Woody Guthrie would have turned 100 today, if he had lived. Instead he was cut down by ALS in 1967. The year was a cultural turning point in any case, the summer of love. Woody Guthrie planted seeds: He was an artist, a songwriter, a raconteur, a rambler, and an activist. He left an indelible legacy on the American landscape, and this year is filled with salutes to his incredible life.
Woody was a rural renaissance man, capturing moments, people, and places with the clarity of a documentarian. He pioneered a path for the folk music movement which then paved the way for today’s Americana Music. He wrote almost 3,000 song lyrics, authored numerous manuscripts, poems, prose, and news articles which can be found in the Woody Guthrie Archives in New York. Music Fog had the honor of attending Woody Fest in his hometown, Okemah, Oklahoma a couple of years ago in 2010.
We wish we could have been there for this year’s festivities, too, which are going on this weekend. We captured some amazing music there! Here is Jimmy LaFave leading an all-star band; Joel Rafael. John Inmon, Andrew Hardin, David Amran, and Glenn Schuetz doing “Deportee,” AKA “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos.” Woody, we hardly knew ya.
- Jessie Scott