July 14 - Woody Guthrie (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for July 14th are here: Eric Stokes (2019), Gerald Finzi (2020), and Arthur Laurents (2021)

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Woody Guthrie (14 July 1912 –3 October 1967) was an American singer-songwriter who was one of the most significant figures in American folk music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guthrie Explains

"This Land Is Your Land" was written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's American exceptionalist "God Bless America". – adapted from Wikipedia, s.v. “This Land Is Your Land” and “Woody Guthrie”

"There is too much 'American' spin

In that anthem by Irving Berlin,

So I’m putting the stress

Rather less on 'God Bless',

And more on our spirit within."

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Both Sides Now

He also keeps the editorializing to a minimum, neither attempting to deny nor defend Guthrie’s Stalinism, but rather letting the facts speak for themselves. Ultimately, it does his music a better service than any kind of liberal hand-wringing. – Alex Billet, in a review of Kaufman, Woody Guthrie: American Radical, in International Socialist Review (https://isreview.org/issue/79/rebels-guide-guthrie/index.html)

Guthrie, the book reveals, wasn't only a communist but an intensely pro-Stalin one. ‘Shocking to me was the extent and the longevity of his appreciation of Stalin, even after much of the American left had begun to distance themselves,’ says Kaufman. - Zoë Corbyn, in a review of Kaufman, Woody Guthrie: American Radical, in The Guardian, 22 Aug 2011

It’s been hard to know how to react

To the very uncomfortable fact

That he didn’t sing dirges

For Stalinist purges

As part of his peace-loving act.

 

 

 

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