the show for his friend Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter. Ledbetter's Tenth Street apartment was a gathering spot for the left wing musician circle in New York at the time and Guthrie and Ledbetter were good friends after having busked together at bars in Harlem. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", pp. 194, 195]

In September 1940 Guthrie was invited by the Model Tobacco company to host their radio program "Pipe Smoking Time". Guthrie was paid $180 a week, an impressive salary in 1940.Cray, "Ramblin Man"p. 197] He was finally making enough money to send regular payments back to Mary and eventually brought Mary and the children to New York, where the family lived in an apartment on Central Park West. The reunion represented Woody's desire to be a better father and husband. He said "I have to set ["sic"] real hard to think of being a dad".Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 197] Unfortunately for the newly relocated family, Guthrie quit after the seventh broadcast, claiming he had begun to feel the show was too restricting when he was told what to sing. [Cray, "Ramblin Man"p. 200] Disgruntled with New York, Guthrie packed up Mary and his children in a new car and headed west to California. [Cray, "Ramblin Man"p. 199]

Pacific Northwest

In May 1941, after a brief stay in Los Angeles, Guthrie moved the family to Washington in the Pacific northwest on the promise of a job. A documentary, directed by Gunther von Fritsch, was being created in support of the Bonneville Power Administration's building of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River and needed a narrator. Supported by a recommendation from Alan Lomax, the original idea was to have Guthrie narrate the film and sing songs onscreen. The original project was projected to take one year to complete but when filmmakers became worried about the implications of casting such a political figure, Guthrie's role was minimized. He was hired instead for one month only by the Department of the Interior to write songs about the Columbia River and the building of the federal dams for the documentary's soundtrack. Although the film was never released in anything but a limited form, some good did come of the project. When Guthrie and a driver toured the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest, Guthrie said he "couldn't believe it, it's a paradise", [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p.209] and was creatively inspired. In one month Guthrie wrote 26 songs including three of his most famous: "Roll On Columbia", "Pastures of Plenty", and "Grand Coulee Dam". [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 195, 196, 202, 205, 212] The surviving songs were eventually released as "Columbia River Songs".

At the conclusion of the month in Washington, Guthrie wanted to return to New York. Tired of the continual uprooting, Mary Guthrie told him to go without her and the children. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p.213] Although Guthrie would see Mary again, once on a tour through Los Angeles with the Almanac Singers, it was essentially the end of their marriage. Divorce was difficult with Mary being a member of the Catholic Church, but she reluctantly agreed in December 1943. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 266]

Almanac Singers

Following the conclusion of his work in Washington State, Guthrie corresponded with Pete Seeger about Seeger's newly formed folk-protest group, the Almanac Singers. Guthrie returned to New York with plans to tour the country as a member of the group. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p.192-193,195–231] The singers originally worked out of a loft in New York City hosting regular concerts called hootenannys, a word Pete and Woody had picked up in their cross-country travels. The singers eventually outgrew the space and moved into the cooperative Almanac House in Greenwich Village.

Initially Guthrie helped write and sing what the Almanacs Singers termed "peace" songs. After America's entry into World War II the topics of their songs became more specifically anti-fascist. The members of the Almanac Singers and residents of the Almanac House were a loosely defined group of musicians, though the 'core' members included Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Millard Lampell and Lee Hays. In keeping with common socialist ideals, meals, chores and rent at the Almanac House were shared. The Sunday hootenannys were good opportunities to collect donation money for rent. Songs written in the Almanac House had shared songwriting credits between all the members, although in the case of "Union Maid", members would later state that Guthrie wrote the song, ensuring that his children would receive residuals. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 220]

In the Almanac House Guthrie added an air of authenticity to their work since Guthrie was a "real" working class Oklahoman. "There was the heart of America personified in Woody....And for a New York Left that was primarily Jewish, first or second generation American, and was desperately trying to get Americanized, I think a figure like Woody was of great, great importance", a friend of the group, Irwin Silber, would say. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 216] Woody would routinely emphasize his working class image, reject songs he felt were not in the country blues vein he was familiar with, and would rarely contribute to household chores. House member Agnes "Sis" Cunningham, another Okie, would later recall that Woody, "loved people to think of him as a real working class person and not an intellectual". [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 231] Guthrie contributed songwriting and authenticity in much the same capacity for Pete Seeger's post-Almanac Singers project People's Songs, a newsletter and booking organization for labor singers, founded in 1945.People's Songs Inc. "People's Songs Newsletter, Vol 1. No 1.". 1945. Old Town School of Folk Music resource center collection. ]

"Bound for Glory"

Guthrie was a prolific writer, penning thousands of pages of unpublished poems and prose, including many written while living in New York City. After a recording session with Alan Lomax, Lomax suggested Guthrie write an autobiography; in Lomax's opinion, Guthrie's descriptions of growing up were some of the best accounts of American childhood that he had read. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 200, 201] It was during this time that Guthrie met a dancer in New York who would become his second wife, Marjorie Mazia. Mazia was an instructor at the prestigious Martha Graham Dance School where she was assisting Sophie Maslow with her piece "Folksay". Based on the folklore and poetry collected by Carl Sandburg, it included the adaptation of some of Guthrie's "Dust Bowl Ballads" for the dance studio. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 200] He continued writing songs and, as Lomax had suggested, began work on his autobiography. The end product, "Bound For Glory" was completed in no small part due to the patient editing assistance of Mazia and was first published by E.P. Dutton in 1943. [Amazon.com. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007E0CZ2 "Bound for Glory" (Unknown Binding).] Retrieved on November 27, 2007.] It is a vivid tale told in the artist's own down-home dialect, with the flair and imagery of a true storyteller. "Library Journal" complained about the "Too careful reproduction of illiterate speech."LaBorie, Tim. [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608001791/Woody-Guthrie.html Woody Guthrie biography.] MusicianGuide.com. Retrieved on January 8, 2008.] But Clifton Fadiman, reviewing the book in the "New York Times", paid the author a fine tribute: "Some day people are going to wake up to the fact that Woody Guthrie and the ten thousand songs that leap and tumble off the strings of his music box are a national possession like Yellowstone and Yosemite, and part of the best stuff this country has to show the world." A film adaptation of "Bound for Glory" was released in 1976. [Internet Movie Database. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074235/ "Bound for Glory"] . Retrieved on November 26, 2007.]

The Asch recordings

In 1944, Guthrie met Moses "Moe" Asch of Folkways Records, for whom he first recorded "This Land Is Your Land", and over the next few years recorded "Worried Man Blues", along with hundreds of other songs. These recordings would later be released by Folkways and Stinson Records who had joint distribution rights to the recordings. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 417] The Folkways recordings are still available today with the most complete series of these sessions, culled from dates with Asch, simply titled "The Asch Recordings".

World War II years

Guthrie believed performing his anti-fascist songs and poems at home were the best use of his talents; Guthrie lobbied the United States Army to accept him as a USO performer instead of in the draft. When Guthrie's attempts failed, his friend Cisco Houston, pressured Guthrie along with Jim Longhi to join the U.S. Merchant Marine. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", pp. 277–280, 287–291] Guthrie served as a mess man and dish washer, and he frequently sang for the crew and troops to buoy the spirits on transatlantic voyages. Guthrie made attempts to write about his experience in the Merchant Marine but was never satisfied with the results. Longhi later wrote about these experiences in his book "Woody, Cisco and Me". [cite book |last=Longhi |first=Jim |authorlink= Jim Longhi |title= "Woody, Cisco and Me" |year=1997 |publisher=Random House |isbn=0252022769 ] The book offers a rare first-hand account of Guthrie during his military service. In 1945, Guthrie's association with Communism made him ineligible for further service in the Merchant Marine and he was drafted into the U.S. Army. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", pp. 302–303]

While he was on from the Army Guthrie and Marjorie were married. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 312] After his discharge, they moved into a house on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island and over time had four children. One of their children, Cathy, died as a result of a fire at age four, sending Guthrie into a serious depression. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 344–351 ] Their other children were named Joady, Nora and Arlo. Arlo followed in his father's footsteps as a singer-songwriter. During this period, Guthrie wrote and recorded, "Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child", a collection of children's music, which includes the song "Goodnight Little Arlo (Goodnight Little Darlin')", written when Arlo was about nine years old.

The 1948 crash of a plane carrying 28 Mexican farm workers from Oakland, California, on their way to be deported back to Mexico inspired Woody to write "Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)". [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 364–365]

Mermaid Avenue

The years living on Mermaid Avenue were among Guthrie's most productive periods as a writer. His extensive writings from this time were archived and maintained by Marjorie and later his estate, mostly handled by Guthrie's daughter Nora. Several of the manuscripts contain scribblings by a young Arlo and the other Guthrie offspring. [cite web | last = WoodyGuthrie.org| title = Woody Guthrie Archives | url=http://www.woodyguthrie.org/archives/archivesindex.htm | accessdate = 2007-04-10 ]

During this time Ramblin' Jack Elliott studied extensively under Guthrie, visiting his home and observing how he wrote and performed. Elliott, like Bob Dylan later, idolized Guthrie and was inspired by his idiomatic performance style and repertoire. Due to Guthrie's illness, Dylan and Guthrie's son Arlo would later claim that they learned much of Guthrie's performance style from Elliott. When asked about Arlo's claim, Elliott said, "I was flattered. Dylan learned from me the same way I learned from Woody. Woody didn't teach me. He just said, If you want to learn something, just steal it — that's the way I learned from Lead Belly." [cite web | last = Reitwiesner | first = William Addams | title = Guthrie Family Ancestry | url=http://ramblinjack.com/bio2.html | accessdate = 2007-07-17 ]

1950s and 1960s

Deteriorating health

By the late 1940s, Guthrie's health was worsening and his behavior becoming extremely erratic. He received various diagnoses (including alcoholism and schizophrenia), but in 1952 was finally diagnosed to be suffering from Huntington's Disease, the genetic disorder believed to have caused the death of his mother. Believing him to be a danger to their children, Marjorie suggested he return to California without her and they eventually divorced. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 388–394, 399]

Upon his return to California, Guthrie lived in a compound owned by Will Geer with blacklisted singers and actors waiting out the political climate. As his health worsened he met and married his third wife, Anneke Van Kirk, and they had a child, Lorina Lynn. The couple moved to Florida briefly, living in a bus on land owned by a friend. Guthrie's arm was hurt in a campfire accident when gasoline used to start the campfire exploded. Although in time he regained movement in the arm he was not able to play the guitar again. In 1954 the couple returned to New York. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 418–419] Shortly after that, Anneke filed for divorce, a result of the strain of caring for Guthrie. Anneke left New York, allowing friends to adopt Lorina Lynn. After the divorce, Guthrie's second wife Marjorie reentered his life. Marjorie cared for him and assisted him until his death.

Guthrie, increasingly unable to control his muscle movements, was hospitalized at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital from 1956 to 1961, at Brooklyn State Hospital until 1966, [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 433–439] and finally at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center until his death. [Klein, "Woody Guthrie", p. 460 ] Marjorie and the children visited Guthrie at Greystone every Sunday. They answered fan mail and played on the hospital grounds. Eventually a longtime fan of Guthrie invited the family to his nearby home for these Sunday visits lasting until Guthrie was moved to the Brooklyn State Hospital, which was closer to where Marjorie lived. Guthrie's illness was essentially untreated due to a lack of information about the disease at the time. However, his death helped raise awareness of the disease and led Marjorie to help found the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease, which became the Huntington's Disease Society of America. [cite journal |author=Arévalo J, Wojcieszek J, Conneally PM |title=Tracing Woody Guthrie and Huntington's disease |journal=Semin Neurol |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=209–23 |year=2001 |month=June |pmid=11442329 |doi= |url=] None of Guthrie's three remaining children with Marjorie have developed symptoms of Huntington's, but two of Mary Guthrie's children (Gwendolyn and Sue) were diagnosed with the disease. Both died at 41 years of age. [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 394]

Folk revival and Guthrie's death

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a new generation of young people were inspired by folk singers including Guthrie. These "folk revivalists" became more politically aware in their music. The American Folk Revival was beginning to take place, focused on the issues of the day, such as the civil rights movement and free speech movement. Pockets of folk singers were forming around the country in places like Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Many of these musicians had heard of Guthrie, but one of the first to visit him in the Brooklyn State Hospital was Bob Dylan. Dylan idolized Guthrie, calling him his hero. Soon after learning of Guthrie's whereabouts, these new, young folk singers regularly visited him during the final years of his life, playing his own songs for him as well as their originals. [cite web | last = Reitwiesner | first = William Addams | title = Guthrie Family Ancestry | date=May 31, 1983|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896825,00.html | publisher=Time Magazine |accessdate = 2007-04-10 ] Guthrie died of complications of Huntington's disease in 1967. By the time of his death, his work had been discovered by a new audience, introduced to them in part through Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, his ex-wife Marjorie and other new members of the folk revival, and his son Arlo. Since his death, artists have paid tribute to Guthrie by covering his songs or by dedicating songs to him. One of the first artists to do so was Scottish folk artist Donovan, who covered Guthrie's "Car, Car (Riding in My Car)" on his 1965 debut album "What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid". [CD Universe. [http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6840113&BAB=E "What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid" by Donovan.] Retrieved on November 27, 2007.] Bruce Springsteen also performed a cover of Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" on his live album "Live: 1975-85." In the introduction to the song, Springsteen referred to it as "about one of the most beautiful songs ever written." [ [http://www.fretbase.com/fretbase/2008/07/play-woody-guth.html Fretbase, Play Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land] ]

Musical legacy

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quote="I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing.""Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard traveling."

"I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built."

"I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work." [Cray, "Ramblin Man", p. 285] |source=Guthrie on songwriting|

Foundation and Archives

The Woody Guthrie Foundation is a non-profit organization that serves as administrator and caretaker of the Woody Guthrie Archives. The archive houses the largest collection of Guthrie material in the world. [BMI News. [http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/535470 3rd Annual Woody Guthrie Fellowship Program Opens] . September 21, 2007. Retrieved on November 13, 2007. ] Guthrie's unrecorded written lyrics housed at the Archives have been the starting point of several albums including the Wilco and Billy Bragg albums "Mermaid Avenue" and "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II", created in 1998 sessions at the invitation of Guthrie's daughter Nora. [DVD Talk. [http://www.dvdtalk.com/noraguthrieinterview.html Nora Guthrie Interview] . Retrieved on January 28, 2008]

Folk Festival

The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate Guthrie's life and music. The festival is held on the weekend closest to Guthrie's birth date (July 14) in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. Planned and implemented annually by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, a non-profit corporation, the goal is simply to ensure Guthrie's musical legacy. [WoodyGuthrie.com. [http://www.woodyguthrie.com/ Woody Guthrie Coalition Board of Directors] . Retrieved on September 27, 2007.] Eshleman, Annette C. [http://www.dirtylinen.com/103/concerts.html Concert Review - Woody Guthrie Folk Festival] . "Dirty Linen", #103, December 2002/January 2003. Retrieved on September 21, 2007.] The Woody Guthrie Coalition commissioned a local Creek Indian sculptor to cast a full-body bronze statue of Guthrie and his guitar, complete with the guitar's well-known inscription: "This machine kills fascists".Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. FindArticles.com. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1132/is_10_56/ai_n16126173 Bound for Glory - Indeed!] Review of "Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie" by Ed Cray. March 2005. Retrieved on September 17, 2007.] The statue, sculpted by artist Dan Brooks, stands along Okemah's main street in the heart of downtown and was unveiled the inaugural year of the festival.3nd Annual Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival. July 12–16, 2000. (Program booklet.)]

Jewish songs

Marjorie Mazia was born Marjorie Greenblatt and her mother, Aliza Greenblatt was a well known Yiddish poet. With her, Guthrie wrote numerous Jewish lyrics. Guthrie’s Jewish lyrics can be traced to the unusual collaborative relationship he had with his mother-in-law, who lived across from Guthrie and his family in Brooklyn in the 1940s. Guthrie – the Oklahoma troubadour – and Greenblatt – the Jewish wordsmith – often discussed their artistic projects and critiqued each other’s works, finding common ground in their shared love of culture and social justice, despite very different backgrounds. Their collaboration flourished in 1940s Brooklyn, where Jewish culture was interwoven with music, modern dance, poetry and anti-fascist, pro-labor activism. Guthrie was inspired to write songs that came directly out of this unlikely relationship, both personal and political; he clearly identified the Jewish struggle with that of his fellow Okies and other oppressed and disenfranchised peoples.

These lyrics were re-discovered by Nora Guthrie and were set to music by the Jewish Klezmer group The Klezmatics with the 2007 release "Happy Joyous Hanukkah" (JMG Records).

The Klezmatics also released "Wonder Wheel - Lyrics by Woody Guthrie" (JMG), an album of spiritual lyrics put to music that was composed by the band.http://www.woodyguthrie.org/merchandise/klezmatics.htm] It won the 2007 Best Contemporary World Music Album Grammy Award and was Produced by Danny Blume and mixed by Steve Rosenthal.

Tributes

On January 20, 1968, three months following Guthrie's death, Harold Leventhal produced "A Tribute to Woody Guthrie" at New York City's Carnegie Hall. [WoodyGuthrie.org. [http://www.woodyguthrie.org/harold.htm Harold Leventhal: The Fifth Weaver.] Retrieved on November 14, 2007.] Performers included Jack Elliott, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan and The Band, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Odetta and others. Leventhal repeated the tribute on September 12, 1970 at the Hollywood Bowl. Recordings of the two concerts were eventually released as 2 LPs then later as one CD. [The Band's website. [http://theband.hiof.no/albums/tribute_to_woody_guthrie.html "Various Artists: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie, Part 1."] Retrieved on November 14, 2007.]

In September 1996 Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Case Western Reserve University cohosted "Hard Travelin': The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie", a 10-day conference of panel sessions, lectures, and concerts. The conference became the first in what would become the museum's annual American Music Masters Series conference. [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [http://www.rockhall.com/public/american-music-masters American Music Masters Series.] Retrieved Feb. 12, 2008.] Highlights included Arlo Guthrie's keynote address, a Saturday night musical jamboree at Cleveland's Odeon Theater, and a Sunday night concert at Severance Hall, the home of the Cleveland Orchestra. [ Barden, Tom. [http://www.jstor.org/view/00218715/ap020453/02a00090/0 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's American Masters Series: Woody Guthrie, 1996-Jimmie Rodgers, 1997-Robert Johnson, 1998.] "Journal of American Folklore", Vol. 112, No. 446, (Autumn 1999), p.551-4. Retrieved Feb. 12, 2008] Musicians performing over the course of the conference included Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, The Indigo Girls, Ellis Paul, Jimmy LaFave, Ani DiFranco, and others. [ Robicheau, Paul. Ellis Paul’s got Woody Guthrie under his skin. "Boston Globe", September 20, 1996.] In 1999, Wesleyan University Press published a collection of essays from the conference [Santelli, Robert. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0819563919 "Hard Travelin': The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie] , Wesleyan University Press, 1999. ISBN 0819563919] and DiFranco's record label, Righteous Babe, released a compilation of the Severance Hall concert, "'Til We Outnumber 'Em", in 2000. [Righteous Babe Website. [http://www.righteousbabe.com/store/prod_albums.asp?id=350 "Till we Outnumber 'Em" track listing.] Retrieved on April 9, 2007.]

From 1999 to 2002 the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service presented the traveling exhibit, "This Land Is Your Land: The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie". In collaboration with Nora Guthrie, the Smithsonian exhibition draws from rarely seen objects, illustrations, film footage, and recorded performances to reveal a complex man who was at once poet, musician, protester, idealist, itinerant hobo, and folk legend. [Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. [http://www.sites.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibits/archived_exhibitions/woody_gutherie.htm Archive: Past Exhibitions] . Retrieved on November 13, 2007.]

In 2003 Jimmy LaFave produced a Woody Guthrie tribute show called Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway. The ensemble show toured around the country and included a rotating cast of singer-songwriters individually performing Guthrie's songs. Interspersed between songs were Guthrie's philosophical writings read by a narrator. In addition to LaFave, members of the rotating cast included Ellis Paul, Slaid Cleaves, Eliza Gilkyson, Joel Rafael, husband-wife duo Sarah Lee Guthrie (Woody Guthrie's granddaughter) and Johnny Irion, Michael Fracasso, and The Burns Sisters. Oklahoma songwriter Bob Childers, sometimes called "the Dylan of the Dust", served as narrator.Propaganda Media Group, Inc. [http://www.propagandamediagroup.com/artists/ribbon_of_highway_endless_skyway/bio.htm Ribbon of Highway - Endless Skyway: Concert in the Spirit of Woody Guthrie] . Retrieved on February 6, 2007.] [RibbonofHighway.com. [http://www.ribbonofhighway.com/ Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway website.] Retrieved on January 25, 2007.] When word spread about the tour, performers began contacting LaFave, whose only prerequisite was to have an inspirational connection to Guthrie. Each artist chose the Guthrie songs that he or she would perform as part of the tribute. LaFave said, "It works because all the performers are Guthrie enthusiasts in some form".Martinez, Rebekah. [http://www.hcnonline.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=6963646&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532207&rfi=8 Tribute to Woody Guthrie Tour makes a stop in Conroe Feb. 16] , "The Courier", (Conroe, TX.), February 7, 2003. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.] The inaugural performance of the Ribbon of Highway tour took place on February 5, 2003 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The abbreviated show was a featured segment of "Nashville Sings Woody", yet another tribute concert to commemorate the music of Woody Guthrie held during the Folk Alliance Conference. The cast of "Nashville Sings Woody", a benefit for the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives, also included Arlo Guthrie, Marty Stuart, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Janis Ian, and others.Fairleigh Dickinson University. [http://alpha.fdu.edu/wfdu/Folk%20Alliance.htm 15th Annual Folk Alliance Conference: Nashville Sings Woody] . Retrieved on February 6, 2007.]

Woody and Marjorie Guthrie were honored at a musical celebration featuring Billy Bragg and the band Brad on October 17, 2007 at Webster Hall in New York City. Steve Earle also performed. The event was hosted by actor/activist Tim Robbins to benefit the Huntington¹s Disease Society of America to commemorate the organization's 40th Anniversary. [BrooklynVegan.com. [http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2007/09/a_woody_guthrie.html Woody Guthrie Benefit @ Webster Hall] . Retrieved on November 8, 2007.]

Posthumous honors

Pete Seeger had the sloop "Woody Guthrie" built for the Beacon Sloop Club. [ [http://www.beaconsloopclub.org/Sloop.html Beacon Sloop Club] Retrieved 2008-08-28] It was launched in 1978 and serves to educate people about sailing and the history and environs of the Hudson River.

Although Guthrie's catalogue never brought him many awards while he was alive, in 1988 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the same year his protégé Bob Dylan was inducted), [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website. [http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/woody-guthrie Woody Guthrie biography.] Retrieved on November 3, 2007.] and in 2000 he was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. [Grammy Foundation website. [http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Awards/Lifetime_Awards/ Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards - Past Recipients.] Retrieved on November 3, 2007.]

In 1987 "Roll On Columbia" was chosen as the official Washington State Folk Song, [Netstate.com. [http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/song/wa_roll_on_columbia.htm The Washington State Folk Song.] Retrieved on November 27, 2007.] and in 2001 Guthrie's "Oklahoma Hills" was chosen to be the official state folk song of Oklahoma.

On September 26, 1992, The Peace Abbey, a multi-faith retreat center located in Sherborn, Massachusetts, awarded Guthrie their Courage of Conscience Award for his social activism and artistry in song which conveyed the plight of the common person. [The Peace Abbey. [http://www.peaceabbey.org/awards/peace_award.htm The Courage of Conscience Award.] Retrieved April 15, 2008.]

On June 26, 1998, as part of its Legends of American Music series, the United States Postal Service issued 45 million 32-cent stamps honoring folk musicians Huddie Ledbetter, Guthrie, Sonny Terry and Josh White. The four musicians were represented on sheets of 20 stamps. [United States Postal Service. [http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=17017&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13383 Legends of American Music.] June 26, 1998. Retrieved on January 7, 2008.]

In 2006, The Klezmatics set Jewish lyrics written by Guthrie to music. The resulting album, Wonder Wheel, won the Grammy award for best contemporary world music album. [ [http://cdbaby.com/cd/klezmatics CD Baby: THE KLEZMATICS: Wonder Wheel - lyrics by Woody Guthrie ] ]

On April 27, 2007, Guthrie was one of four Okemah natives inducted into Okemah's Hall of Fame during the town's Pioneer Day weekend of festivities. [ Elliott, Matt. [http://www.tulsaworld.com/common/printerfriendlystory.aspx?articleID=070411_1_A2_TTWor08307 Hometown honor for Guthrie, 3 others.] "Tulsa World", April 11, 2007, p. A2. Retrieved on January 9, 2007.]

On February 10, 2008, "The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949", a rare live recording released in cooperation with the Woody Guthrie Foundation, was the recipient of a Grammy Award in the category Best Historical Album. [Grammy.com. [http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/50th_Show/list.aspx 50th annual Grammy Awards Nomination List.] (see "Category 91".) Retrieved on February 8, 2008.] [Himes, Geoffrey. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/arts/music/02himes.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5124&en=732c25c27d89715f&ex=1346299200&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Dead 40 Years, Woody Guthrie Stays Busy.] "The New York Times", September 2, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2008.]

elected discography

Many Guthrie tracks have been repeatedly repackaged and reordered. Items here are listed in order of the most recent published date, not original recording date. [WoodyGuthrie.org. [http://woodyguthrie.org/biography/selecteddiscography.htm Selected Discography] . Retrieved on November 14, 2007. ]

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References

Citations

Printed sources

*cite book |last=Cray|first=Ed |authorlink= Ed Cray |title= Ramblin Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie |year=2004 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=0393327361
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Further reading/listening

* Down Home Radio Show. [http://www.downhomeradioshow.com/2007/01/leadbelly-woody-guthrie-live-on-wnyc-1940 LeadBelly & Woody Guthrie live on WNYC Radio, Dec. 1940] . Audio re-broadcast of a 1940 radio show. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*Earle, Steve. [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030721/earle Woody Guthrie] . "The Nation", July 21, 2003. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
* Electronic Frontier Foundation. [http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/JibJab_v_Ludlow/20040823_Jibjab_Copyright_Scans.pdf Scanned images of some of Woody Guthrie's original works.] Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*Jackson, Mark Allen. "Prophet Singer: The Voice and Vision of Woody Guthrie". University Press of Mississippi, January, 2007. ISBN 978-1-60473-102-6
* La Chapelle, Peter. [http://hnn.us/articles/42602.html Is Country Music Inherently Conservative?] History News Network. Nov. 12, 2007. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*La Chapelle, Peter. "Proud to Be an Okie: Cultural Politics, Country Music, and Migration to Southern California". University of California Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-520-24888-5 (hb); ISBN 978-0-520-24889-2 (pb)
*Library of Congress. [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwghtml/wwgtimeline.html Timeline of Woody Guthrie (1912–1967)] . Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*Library of Congress. [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwghtml/ Woody Guthrie and the Archive of American Folk Song: Correspondence, 1940–1950] . Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*Marroquin, Danny. [http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/060804-okemah.shtml Walking the Long Road.] PopMatters.com. Aug. 4, 2006. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*Public Broadcasting Service. [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/guthrie_w.html "Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home"] . Documentary from PBS' American Masters series, July 2006. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*University of Oregon. [http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/wguthrie/ "Roll On Columbia: Woody Guthrie and the Bonneville Power Administration"] . Video documentary. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*University of Virginia. [http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/music/audio/mp3/this_land.mp3 Guthrie singing "This Land Is Your Land"] . MP3 recording. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
*Symphony Silicon Valley Concert Recordings. [http://www.symphonysiliconvalley.org/concerts.php?pagecontID=9 David Amram's "Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie"] Recorded September 30, 2007. Audio recording. Retrieved on January 11, 2008.
*WoodyGuthrie.de. [http://www.woodyguthrie.de/audio.html Woody Guthrie Related Audio.] Miscellaneous Real Audio files featuring Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Alan Lomax and others. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ok3aw36PsQ Video Documentary of Woody Guthrie's Time at Greystone Asylum in New Jersey]
* [http://www.woodyguthrie.org/ The Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives]
* [http://www.woodyguthrie.com/ The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival]
* [http://www.songfacts.com/int/2008/03/anna-canoni-woody-guthrie.html Songfacts interview with Anna Canoni (Guthrie's granddaughter)]
*worldcat id|id=lccn-n79-111488

Persondata
NAME= Guthrie, Woody
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Guthrie, Woodrow Wilson
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH= July 14, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH=Okemah, Oklahoma, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH= October 3, 1967
PLACE OF DEATH=New York City, New York, U.S.