Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie
Guthrie playing guitar and looking up at an angle away from the camera in a black-and-white photo
Guthrie with a guitar labeled "This machine kills fascists" in 1943
Born
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie

(1912-07-14)July 14, 1912
Okemah, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedOctober 3, 1967(1967-10-03) (aged 55)
New York City, U.S.
Resting placeHighland Cemetery, Okemah, Oklahoma, U.S.
Spouses
Mary Jennings
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(m. 1931; div. 1940)​
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(m. 1945; div. 1953)​
Anneke van Kirk
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(m. 1953; div. 1956)​
Children8, including Arlo and Nora
Musical career
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • composer
Instruments
DiscographyWoody Guthrie discography
Years active1930–1956
Military career
AllegianceUnited States
Service / branch
Years of service
  • 1943–1945 (Merchant Marine)
  • 1945 (Army)
Battles / warsWorld War II
Awards

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (/ˈɡʌθri/; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and composer who was one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as "This Land Is Your Land".[7][8][9]

Guthrie wrote hundreds of country, folk, and children's songs, along with ballads and improvised works. Dust Bowl Ballads, Guthrie's album of songs about the Dust Bowl period, was included on Mojo magazine's list of 100 Records That Changed The World,[10] and many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress.[11] Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence on their work include Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Donovan, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, Tom Paxton, Brian Fallon, Sean Bonnette, and Sixto Rodríguez. He frequently performed with the message "This machine kills fascists" displayed on his guitar.

Guthrie was brought up by middle-class parents in Okemah, Oklahoma.[12] He married at 19, but with the advent of the dust storms that marked the Dust Bowl period, he left his wife and three children to join the thousands of Okies who were migrating to California looking for employment. He worked at Los Angeles radio station KFVD, achieving some fame from playing hillbilly music, made friends with Will Geer and John Steinbeck, and wrote a column for the communist newspaper People's World from May 1939 to January 1940.

Throughout his life, Guthrie was associated with United States communist groups, although he apparently did not belong to any.[13] With the outbreak of World War II and the Molotov–Ribbentrop non-aggression pact the Soviet Union had signed with Germany in 1939, the anti-Stalin owners of KFVD radio were not comfortable with Guthrie's political leanings after he wrote a song praising the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the Soviet invasion of Poland.[14] He left the station, ending up in New York, where he wrote and recorded his 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads, based on his experiences during the 1930s, which earned him the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour".[15] In February 1940, he wrote his most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land". He said it was a response to what he felt was the overplaying of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on the radio.[16]

Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children. His son Arlo Guthrie became nationally known as a musician. Guthrie died in 1967 from complications of Huntington's disease. His first two daughters also died of the disease.

  1. ^ Michael Erlewine (1997). All Music Guide to Country: The Experts' Guide to the Best Recordings in Country Music. Miller Freeman. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-87930-475-1.
  2. ^ Michael J. Gilmour (June 24, 2005). Call Me the Seeker: Listening to Religion in Popular Music. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-4411-7284-6.
  3. ^ Michael Campbell (January 1, 2012). Popular Music in America:The Beat Goes On. Cengage Learning. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-133-71260-2.
  4. ^ Will Kaufman (January 24, 2019). Mapping Woody Guthrie. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-8061-6380-2.
  5. ^ Bear, John (November 1, 2022). "Dropkick Murphys on "Proto-Punk" Woody Guthrie, Who Wrote "Shipping Up to Boston"". westword.com. He's sort of like the proto-punk
  6. ^ Gerome, John (February 7, 2003). "Honoring Singer Woody Guthrie". The Ledger. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  7. ^ "Woody Guthrie: Journalist, Musician (1912–1967)". PBS.
  8. ^ "Woody Guthrie Biography.com: Guitarist, Songwriter, Singer(1912–1967)". biography.com. December 2, 2021.
  9. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Woody Guthrie". AllMusic.
  10. ^ "BMI Songwriters Dominate Mojo's "100 Records That Changed The World"". bmi.com. July 3, 2007.
  11. ^ Library of Congress. Related Material – Woody Guthrie Sound Recordings at the American Folklife Center. Retrieved on November 27, 2007.
  12. ^ Cray, Ed (2004). Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 8. ISBN 9780393343083.
  13. ^ Spivey, Christine A. "This Land is Your land, This Land is My Land: Folk Music, Communism, and the Red Scare as a Part of the American Landscape". Student Historical Journal 1996–1997, Loyola University New Orleans, 1996. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  14. ^ Kaufman, Will (2010). "Woody Guthrie's 'Union War'". Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS). 16 (1/2): 109–124. JSTOR 43921756.
  15. ^ Alarik, Scott. Robert Burns unplugged. Boston Globe, August 7, 2005. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
  16. ^ Spitzer, Nick (February 15, 2012). "The Story Of Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land'". NPR Music. National Public Radio (NPR). Retrieved September 3, 2018.