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| Woody Guthrie & his "This Machine Kills Fascists" guitar |
* Woody was born in rural Oklahoma on 14 July 1912, the son of a cowboy.
* He spent much of his life rambling and roaming, singing and songwriting.
* He liked to scrawl “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitars.
* His best-known song, This Land is Your Land, was written as a kind of alternative American national anthem.
* His 1943 autobiographical novel, Bound for Glory, has become a classic of American literature.
* Bob Dylan famously idolised Woody Guthrie and in his early years stole from him shamelessly. Compare Dylan's Talkin' New York with Guthrie's Talking Dust Bowl Blues.
* While still in his forties, Woody was diagnosed with Huntington's chorea, an incurable degenerative disease that attacks the muscles and causes psychiatric problems.
* Dylan, Joan Baez and other young folksingers visited Woody in hospital during his final years, bringing along their guitars to sing for him.
* In the late 1990s, thirty years after Woody's death, Billy Bragg and Wilco recorded Mermaid Avenue Vols 1 & 2, two albums of new songs that contained previously unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics.
* Woody's songs still sound fresh today. I love these lyrics from Pretty Boy Floyd:
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen
Are you listening, City of London bankers?
Happy birthday, Woody!
You can find out more at the Woody Guthrie website
* His best-known song, This Land is Your Land, was written as a kind of alternative American national anthem.
* His 1943 autobiographical novel, Bound for Glory, has become a classic of American literature.
* Bob Dylan famously idolised Woody Guthrie and in his early years stole from him shamelessly. Compare Dylan's Talkin' New York with Guthrie's Talking Dust Bowl Blues.
* While still in his forties, Woody was diagnosed with Huntington's chorea, an incurable degenerative disease that attacks the muscles and causes psychiatric problems.
* Dylan, Joan Baez and other young folksingers visited Woody in hospital during his final years, bringing along their guitars to sing for him.
* In the late 1990s, thirty years after Woody's death, Billy Bragg and Wilco recorded Mermaid Avenue Vols 1 & 2, two albums of new songs that contained previously unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics.
* Woody's songs still sound fresh today. I love these lyrics from Pretty Boy Floyd:
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen
Are you listening, City of London bankers?
Happy birthday, Woody!
You can find out more at the Woody Guthrie website
