Woody Guthrie Centenary

[Limehouse]

Today, July 14 2012, marks 100 years since the birth of Woody Guthrie.

Woody was a prolific song writier. He wrote about many topics and for many audiences, but his greatest love was for his country and its people - ALL of its people. Woody sang from the heart - for justice and equality.

Sadly, he was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease in early middle life and spent many years in hospital as the disease caused physical and mental decline. He died in 1967, still in his forties.

God Bless you Woody.

[Cogidubnus]

Today, July 14 2012, marks 100 years since the birth of Woody Guthrie.

He died in 1967, still in his forties.

Something doesn't add up (or subtract) here...

Dave

[Rubyretro]

Something doesn't add up (or subtract) here...

Dave

That's coz he was 55 when he died, Dave.

[Cogidubnus]

Quite

[Limehouse]

Yes, sorry, what I meant was that he was confined to hospital from his early forties until his death in 1967.

[Graham]

Woody Guthrie is still remembered, Julie. I do my little bit via live music to keep his memory alive. We have Bob Dylan to thank for preserving Woody's status as a true American folk-hero, and also his son Arlo Guthrie for keeping the great name alive. As you say, his love of his country was for ALL his countrymen, never mind their creed, colour or status.

Cogidubnus - if the best you can do in reply to Julie's post is to rather snottily question her arithmetic without making some reference to the subject of her post, then I feel rather sorry for you. Bloody rude. But then, perhaps you never heard of Woody Guthrie.

Graham

[Archaic]

Woody Guthrie Radio Documentary

Hi Graham, how are you?

If you don't mind my saying, I don't think Dave meant to be rude when he pointed out the mathematical discrepancy, and I'm sure Julie is too nice to have taken any offense. Let's try to come together to celebrate Woody's 100th birthday. Thanks.

You guys might enjoy this NPR radio documentary on Woody at 100. There's a written article as well as a 40-minute radio podcast you can stream.

Woody Guthrie At 100: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/12/156621...guthrie-at-100

NPR.org has a number of segments & podcasts related to Guthrie. NPR is 'National Public Radio', commercial-free publicly-supported radio. They offer wonderful segments relating to Arts, Culture, History, Politics, etc., all thankfully aimed at intelligent people! A bit like BBC Radio Four, but without the lovely English accents.

If you hit the + sign it will load selected segments into a list on the free NPR Podcast Player. If you sign up for a free account, the Podcast Player will remember what you've loaded & save them for you so you can shut your browser window without losing your list & can listen to them later. There's a free phone app too.

Enjoy!
Archaic

[Cogidubnus]

Cogidubnus - if the best you can do in reply to Julie's post is to rather snottily question her arithmetic without making some reference to the subject of her post, then I feel rather sorry for you. Bloody rude. But then, perhaps you never heard of Woody Guthrie.

I merely questioned the arithmetic. If you're such a sensitive soul you can't handle this, then I would respectively suggest that "Pub Talk" isn't the best venue for you to display your particular talents.

Dave

[Cogidubnus]

If you don't mind my saying, I don't think Dave meant to be rude when he pointed out the mathematical discrepancy, and I'm sure Julie is too nice to have taken any offense. Let's try to come together to celebrate Woody's 100th birthday. Thanks.

Thanks for trying to keep the peace Norma. However, if pointing out an obvious inaccuracy is to be regarded as offensive, then I suggest that the survival on these boards of such a sensitive soul as Graham may be regarded as nothing short of miraculous...

All the best

Dave

[Hatchett]

Woody Guthrie was the real and authentic travelling hobo folksinger. He sang and wrote for and to the people. He wrote over a thousand songs. Many are folk standards today.

Things like Ludlow Massacre, This Land is Your Land (with the original lyrics) Pastures of Plenty, Hard Travelling, 1913 Disaster, are masterpiecies.

[Cogidubnus]

Absolutely Hatchett...

And ironically the very best (by far) Guthrie number, City of New Orleans, was composed by somebody else (Steve Goodman) and sung by Woodies son Arlo...but what a number!

Dave

[Archaic]

Thanks for trying to keep the peace Norma.

Hi Dave, you're welcome. But I'm Bunny, not Norma. (That's Natalie Severn.)

I absolutely LOVE that song 'City of New Orleans'! I memorized the lyrics when I was a little kid.

It does seem like a Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan song. Arlo Guthrie did a wonderful version. So did Johnny Cash. The videos of each of them performing that song are available on YouTube.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Archaic]

Roll On, Columbia!

It might interest some of you to know that a Woody Guthrie song called 'Roll On, Columbia' is the official song of Washington State, where I'm proud to live.
(Not to be confused with Washington D.C.! Washington State is just south of British Columbia, Canada, and north of California, bordering the Pacific Ocean.)

The Columbia River is an absolutely massive river with a steep gradient down to the Pacific Ocean. In the 1940's a program of public works created 11 hydro-electric dams along its span, including the famous Grand Coulee Dam. The dams allowed the power of the Columbia to be harnessed in order to irrigate previously dry sections of Eastern Washington and turn them into some of the most fertile farmlands in the world. In the wake of the Great Depression and the dread Dustbowl of the 1930's, this achievement seemed miraculous.

The dams created enormous freshwater lakes in the middle of what had been deserts by letting the water back up into the coulees, which are long canyons carved out by floods and melting glaciers. The Columbia River also provided cheap electricity, encouraging the growth of industry.

I remember stopping on a camping trip to watch an old black & white documentary film at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitors Center, and the soundtrack was a crackly recording of Woody's song 'Roll On Columbia'. The lyrics have stuck in my head all these years:
'Roll On Columbia, Roll On;
Your power is turning our darkness to dawn,
Roll On Columbia, Roll On.'

Lyrics: http://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Roll_On_Columbia.htm

Here's a link to a Wikipedia article about the song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roll_On,_Columbia,_Roll_On

And here's a video featuring Woody performing the song with beautiful color photos of the Columbia River: ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20ZffI6by3A&feature=related

I'm pretty proud that our State Song was written by Woody!

Happy 100th Birthday, Woody.
Archaic

[Limehouse]

Many thanks for the replies to my post and especially to Bunny, Hatchett and Graham for your contributions. It's really good to see that Woody is so respected and loved. His illness and death were a tragedy, but he left behind him a precious legacy.

[Limehouse]

Here's a topical contribution from Woody himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdyLb7ouXUU&feature=related