Woody Guthrie - Born on This Day in 1912

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie was born on this day in 1912!

Woody Guthrie was an American singer-songwriter and musician whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional, and children's songs, along with ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This machine kills fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land". Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Jay Farrar, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, Bob Childers, Sammy Walker and Tom Paxton have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence.

To honor Woody Guthrie today I thought I'd post some of his music and a great Documentary that was made by the BBC in 1988. Well worth watching if you have never seen it before.

 1-01. Woody Guthrie - Pastures Of Plenty     2:29
1-02. Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land     2:19
1-03. Woody Guthrie - House Of The Rising Sun     2:54
1-04. Woody Guthrie - Hard Ain't It Hard     2:35
1-05. Woody Guthrie - I Ride An Old Paint     2:35
1-06. Woody Guthrie - Blow The Man Down     2:34
1-07. Woody Guthrie - John Henry     2:46
1-08. Woody Guthrie - Hard Travellin'     2:13
1-09. Woody Guthrie - Car Song     1:51
1-10. Woody Guthrie - Talking Dust Bowl Blues     3:29
1-11. Woody Guthrie - Do Re Mi     2:36
1-12. Woody Guthrie - Gypsy Davy     2:53
1-13. Woody Guthrie  - Vigilante Man     3:27
1-14. Woody Guthrie  - Pretty Boy Floyd     3:11
1-15. Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston - Buffalo Gals     2:35
1-16. Woody Guthrie - Mule Skinner Blues     2:50
1-17. Woody Guthrie - Wreck Of The Old '97     2:14
1-18. Woody Guthrie  - Oregon Trail     2:50
1-19. Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, & Sonny Terry - Jack-Hammer Blues     2:39
1-20. Woody Guthrie - Better World A-Comin'     3:07
1-21. Woody Guthrie - I Ain't Got No Home     2:47
1-22. Woody Guthrie - Blowin' Down This Room Feeling Bad     3:02
1-23. Woody Guthrie - Dust Pneumonia Blues     2:43
1-24. Woody Guthrie - The Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done     2:22
1-25. Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, Sonny Terry, & Leadbelly - We Shall Be Free     3:07
2-01. Woody Guthrie - Sinking Of The Reuben James     3:02
2-02. Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston - Sally Don't You Grieve     2:25
2-03. Woody Guthrie - Talking Sailor Blues     3:04
2-04. Woody Guthrie - Two Good Men     3:48
2-05. Woody Guthrie - Grand Coulee Dam     2:11
2-06. Woody Guthrie  - Chisholm Trail     2:26
2-07. Woody Guthrie - Ranger's Command     2:51
2-08. Woody Guthrie - Jesse James     3:00
2-09.  Woody Guthrie - Dead Or Alive     2:55
2-10. Woody Guthrie - Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Get Along Little Dogies     2:50
2-11. Woody Guthrie  - 1913 Massacre     3:37
2-12. Woody Guthrie  - Jesus Christ     2:40
2-13. Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, & Sonny Terry - When That Great Ship Went Down     3:20
2-14. Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, & Sonny Terry - Cumberland Gap     2:21
2-15. Woody Guthrie - Ramblin' Round Your City     2:17
2-16. Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston - New York Town     2:38
2-17. Woody Guthrie - Tom Joad (Part 2)     3:31
2-18. Woody Guthrie - When The Curfew Blows     1:46
2-19. Woody Guthrie - Jarama Valley     2:55
2-20. Woody Guthrie - New Found Land     2:07
2-21. Woody Guthrie - Slipknot     2:34
2-22. Woody Guthrie - Talking Columbia     2:30
2-23. Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston - Bury Me Beneath The Willow     2:29
2-24. Woody Guthrie - Ship In The Sky     2:35
2-25. Woody Guthrie - So Long It's Been Good To Know You     2:48

The above words by Woody Guthrie I'm sure have been used many times and one of the places I've heard part of them used was by Mike Peters of The Alarm in introducing the song One Guitar (written by Willie Nile)

Woody Guthrie

BBC Arena 1988