Woody Guthrie - Woody Guthrie: Library of Congress Recordings (1940)

"So Long, It's Been Good to Know You" by Woody Guthrie


The connection from Bob Dylan to Woody Guthrie is straight forward. Bob Dylan says that the biggest reason for his move to New York was to meet his idol. Dylan would visit a sick Guthrie (from Huntington's Disease) at the Brooklyn State Hospital, learning songs and tricks. As a troubadour and political songwriter, Woody held a strong influence over the folk revival of the sixties.

Guthrie started playing music while in high school. While he didn't prove to be a strong student as he would drop out after four years, his teachers believed him a smart boy, and he was a voracious reader who would spend hours reading and teaching himself in the public library. Musically, he had no formal training and picked up most songs he would play by ear. He cut his teeth by busking in Oklahoma and Texas. With the seemingly apocalyptic Dust Bowl winds tearing apart the heart of the Southern Midwest, Guthrie moved to California some time in the 1930s. Many of his early songs ("Dust Bowl Refugee", Dust Pneumonia Blues", ...) dealt with the troubles he experienced at this time.

In California, Woody worked for a local radio station playing traditional folk songs. Of his time there, the folk singer says that the best thing he ever did there was join the Communist party. Officially, he actually never joined, but instead he was deemed a "fellow traveler": an outsider who agreed with the party platform but did not fall under party discipline. He grew part of Southern Californian Communist circles, played benefit concerts for the Party, and wrote an article for a Communist paper. His writings were not political. Instead, he wrote about his travels and his experiences. It just so happened he lived during political times (noted by Steve Earle).

Guthrie returned to Texas in 1940 after having a fallout with the radio station's political leanings. He didn't stay long and soon moved to New York at the invitation of actor Will Geer, a fellow Communist who he befriended during his time in SoCal. He began performing in folk circles as the "Oklahoma Cowboy" and caught the attention of folklorist Alan Lomax. Alan Lomax's 1940 field recordings were Guthrie's first (though they were never officially released until 1964). Alan focuses on chronicling Guthrie's traditional repertoire, a few of his political songs, and his dust bowl songs. In conversation, Woody also ruminates on his life growing up in Oklahoma, his freight train travels, and his Great Depression experiences. Although he was largely unheralded up to this point, he would quickly grow into the common man's voice within the next few years.

Here is the discography surrounding Woody Guthrie's debut recording sessions:

Woody Guthrie: Library of Congress Recordings

"Talking Dust Bowl Blues" by Woody Guthrie


Conversation Between Woody Guthrie and Alan Lomax on the Blues and Hard Times


If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

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