Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie was born 1912 in Oklahoma.
He seemed to have a natural affinity for music and easily learned to "play by ear". At a young age he began to use his musical skills around town, playing a song for a sandwich or coins. He learned old Irish ballads and traditional songs from the parents of friends. Although Guthrie did not excel as a student, his teachers described him as bright. He was also an avid reader and read books on a wide range of topics. At 18 he 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.
At age 19 Guthrie met and married his first wife, Mary Jennings, with whom he had three children. With the advent of the Dust Bowl era, Guthrie left 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.
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. 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.
The album, Dust Bowl Ballads was released on Victor Records in 1940.
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. 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.
Like so many other solo singers who did not write their own material, Springfield's recording career was dependent on the quality of the material she could obtain, and by the end of the decade, top-notch material was becoming harder to find: Carole King, who had written two of her biggest hits, "Some of Your Lovin'" and "Goin' Back", was embarking on a singing career, and the chart-busting Bacharach-David partnership was foundering. In the late 1960s she found herself becoming "unhip" at a time when hipness was necessary for musical success.
Around 1944-45, Guthrie wrote and recorded, Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child, a collection of children's music.
By the late 1940s, Guthrie's health was ailing 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.
Soon was was unable to play and record, and he only tried recording a few times in the early 1950's.
Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children, including American folk musician Arlo Guthrie. When he died in 1967 he was already a legend in American folk music
source: wikipedia +
Discography:
1. Dust Bowl Ballads - RCA 1940
Tracks:
1. The Great Dust Storm / 2. Talkin' Dust Bowl Blues / 3. Pretty Boy Floyd / 4. Dusty Old Dust / 5. Dust Bowl Blues / 6. Blowin' Down This Road / 7. Tom Joad Part I / 8. Tom Joad Part II / 9. Do Re Mi / 10. Dust Bowl Refugee / 11. I Ain't Got No Home In This World Anymore / 12. Vigilante Man / 13. Dust Cain't Kill Me / 14. Dust Pneumonia Blues / 15. Talkin' Dust Bowl Blues (Alt. *)
Rating : 7
2. Library Congress Recordings 1940 - Elekra 1964
Tracks:
1. Lost Train Blues / 2. Railroad Blues / 3. Rye Whiskey / 4. Old Joe Clark / 5. Beaumont Rag / 6. Texas Oil Field / 7. Greenback Dollar / 8. Boll Weevil Song / 9. So Long, It's Been Good to Know You / 10. Talking Dust Bowl Blues / 11. Do-Re-Mi // 1. Hard Times / 2. Pretty Boy Floyd / 3. They Laid Jesus Christ in His Grave / 4. Jolly Banker / 5. I Ain't Got No Home / 6. Dirty Overalls / 7. Chain Around My Leg / 8. Worried Man Blues / 9. Lonesome Valley / 10. Walking Down that Railroad Line // 1. Goin' Down that Road Feeling Bad / 2. Dust Storm Disaster / 3. Foggy Mountain Top / 4. Dust Pneumonia Blues / 5. California Blues / 6. Dust Bowl Refugees / 7. Will Rogers Highway / 8. Los Angeles New Year's Flood
Rating : 7
3. Deep Sea Chanteys and Whaling Ballads - 1941 General Records
Tracks:
1. Blow the Man Down / 2. Blow Ye Winds, Heigh Ho / 3. The Coast of High Barbary / 4. The Golden Vanity / 5. Haul Away Joe / 6. Way Rio / 7. Greenland Fishing *
Rating :
4. Sod-Buster Ballads - General Album G-21), recorded July 7, 1941
Tracks:
1. The Dodger Song / 2. Ground Hog / 3. Hard, Ain’t it Hard / 4. House of the Rising Sun / 5 I Ride an Old Paint / 6. State of Arkansas / 7. The Weawer’s Song*
Rating :
5. The Columbia River Collection - Smithsonian Folkways 1941
Tracks:
1. Oregon Trail / 2. Roll On Columbia / 3. New Found Land / 4. Talking Columbia / 5. Roll Columbia, roll / 6. Columbia’s Waters / 7. Ramblin’ Blues / 8. It Takes A Married Man To Sing A Worried Song / 9. Hard Travelin’ / 10. The Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done / 11. Jackhammer Blues / 12. Song of the Coulee Dam / 13. Grand Coulee Dam / 14. Washington Talkin’ Blues / 15. Ramblin’ Round / 16. Pastures of Plenty / 17. End of My Line
Rating : 6
6. The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1-4 [BOX SET] 1944-47 Smithsonian Folkways 1997 Tracks:
1. This Land is Your Land / 2. Car Song / 3. Rambling Round / 4. Talking Fishing Blues / 5. Philadelphia Lawyer / 6. Lindbergh / 7. Hobo's Lullaby / 8. Pastures of Plenty / 9. Grand Coulee Dam / 10. End of the Line / 11. New York Town / 12. Gypsy Davy / 13. Jesus Christ / 14. This Land is Your Land / 15. Do-Re-Mi / 16. Jarama Valley / 17. The Biggest Thing Man's Ever Done / 18. Picture from Life's Other Side / 19. Jesse James / 20. Talking Hard Work / 21. When That Great Ship Went Down / 22. Hard Ain't it Hard / 23. Going Down the Road Feeling Bad / 24. I Ain't Got Nobody / 25. The Sinking of the Reuben James / 26. Why, Oh Why? / 27. This Land is Your Land (reprise) // 1. Muleskinner Blues (Blue Yodel #8) / 2. The Wreck of the Old 97 / 3. Sally Goodin' / 4. Little Black Train / 5. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet / 6. Baltimore to Washington / 7. Rubber Dolly / 8. 21 Years / 9. Sowing on the Mountain / 10. Bed on the Floor / 11. Take a Whiff on Me / 12. Stepstone / 13. Put My Little Shoes Away / 14. Hen Cackle / 15. Poor Boy / 16. Stackolee / 17. Johnny Hart / 18. Worried Man Blues / 19. Danville Girl / 20. Gambling Man / 21. Rye Straw / 22. Crawdad Song / 23. Ida Red / 24. Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy / 25. Train 45 // 1. Hard Travelin' / 2. Farmer-Labor Train / 3. Howdjado / 4. Ship in the Sky / 5. I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore / 6. Mean Talking Blues / 7. Better World A-Coming / 8. Miss Pavlichencko / 9. So Long It's Been Good to Know You / 10. New Found Land / 11. Oregon Trail / 12. Vigilante Man / 13. 1913 Massacre / 14. Talking Columbia / 15. Two Good Men / 16. Sally Don't You Grieve / 17. Talking Sailor / 18. What are We Waiting On? / 19. Railroad Blues / 20. Ludlow Massacre / 21. Ladies Auxilary / 22. Miner's Song / 23. When the Yanks Go Marching In? / 24. Union Maid (excerpt) / 25. The Rubaiyat (excerpt) / 26. The Many and the Few / 27. Hanukkah Dance / 1. Ranger's Command / 2. Buffalo Skinners / 3. Billy the Kid / 4. Cowboy Waltz / 5. Pretty Boy Floyd / 6. Along in the Sun and the Rain / 7. Whoopie Ti-Yi-Yo, Get Along Little Dogies / 8. Froggie Went A-Courtin' / 9. Buffalo Gals / 10. I Ride an Old Paint / 11. Dead or Alive (Poor Lazurus) / 12. Slip Knot / 13. Cocaine Blues / 14. Go Tell Aunt Rhody / 15. Chisholm Trail / 16. Stewball / 17. Wild Cyclone / 18. Train Blues / 19. Red River Valley / 20. Fastest of Ponies / 21. Stewball / 22. Snow Deer / 23. When the Curfew Blues / 24. Little Darling / 25. Blowing Down That Old Dusty Road / 26. The Return of Rocky Mountain Slim and Desert Rat Shorty
Rating :
7. Ballads of Sacco & Vanzetti - 1947 Tracks:
1. The Flood and the Storm / 2. I Just Want to Sing Your Name / 3. Old Judge Thayer / 4. Red Wine / 5. Root Hog and Die / 6. Suassos Lane / 7. Two Good Men / 8. Vanzetti's Letter / 9. Vanzetti's Rock / 10. We Welcome to Heaven / 11. You Souls Of Boston
Rating :
8. Nursery Days - Disc Records 1946 / Folkways 1950 Tracks:
1. Wake up / 2. Clean-o / 3. Dance around / 4. Riding in my car / 5. Don't you push me down / 6. My dolly / 7. Put your finger in the air / 8. Come see / 9. Race you down the mountain / 10. Howdido / 11. Merry-go-round / 12. Sleep eye / 13. My yellow crayon / 14. Roll on / 15. Jiggy jiggy bum / 16. Bubble gum
Rating :
9. Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child - Disc Records 1947 / Folkways 1950
Tracks:
1. Grassy Grass Grass / 2. Swimmy Swim / 3. Little Sack of Sugar / 4. Rattle My Rattle / 5. I Want My Milk / 6. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 / 7. One Day Old / 8. Wash-y Wash Wash / 9. I'll Eat You, I'll Drink You / 10. Make a Bubble / 11. Who's My Pretty Baby / 12. I'll Write and I'll Draw / 13. Why, Oh Why? / 14. Pick it Up / 15. Pretty and Shiny-O / 16. Needle Sing / 17. Bling Blang / 18. Goodnight Little Arlo Wake up
Rating :
10. The Live Wire - General - Recorded Live 1949
Tracks:
1. How much? How long? / 2. Black Diamond / 3. I was there and the dust was there / 4. The Great Dust Storm / 5. Folk singers and dancers / 6. Talking Dust Bowl Blues / 7. Tom Joad / 8. Columbia River / 9. Pastures of Plenty / 10. Grand Coulee Dam / 11. Told by Mother Bloor / 12. 1913 Massacre / 13. Quit sending your inspectors / 14. Goodbye Centralia / 15. A cowboy of some kind / 16. Dead or Alive / 17. Jesus Christ has come! / 18. Jesus Christ
Rating :
11. Sings Folk Songs - Folkway Records 1962
Tracks:
1. Hard Travelin' / 2. What Did the Deep Sea Say? / 3. House of the Rising Sun / 4. Nine Hundred Miles / 5. John Henry / 6. Oregon Trail / 7. We Shall Be Free / 8. Dirty Overall / 9. Jack Hammer Blues / 10. Springfield Mountain / 11. Boll Weevil Blues / 12. Guitar Blue/ 13. Will You Miss Me?
Rating :
12. Sings Cowboy Songs - Stinson 1963
Tracks:
1. Chisholm Trail / 2. Billy The Kid / 3. Whoopie Ti Yi Yo / 4. Philadelphia Lawyer
/ 5. Ride Around Little Doggies / 6. Gambling Man / 7. Red River Valley / 8. Jessie James
Rating :
13. Hard Travellin' 1964
Tracks:
1. Springfield Mountain / 2. Hey Little Water Boy / 3. Chisholm Trail / 4. Rubber Dolly / 5. Lindbergh / 6. Hard Travelin' / 7. Jiggy Jiggy Bum Bum / 8. Put My Little Shoes / 9. I Ain't Got Nobody / 10. Yeller Gal / 11. Philadelphia Lawyer / 12. Ida Red
Rating :
14. Library of Congress Recordings - Elektra 1964
Tracks:
1. Lost Train Blues / 2. Introduction / 3. Blues / 4. "Gang / 5. Whiskey / 6. Toasts; Square Dance Tunes / 7. Old Joe Clark / 8. Beaumont Rag / 9. Family Misfortunes / 10. Oil Fields; The Root Beer Stand; Learning To Play the Guitar / 11. Greenback Dollar / 12. Boll Weevil Song / 13. Dust Storms; Storm of April 14, 1935 / 14. So Long, It's Been Good To Know You / 15. Migration From the Dust Bowl / 16. Talking Dust Bowl Blues / 17. Pea Patch Poppas / 18. Do-Re-Mi / 19. Hard Times / 20. Outlaws; About Pretty Boy Floyd; Bankers / 21. Pretty Boy Floyd / 22. About Jesse James / 23. They Laid Jesus Christ in His Grave / 24. Jolly Banker / 25. I Ain't Got No Home / 26. Okies / 27. Overalls / 28. Chain Around My Leg / 29. Chain Gangs; The Blues / 30. Worried Man Blues / 31. Church-House Blues / 32. Lonesome Valley / 33. Walking the Railroad Ties / 34. Walkin' Down That Railroad Line / 35. Railroad "Bulls"; Hoboin' and Freighttrainin'; Government Camps / 36. The Grapes of Wrath / 37. Goin' Down That Road Feeling Bad / 38. Handbill Situation; Labor "Contractors" / 39. Dust Storm Disaster / 40. Foggy Mountain Top / 41. Dust Storms and Their Effects / 42. Dust Pneumonia Blues / 43. California - The Promised Land / 44. California Blues / 45. Jimmie Rodgers; Living Conditions in California / 46. Dust Bowl Refugees / 47. Reputation of Oklahoma; Will Rogers / 48. Will Rogers Highway / 49. Flood Disaster / 50. Los Angeles New Year's Flood
Rating :
Essential Albums!
Original albums as listed and rated on “Rate Your Music” - August 1 - 2008
1 Dust Bowl Ballads - 1940
5 Nursery Days - 1950
78 Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child - 1956
Check and Rate Here!
- "rateyourmusic.com"
My Suggestion For a 80 minutes (app.) Best Of Compilation: More songs to come!!
1. Do Re Mi ( Guthrie ) Dust Bowl Ballads
2. Tom Joad ( Guthrie ) Dust Bowl Ballads
3. Dusty Old Dust ( Guthrie ) Dust Bowl Ballads
4. So Long, It's Been Good to Know You ( Guthrie ) Library Congress Recordings
5. Roll on Columbia ( Guthrie ) Columbia River Collection
6. Hard Travellin' ( Guthrie ) Columbia River Collection
7. Jackhammer Blues ( Guthrie ) Columbia River Collection
8. I Ride an Old Paint ( Trad. ) Sod Buster Ballads
9. Hard, Ain't it Hard ( Guthrie ) Sod Buster Ballads
10. Ship in the Sky ( Guthrie ) The Asch Recordings
11. New York Town ( Guthrie ) The Asch Recordings
12. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet ( Arr. Guthrie ) The Asch Recordings
13. Sowing on the Mountain ( Arr. Guthrie ) The Asch Recordings
14. I Ride an Old Paint ( Guthrie ) The Asch Recordings
15. Sinking of the Reuben James ( Guthrie ) The Asch Recordings
16. Gypsy Davey ( Trad. ) The Asch Recordings
17. This Land is Your Land ( Guthrie ) The Asch Recordings
LINKS:
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