2.+Woody+Guthrie

=Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (Woody Guthrie)=



Born:1912 Died: 1967

Background
Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma on July 14, 1912, just 17 years before the stock market crash in 1929, the symbolic beginning of the Great Depression. He was born to a father who "ran a trading post and a real estate office" and who prospered "during the first Oklahoma oil boom" (Facts On File, Richard). Woody had a hard childhood. The end of the real estate boom in the 1920s caused his father to take to heavy drinking. Soon after, his mother started to show symptoms of Huntington's chorea that lead to her mental collapse and eventually to her institutionalization at a mental hospital. Apparently, Woody's mother's disease caused her to start loosing not only her mental stability, but also her coordination, which caused her to start a fire that killed Woody's sister.

His family's house also burned down in another fire that was unrelated to the one that killed his sister.

His rough childhood inspired Woody to travel. He soon took to the road, along with thousands of other Okies, in search of work in Southern California, though most didn't find the work they were looking for. Eventually, Woody left to live in New York, cultivating his musical talent as a guitarist all along the way.

Life in Southern California:
Guthrie first discovered guitar as a teenager, and was taught to sing traditional songs by his mother. He soon discovered his talent as a songwriter.

He started to play for several radio stations in Texas and California starting in the early 1930's. "Guthrie 's quick wit also appealed to them, and his ability to compose a song on almost any topic at the drop of the hat (often by fitting new words to time-honored traditional melodies) made him a favorite performer." (Facts On File, Richard).

Many of his early songs were mainly about the hard life on the dust bowl immigrants from Oklahoma to Southern California. California had been attracting people to come work with flyers which promised work. This advertising worked too well, and more people came than California had expected, and there weren't enough jobs for all of them. This is the plight that was the subject of many of Guthrie's early songs, which started his reputation as being the voice of the common people.

Do Re Mi is a song specifically written about the financial burdens on people from the dust bowl:

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 * Do Re Mi:**

Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day, Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line. 'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl, They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find Now, the police at the port of entry say, "You're number fourteen thousand for today." Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi, Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee. California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see; But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot If you ain't got the do re mi. You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can't deal nobody harm, Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea. Don't swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are, Better take this little tip from me. 'Cause I look through the want ads every day But the headlines on the papers always say: If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi, Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee. California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see; But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot If you ain't got the do re mi.

Lyrics: from http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Do_Re_Mi.htm 

In 1940, he then moved to New York and joined Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Millard Lampell in Seggers band known as the Almanac Singers. Guthrie's songwriting abilities matched with Seeger's musical talent helped their band to become famous.

The Almanac Singers at first wrote and performed peacetime songs, but started to write anti-war songs when the U.S. entered the fight in WWII in 1941. Their songs had anti-capitalism and anti-fascism themes. Their songs also encouraged workers to unionize and to fight unfair management practices.

Guthrie then served his country in WWII for a few years, until he was discharged for being affiliated with the Communist party.

He then settled back in New York and was soon experiencing symtoms of the disease his mother had, which lead to his death in 1967.

Notable Songs
=== Woody Guthrie's most famous song is "This Land Is Your Land". Guthrie wrote this song in 1940 as an angry response to "God Bless America", written by Irving Berlin. Woody Guthrie found "God Bless America" to be overly optimistic, which was the opposite of what he believed should be in songs, after all, he was writing protest songs against the government. Another song written by Guthrie in 1940 was "Slipknot" that was against lynching. Here is an excerpt from that song: ===  Did you ever lose a brother in that slipknot? Did you ever lose a brother in that slipknot? Yes. My brother was a slave…he tried to escape… And they drug him to his grave with a slipknot

I don’t know who makes the law of that slipknot. I don’t know who makes the law of that slipknot. But the bones of many a men are whistling in the wind. Just because they tie their laws with a slipknot

On the end of the original manuscript, Guthrie wrote this short note: " “Dedicated to the many negro mothers, fathers, and sons alike, that was lynched and hanged under the bridge of the Canadian River, seven miles south of Okemah, Okla., and to the day when such will be no more”. – Woody G. 2-29-40 NY

The song in this video demonstrates Woody's anti-fascist sentiments in his music.

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This song is written about the dust storms in Oklahoma. These dust storms are the reason that the area in which Woody Guthrie was living received the term, the dust bowl.

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The following documentary is about how Woody sought out and received a job writing songs to publicize the Columbia River Basin Project. This was a civil works project authorized by FDR to create a dam that would product hydroelectricity.

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The following documentary displays Guthrie's knack for being able to write songs for the working class.

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