Iowa Honors Woody Guthrie's 100th Birthday!

Prepared by Bob Phillips, Public Relations Director, National Traditional Country Music Association, Inc.
www.ntcma.net

LeMars, Iowa - As 'Occupy' occupiers gather in America, the music of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie ultimately fill the air wherever they are camped out. Many of them celebrate the music of Guthrie. Dylan, in particular, is releasing "Chimes of Freedom" a 4-CD tribute honoring the 50-year existence of 'Amnesty International.' Rest assured this will be followed by a massive Guthrie 'new music releases' and celebration, especially since 2012 is his 100th birthday.

Why would Iowa be a focal point of Guthrie's birthday? In 1980 and 1981, Woody's widow, Marjorie Guthrie, came to Iowa for a couple of reasons. One, to accept Woody's induction into 'America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame,' and secondly, to support the work and music of another Moses Asch recording artist, Bob Everhart, who makes his home in Iowa. She brought with her an old guitar she said Woody often played on, but certainly not the guitar that boldly proclaimed "This Machine Kills Facists." The guitar she brought is proudly displayed in the Pioneer Music Museum, along with a bountiful display of Guthrie's works. Marjorie spoke often of her solid relationship with Woody, how they called themselves "World Shakers and World Changers," and indeed they did just that. She came to a festival promoted by Bob Everhart called the "National Old Time Country, Bluegrass, & Folk Music Festival and Pioneer Exposition of America's Rural Lifestyle." It was the name of the event, as much as Everhart's work with Moses Asch, that prompted her to become involved. She later had Everhart as a special guest at the Woody Guthrie Music Festival in Oklahoma City.

Known as the "Dust Bowl Troubadour" Woody witnessed the destruction a natural disaster could do to his birth state, Oklahoma. "So Long It's Been Good To Know Ya" he sang (or at least thought) as his family struggled through the hard times. He rode boxcars all the way to California, and reminded us all "Going Down This Road Feeling Bad" was a national experience as well as a personal one. He rarely had a decent place to sleep, much less eat healthy food. He was a self-proclaimed conservative, and though accused of being a communist, he never was. His songs created folk radio, and his persona created Bob Dylan. In today's political world he is more relevant than ever, so a celebration of his birth, especially in Iowa, speaks highly of his influence, in the past, and today.

If you didn't know it, his full name Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, was of course in respect to the 28th President, Woodrow Wilson, leader of the progressive movement. Wilson was a major advocate of women's suffrage, and presented himself as a personal representative of the people looking out for the general interests of the country. He campaigned for the presidency in 1912 on a program called the "New Freedom" which stressed individualism and states rights. Both of Woody's parents were strong supporters of Wilson.

Woody started writing songs at an early age, and he sang hundreds of political songs, traditional songs, and children's songs. It's his own compositions however, that sets him apart from ordinary songwriters. "Timeless" comes up frequently when discussing Guthrie's songwriting abilities. Perhaps his most famous, "This Land Is Your Land" went through considerable changes before it was recorded for Moses Asch in 1944. Guthrie wrote it in 1940, but it wasn't released until 1951. He borrowed heavily from the Carter Family for the melody line, and the song, along with all of his work for Folkways is ensconced safely in the vaults of the Smithsonian Institution.

So is the music of Bob Everhart, the Iowa rural country folk singer that did six projects for Moses Asch. His works are also in the Smithsonian. "I always had a nice relationship with Moses," Everhart says, "and my incredible opportunity to meet and know Woody Guthrie's widow Marjorie, was an incredible experience for me. So of course, at Mose's push, I included some of Guthrie's songs in my own recordings. I also hosted a television program on PBS called "Old Time Country Music" and one of our best shows was Sue Pewthers singing "This Land Is Your Land." So we have a direct connect to Guthrie and his music in several different ways. I especially enjoyed getting to know his old California friend Bob Dewitt, who is full of stories about Guthrie and their mutual friend Will Geer (who played grandpa on the Waltons). So, since it's Woody's 100th birthday (July 14), we're going to have a birthday bash at our annual festival, the same one his widow Marjorie came to many years ago. We're in our 37th year now, a 7-day event with ten sound stages to accommodate the hundreds of musicians that come to participate. We'll have all sorts of Guthrie activities commencing on Aug. 27 going all the way through Sept. 2, at the Plymouth County Fairgrouds in LeMars, Iowa. Our website at www.ntcma.net will be full of information. The actual birthday celebration will be at Woody's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma, July 11-15. Woody passed away in 1967 at age 55, and Marjorie passed away in 1983, just one year after she had been to our festival, twice."

ENDS