Almanac of Story Tellers: Woody Guthrie

Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to story telling -- in prose and in poetry, in art and in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is the story of July 14th

 ____________________________________________________________________________

    It is the 195th day of the year, leaving 170 days remaining in 2022.

 

    On this date in 1912, the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma.

    He told his stories through song, with his plain spoken words and a six-string guitar with the notation, "this machine kills fascists." 

    He wrote about the "Okies," the working men and women who rambled through the American West during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s. He wrote about workers and their unions, hoboes and their railcars, and people just trying to get by.

    He associated with communists, socialists, and anti-fascists. He hung out with Native Americans, Black people, and others considered undesirables. He wrote about poverty, the downtrodden and depressed, and those who just couldn't catch a break. He sung about bankers, bank robbers, and other criminals, always on the side of the oppressed.

    Perhaps his most famous work is This Land is Your Land, a song that has become an quintessential American folk song. Its origins are a classic tale: Guthrie grew tired of the constant repetitive playing of God Bless America, which he thought put the country on level above its citizens and immigrants. He said the country belonged to all people, not just the elite. Indeed, his first writings and recordings of the song show the title and refrain were "Did God bless America for me?" 

    Some of the verses have been restored.

                        In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,

                        By the relief office I seen my people:

                        As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking

                        Is this land made for you and me?

    His songs fill dozens of songbooks, and have been recorded -- and are still being recorded and transformed for a modern age -- by some of the greatest musicians of our time. He was mostly responsible for inspiring the folk era of the 1950s and 1960s, mentoring some of the legends of the time -- Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson, Bob Dylan, Leadbelly, and so many more.

    The songs are still learned and sung today -- around campfires, in churches, over a round of drinks. 

    Guthrie, who suffered from Huntington's disease, died in 1967 in New York.