The Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives.
By the time he arrived in California, in 1937, Woody had experienced the intense scorn, hatred, and antagonism of resident Californians who were opposed to the influx of outsiders. Woody's identification with outsider status would become part and parcel of his political and social positioning, one which gradually worked its way into his songwriting, as evident in his Dust Bowl Ballads such as I Ain't Got No Home, Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad, Talking Dust Bowl Blues, Tom Joad and Hard Travelin'.
Bound for Glory: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie: Forever Young
Father of Contemporary Protest
The Songs of Woody Guthrie (lyrics+more)
In the late 1930s, Guthrie sent out small mimeographed songbooks to radio listeners who requested the words to his song that, according to Pete Seeger, contained the following at the bottom of the page: "This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."
Also, a great photo of Woody and his "This Machine Kills Fascists" Gibson acoustic guitar. (Martin issued a "commemorative" This Machine Kills Fascists acoustic which seems kind of odd, especially since they apparently thought the message was too controversial and hid it on the underside of the soundboard where nobody can see it.)
By the time he arrived in California, in 1937, Woody had experienced the intense scorn, hatred, and antagonism of resident Californians who were opposed to the influx of outsiders. Woody's identification with outsider status would become part and parcel of his political and social positioning, one which gradually worked its way into his songwriting, as evident in his Dust Bowl Ballads such as I Ain't Got No Home, Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad, Talking Dust Bowl Blues, Tom Joad and Hard Travelin'.
Bound for Glory: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie: Forever Young
Father of Contemporary Protest
The Songs of Woody Guthrie (lyrics+more)
In the late 1930s, Guthrie sent out small mimeographed songbooks to radio listeners who requested the words to his song that, according to Pete Seeger, contained the following at the bottom of the page: "This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."
Also, a great photo of Woody and his "This Machine Kills Fascists" Gibson acoustic guitar. (Martin issued a "commemorative" This Machine Kills Fascists acoustic which seems kind of odd, especially since they apparently thought the message was too controversial and hid it on the underside of the soundboard where nobody can see it.)
