Music and Conversation: Woody at Home: Exploring Woody Guthrie’s Home Recordings with Special Guest Jesse Welles
Woody Guthrie was one of America’s most important and influential singer-songwriters and composers. An inspiration to numerous artists—including Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, and Bruce Springsteen—Guthrie authored more than 3,000 songs in his lifetime, many of which became American folk music standards. His best-known composition, “This Land Is Your Land,” is celebrated as an alternative United States national anthem. Born in rural Oklahoma in 1912, Guthrie arrived in New York City in 1940 with a satchel of lyrics that narrated and responded to current events, social issues, politics, and more. After a decade of rejection from major publishing companies on Tin Pan Alley, he signed his first song-publishing deal in 1950 with TRO (The Richmond Organization), then a startup founded by music industry executive and noted Guthrie enthusiast Howie Richmond. To help foster Guthrie’s creativity, Richmond gave the songwriter a new machine that would allow him to record his many ideas at home. That single-mic reel-to-reel tape recorder and the songs Guthrie documented with it in 1951 and 1952, are the basis of the recently released two-volume collection Woody at Home. Produced by Guthrie’s granddaughter, Anna Canoni, and Grammy-winning producer and engineer Steve Rosenthal, Woody at Home contains twenty-two of Guthrie’s home recordings released for the very first time. It also serves as an important historical document. During this program, Canoni and Rosenthal will join the Museum’s Erin Osmon to discuss their work on Woody at Home, including the fascinating restoration process. The talk will be illustrated with rarely seen archival images featuring Guthrie’s original lyrics, artwork, and family photographs. Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jesse Welles—who’s often cited as a contemporary analog to Guthrie’s simple, honest, and steadfast singing and songwriting—will perform near the end of the program. Ford Theater. Included with Museum admission. Program ticket required. Free to Museum members.
