Woody Guthrie born July 14, 1912

[Jack Rabbit]

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please join me in singing Our National Anthem:

(I)This land is (IV)your land,
This land is (I)my land,
From Cali(V)fornia
To the New York (I)island,
From the redwood (IV)forests
To the Gulf Stream (I)waters
This (V)land was made for you and (I)me.

Photo from the site of the Smithsonian Institution.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Sing it!

http://www.woodyguthrie.org/

Thought I would join along in honoring the real spirit of America and Americana....it's got all that freedom inherent in it, but a respect for others and a resilience in the face of those that are trying to dupe you by pretending to be on your side while robbing you.

I AIN'T A GONNA KILL NOBODY

"I took a bath this morning in six war speeches, and a sprinkle of peace. Looks

like ever body is declaring war against the forces of force. That's what you get for

building up a big war machine. It scares your neighbors into jumping on you, and

then of course they them selves have to use force, so you are against their force,

and they're aginst yours. Look like the ring has been drawed and the marbles are

all in. The millionaires has throwed their silk hats and our last set of drawers in the

ring. The fuse is lit and the cannon is set, and somebody is in for a frailin. I would

like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take off your helmet,

unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady

lane, and say, nope, I aint a gonna kill nobody. Plenty of rich folks wants to fight.

Give them the guns."

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I really like this!

The Guthrie I'm more familiar with is Arlo. I saw him perform live in concert as a young teen on a double bill with Judy Collins. One of the best concerts of my young life. I recently saw an interview with him and couldn't believe how he'd aged! I guess that happens to all of us. Anyway, thanks. I guess I was missing a lot not being familiar with his dad's great work!:-)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. Have you heard Billy Bragg's "Mermaid Avenue"?

A set of songs Woody never set to music done by Bragg and Wilco.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Nope! I've heard nothing by Woody, only Arlo

But it sure sounds as if I should check this out! Thanks!:D

[Coffee Coyote]

12. may I make a few suggestions?

:-)

Start with the recently remastered "Dust Bowl Ballads".

Then, any of the 4 volumes of the "Mo Asch Recordings", which are available as individual discs, or a boxed set. They are thematically organized.

If you are willing, there is a 3CD set of the Library of Congress recordings, which feature Guthrie interviews with Alan and Bess Lomax in between the songs.

Read "Bound For Glory", then, if you're hungry for more, read Joe Klein's incredible biography, "Woody Guthrie: A Life".

Hope that helps.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Thank you!

Before I came to DU, I mainly read mysteries. The last book I read was ``Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for bin Laden.'' I am waiting for my friend to finish ``The Best Democracy Money Can Buy,'' by Greg Palast, so I can borrow it.

I have learned so much here, and, now, this extends to music. I like classic rock and The Beatles, but this sounds very worthwhile. Thanks so much!:D

[WilliamPitt]

3. This Machine Kills Fascists

Damn straight.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Yup. This machine right here!

[Jack Rabbit]

5. This one is for ZombieWoof

(G)Come gather 'round me, children,
And a (C)story I will (G)tell
Of (C)Pretty Boy Floyd, an (D)outlaw,
Okal(C)homa (D)knew him (G)well.

This verse in the song is dedicated to the Enron corporation and the Bush junta:

All through this world you'll travel,
You'll meet a lot of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun
And some with fountain pen.

[OneBlueSky]

7. a true American treasure . . .

who always wrote and sang for the little guy . . .

Pete Seeger, June 1967:
"When Woody Guthrie was singing hillbilly songs on a little Los Angeles radio station in the late 1930s, he used to mail out a small mimeographed songbook to listeners who wanted the words to his songs, On the bottom of one page appeared the following:

'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.'"

http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/3448/guthrie.html

[jus_the_facts]

8. It's my Dad's Birthday as well......

:loveya:

[Coffee Coyote]

9. Pastures of Plenty

My best friend shares his birthday with Woody, and admires him so much, he wrote his English Master's thesis about him and his stint back in 1940 with the BPA. Woody was only supposed to write one song promoting public power and the engineering phenomenom known as the Grand Coulee Dam. But in a 30 day hiring stretch, he wrote 30 songs. Here is one of my very favorites, "Pastures of Plenty":

It's a mighty hard row that my poor hands have hoed
My poor feet have traveled a hot dusty road
Out of your Dust Bowl and Westward we rolled
And your deserts were hot and your mountains were cold

I worked in your orchards of peaches and prunes
I slept on the ground in the light of the moon
On the edge of the city you'll see us and then
We come with the dust and we go with the wind

California, Arizona, I harvest your crops
Well it's North up to Oregon to gather your hops
Dig the beets from your ground, cut the grapes from your vine
To set on your table your light sparkling wine

Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground
From the Grand Coulee Dam where the waters run down
Every state in the Union us migrants have been
We'll work in this fight and we'll fight till we win

It's always we rambled, that river and I
All along your green valley, I will work till I die
My land I'll defend with my life if need be
Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free

:toast: to Woody.

I strongly urge anyone interested in Woody to read his autobiography, "Bound For Glory".

[Coffee Coyote]

10. Some thoughts by Woody

"Our job ain't so much to go way back into history, that's already been done, and we cain't spare the time to do it all over again. Our job is the Here and Now. Today. This week. This month. This year. But we've got to try and include a Timeless Element in our songs. Something that will not tomorrow be gone with the wind. But something that tomorrow will be as true as it is today. The secret of a long lasting song is not the record current event, but this timeless element which may be contained in the chorus or last line or elsewhere."

Woody Guthrie

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

14. Contributing my favorite lyric

Deportee

The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again
CHORUS:

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won't have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be "deportees"

My father's own father, he waded that river,
They took all the money he made in his life;
My brothers and sisters come working the fruit trees,
And they rode the truck till they took down and died.

Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted,
Our work contract's out and we have to move on;
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border,
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves.

We died in your hills, we died in your deserts,
We died in your valleys and died on your plains.
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes,
Both sides of the river, we died just the same.

The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon,
A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, "They are just deportees"

Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves to rot on my topsoil
And be called by no name except "deportees"?

Woody wrote this originally as a poem. The music was added a few years later by someone else (I forget who).

[REP]

15. Woody, We Need You!

I just wanted to see all the lyrics:

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
words and music by Woody Guthrie

Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Chorus (2x)

[Jack Rabbit]

16. Hard Travelin'

He reaches for his guitar, plays poorly and sings like a sick horse.

(G)I've been doin' some hard travelin',
(C)I thought you knowed.
(G)I've been doin' some hard travelin',
(D7)Way down the road.
(G)I've been doin' some hard travelin', (C)hard ramblin', hard gamblin',
(D7)I've been doin' some hard travelin', (G)Lord

[Toby109]

17. For Woody fans there is also

Folkways: A Vision Shared. Some great covers by Dylan, Mellencamp, Springsteen, Arlo, etc.

And kudos to Zomby, I mean, er, Coyote for the other info on the original DUer.

[Coffee Coyote]

18. you're welcome!

Either name will do. :-)