Woody Guthrie, mandolin player, b. July 14, 1912

[BradKlein]

I'm sending a birthday shout-out to American troubadour, political agitator, restless spirit, and mandolin picker, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie.



This rare photo of Woody playing mandolin with Ralph Rinzler, the great scholar and promoter of American music, comes from the blog of Mike Murphy. He says that it's probably Rinzler's mandolin, and that he was visiting Woody in the hospital where he lived once the symptoms of Huntington's disease became too much to handle outside.

And I'll add this link to the story that I produced for NPR's All Things Considered in case any of my friends at the Cafe missed it last night.

[BradKlein]

Here's the only other photo I came across of Woody playing mandolin. He's with Pete and Butch Hawes of the Almanac Singers. The photo is part of the magnificent new book published by Smithsonian/Folkways, Woody at 100. It's not cheap, but it is a joy to behold. An LP-sized book, packed with Woody's artwork, and containing 3 CDs of his music.

[Ivyguitar]

Strad-o-lin... Oh Yeah

[JLewis]

This seems to be the only mandolin tune Woody ever wrote. Strikes me as the kind of riff a guitarist might come up with having a little fun with a friend's mandolin. It is fun.

Woody's Rag with Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Pete Seeger, & Malvina Reynolds

Failed at embedding the vid. Here's a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9StxKDFjLY

[Mo Soar]

In the process of reading Woodie Guthrie: A Life by Joe Klein. Very interesting, but a difficult read through his childhood.

[swampstomper]

Klein... Klein... coincidence?? Anyway, thanks for doing the interesting NPR piece and honouring Woody here. Woody's Rag is the easiest tune in the Tottle book, and Pete Seeger put it in one of his song books.

I once made a pilgrammage to Woody's house on Mermaid Ave. in Coney Island, the one where one of his daughters accidentally got severe burns and died from them. He was sure a strange guy with different brain chemistry -- we need to keep some of those around to keep the rest of us straight. His Columbia River songs are just so good! and then his angry rejection of pie-in-the-sky religion in favour of in-this-world activism "I Ain't Got a Home in this World Anymore".

[Mo Soar]

The Sisters Folk Festival in early September will have the "Walking Woody's Road" tribute as part of it. Pretty sure this will be at other venues as well.

[Michael Eck]

Great piece, Brad.

I'll be doing a solo tribute to Woody this Saturday night at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, called "Bound for Glory: 100 years of Woody Guthrie." It's mostly guitar, but I will be doing "Woody's Rag" and "Hard Travelin" on mando.

www.caffelena.com

[BradKlein]

- No relation to Joe Klein - I only wish I had his writing chops! His biography of Guthrie has stayed in print over 30 years, and for good reason.

- 'Break a string', Michael! There are literally hundreds of Guthrie tributes around the country, from big 'n fancy to local and spontaneous. Have to think that Woody would be deeply honored.

- I hadn't thought of Woody's Rag for many years, thanks JL. I think I learned it off a Robin Flower LP, back in the day! One of the first tunes I ever learned, and it never crossed my mind while I was immersed in Guthrie!

[Ed Goist]

Congratulations Brad! Nice piece.
Also, NPR's Fresh Air devoted most of today's episode to Woody Guthrie. Here's the link:
Fresh Air Celebrates Woody Guthrie At 100

[Mandophyte]

For UK types there's an Arena programme about Woody on BBC Four tonight (Friday 13 July 2012) it starts at 23:30.

[Beanzy]

ooo just noticed it's available on iPlayer in the UK already!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...Woody_Guthrie/

[journeybear]

In honor of Woody Guthrie's centenary, I thought I would share this story. I hope this is within the bounds of decorum, and doesn't stray too far afield. I never had the good fortune to meet the man, one of my all-time heroes, but I have had the pleasure of spending some time with some of his cohorts, most notably Ramblin' Jack Elliott. This is kind of a long and winding road, which befits the star of the show, and as anyone who has met him can attest, the sobriquet "Ramblin'" was apt in more than one way.

Back in the 1990s, I was living in CT and playing in a jug band - not full-time, but pretty often. Somehow the band leader learned that Eric Von Schmidt lived in the next county, was still playing out occasionally, and was in the phone book. Being a longtime devotee of the blues and jug band music, as well as a friend of all those Kweskin folks (and many others), he was glad to come out of semi-retirement and do a bunch of gigs with us. We had a lot of good times doing this, and he repaid us for the interest with a standing invitation to visit him anytime. He hosted enormous music parties at his house and sprawling grounds a few times a year, New Year's Eve for sure, and other random times. He had an incredible number and variety of friends in the business, by virtue of being in it for so long - his little black book was a virtual who's who of folk and blues musicians - and some pretty amazing people would show up.

One time, I think it was a New Year's Eve (I'm only guessing, because of extenuating circumstances), Jack was among the revelers. Late at night, those of us still there gathered in the living room, picking, grinning (for various reasons), and carrying on. Jack's daughter was in the process of filming him, gathering footage for an upcoming documentary. She kept prodding him to tell stories rather than just play. As a result, people kept dropping out of the jam to listen. He was perhaps a bit more shy than you might think, and she had to keep nudging him, suggesting particular stories she wanted to get on film. At some point, a bit of smoke circulated among the participants. I had not indulged in years, but had been considering resuming for a little while, and this seemed an opportune moment. I mean, when Ramblin' Jack Elliott is holding court and passes you a joint, you go for it. Being rather unused to the sensation, it had quite an effect on me, and also played havoc with my perspective - but not, as far as I know, my playing. In fact, I recall being very into playing, and paid a lot of attention to being as fine an accompanist as I could be. I really worked the dynamics, used every trick in my bag of tricks, but stayed sensitive to what he was doing, maintaining a supporting role.

What I did not notice right away, as I was so into what I was playing and fitting it to what Jack was doing, was that after a while everyone else had dropped out. I began feeling a bit sheepish, and slacked off on playing, but Jack encouraged me - and again, if Ramblin' Jack Elliott is holding court and likes what you're doing, you keep doing it. This went on for probably over an hour, with his daughter filming a lot of it. I came to feel pretty good about my abilities, and thought I did a pretty darn good job. I also thought it would be really cool if some of this made it into the film. She did get my name and number for credit and clearance purposes. When the movie came out, a few of us went into New York to see it, and ... well, none of this got used. Oh well! It might have had something to do with me being pretty much of a nobody; it might have been his part in the proceedings had been a bit too rambling to make the cut. I'll never know - though I did ask her about this some time later, but she could not recall any of this at all. Perhaps she too had indulged in the aforementioned, causing some sort of slippage in the quality of her camera work. In any event, I'll always have the memory, at least what has survived.