Matt Legac
Dr. Louis Simon
IDH 3100
10/18/2014
The Influence and Culture of Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie is undoubtedly an incredibly important and influential artist in American history. Even if an American (like me) is not familiar with his work or life, the name “Woody Guthrie” is nearly universally recognized across the country. That being said, almost every American has heard at least some of the music that Woody Guthrie created such as “This Land is Your Land”. Many artists (including Bob Dylan) have been directly influenced by the work of Woody Guthrie, carrying on the sound and spirit of his music in their own work. Woody Guthrie’s musical voice has echoed across generations, influencing countless artists and activists who have come
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after him and deeply rooting itself in American culture. Woody Guthrie was a political folk musician, writing nearly all of his music with the goal of conveying a social message. He was obviously influential as a musician, but to say that Woody Guthrie was mostly known for the purely musical legacy he left behind would be inaccurate. Guthrie was just as (or debatably even more) influential as a political activist. It would not be an overstatement to consider Woody Guthrie the father of modern American folk and protest music. When you examine the life and upbringing of Woody Guthrie, it makes perfect sense that his music would be so deeply filled with social meaning. Guthrie was born in 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. Both of his parents were known to be very musical, and his father was also involved in local politics, obviously influencing the artist Woody Guthrie would become from the start. Guthrie had a passion for travelling, and he met people from across the entire nation. He was born in Oklahoma, lived part of his early life in California, and then moved to New York not long after that (really travelling the entire span of the country). The fact that Guthrie was able to see so many different places and meet all sorts of different people from a variey of socio-economic backgrounds would unquestionably leave an impression on his voice as a social activist. Woody Guthrie also lived through some major American events which had an undebatable impact on his musical and political career. Firstly, Guthrie lived through both World Wars, which would have given him a unique view on international affairs, war/peace, and the military. Guthrie even briefly served in the U.S. Navy as a dishwasher during WWII, riding aboard ships that were hit by torpedoes. This was a very dark time in American (and world) history, resulting in the death of many U.S. soldiers. All of this exposure to these wars would make an everlasting impact on shaping Guthrie into the political musician he would become. Another major event that influenced Woody Guthrie would be the Great Depression/Dust Bowl. Guthrie was about 20 years old went the Dust Bowl really started to take effect. This event had an immediate impact on Guthrie, as he was forced to leave his home of Oklahoma and travel to California to escape the dying agricultural regions of the American prairies. As Guthrie was brought up in a rural and largely agricultural community, he had a firsthand insight into the poverty and suffering many Americans were faced with due to the Dust Bowl/Depression. The poverty that he saw (including within his own family) would leave a profound mark on the work of Woody Guthrie. As he travelled west in this context, occasionally taking jobs singing and playing guitar in saloons for room and board, his unique social consciousness and musical voice began to take shape. By the time Woody reached California (where he and the other displaced “Okies” were often shunned), he had adopted his perspective and persona as the “outsider” free to comment on political and business corruption and insensitivity, as well as on the efforts of the trade unions and others to champion the rights of workers. And by the time he got to New York, this fresh, “authentic” viewpoint was embraced by a number of writers, artists and progressive thinkers, and Woody’s music began to gain a wider audience. Woody Guthrie’s music and political voice were extremely influential to many upcoming musical artists, political activists, and American citizens living at the time and thereafter. Shortly following his death in 1967, many musical artists came together to perform “A Tribute to Woody Guthrie” in New York City. The artists were all influenced by Guthrie, and thought of him as an important figure in shaping both the social activism and folk music landscape we know today. Some of the most notable influenced artists to perform at the tribute were Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie (Woody Guthrie’s son), and Pete Seeger. As we read in Bob Dylan’s Chronicles, Woody Guthrie was probably the single most influential artist on Dylan’s musical career.
Bob Dylan was quite a huge fan of both the social message and the music that Guthrie was creating, and was only concerned that his music would have to be original in some way, and not just an identical clone of Guthrie’s. It is easy to see how Guthrie’s son, Arlo (a musical young man growing up in the house of such a widely influential musician/activist) had been impacted by his father from a young age. Arlo Guthrie also is known as folk musician who creates protest music for equal rights/social justice. Arlo worked to carry on his father’s legacy into the next generation. Pete Seeger, a popular American folk musician and social activist, is also known to have been influenced by Woody Guthrie. He performed at many popular festivals/events and was known for similar social messages as Guthrie in his work: non-violence, civil rights, and …show more content…
love. A Woody Guthrie Annual Folk Festival is also held annually to commemorate the life and legacy of Guthrie. Many folk musicians come out to the festival every year to pay tribute to a man who influenced their music. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. even opened an exhibit in 2000 called “This Land is Your Land: The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie”. The exhibit was centered on displaying the personal story of Guthrie, the social messages he portrayed through his music, and the modern artists whose careers have been shaped by him. I watched a couple of Woody Guthrie’s songs on Youtube: “This Land is Your Land”, and “Tear the Fascist Down”.
Both of the songs obviously were interesting right away just because of the “old sound” that they had (because obviously the recording are pushing 100 years old at this point). I liked “This Land is Your Land” and the message it portrayed. The song felt quite simple to me, but not necessarily in a bad way. I enjoyed how the music was simply just Guthrie’s voice and a banjo, which allows the listener to focus more on the political messages that he is trying to portray in his music. The song and its message (which seems to me is about how everyone should get along peacefully in the land that’s “made for you and me”) really made me feel uplifted/happy. “Tear the Fascist Down” seems to be a call to arms against the fascist Axis Powers (Hitler and Mussolini), asking “what are we waiting for?” and praising the Soviets/Chinese for their involvement and efforts against the fascists. As Guthrie was obviously a champion of civil rights, the horrible things that fascist leaders in Europe were doing would trump his usual non-violent paradigm. I like the music of this song as well; it is simple (but in a good
way). Woody Guthrie was simply one of the most influential Americans in the 20th century, both in the world of music and social activism. Guthrie’s early travels of the United States during The Great Depression, Dust Bowl, and both World Wars shaped him into the folk songwriter and social activist he would become. His legacy molded the future of political activism through music, and set the stage for many of the more modern folk protest singers (such as Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger). His impact on American culture was so great that festivals are still held today to celebrate the incredibly influential life of Woody Guthrie.
...gers of the old folk music are referred to as “authentic”. The author uses the biographies and the personal experiences of true Appalachian folk musicians to portray what life in the Appalachians was like. The strong family values, the music, the legends.
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
Joan Baez, a famous folk singer, sang her most famous song “Oh Freedom” during the civil rights movement. She expressed her want and need for equality and freedom f...
For many Americans, country isn’t just a type of music. It’s a lifestyle. From sippin’ sweet tea on the porch, drinking beer at a tailgate or driving a pick up down the backroads, country music has made its way into the hearts and minds of many Americans. It is one of the only truly home grown American art forms. Its relatability and wide appeal has made country music one of the most commercially successful and popular genres in the United States. Using the work of scholars Tichi, Pecknold, and Ellison, I will show how country music grew from its rural southern roots into an integral part of American culture.
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Pete Seeger: The Power of Song focused on Pete Seeger's life and how his career, social, and political life interacted and intertwined. The movie observes how Seeger's music influenced the political climate on topics such as war and racial prejudices; the documentary went over Seeger's blacklisting, his relationship to the communist movement, his interaction with political leaders and activists such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The documentary emphasized how Pete Seeger used his music to inspire people to improve themselves and their community, we saw this when the documentary provided information on the story of Pete Seeger's plan to clean up the Hudson River. The movie explained how Pete's encouragement, music and presence promoted the idea
Thus, blues became a large part of protest in America, especially in the 20th century. It was a form of outcry for help, dating back to slavery, and was often the only way that slaves saw fitting in order to rebel against their oppressors. Slavery and the shipping of slaves was the cause of the worldwide spread of blues, and since then has been a call for change. Many people who felt it necessary to rise up and be a voice for their generation have succeeded in aiding political and social change. Son House, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan are all poetic political dissidents expressing the hardship and sufferings that they underwent through the blues.
We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do. ’”(qtd. Pete Seeger www.geocities.com/Nashville/ 3448/guthrie.html) Woody was very passionate about his causes. He felt very strongly about the mistreatment of the migrant workers, probably because he was himself an “Okie”. His works served as inspiration for musicians like Bob Dylan and Pete Reeves 2 Seeger and not to mention “countless, less-famous others” (www.geocities.com/Nashville3448 guthrie.html) ...
The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular protest music, which has reached out to the youthful generations everywhere demanding for a revolutionary change. The protest music took the children of the 1960’s to a completely new different level. Musicians of this generation were not going to sit and do nothing while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Instead, they took their guitar-strumming troubadours from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America. However, as decades went by, protest music does not have much of an impact as it use to because of the way things have changed over the years. Through the analysis of the music during the 1960’s, there shall be an understanding on how the different genres of protest music has affected social protesters based on how musicians have become the collective conscience of that generation through their lyrics and music and the main factors that contributed to the lack of popula...
Bob Dylan was considered one of the greatest influences on popular culture of all time, and though influential, Bob Dylan’s rise to idol status in popular culture was more brought about by historical factors, his life was affected by many historical events including, The Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination and the civil rights movement, to name a few. His songs became known as protest songs, despite Bob Dylan’s apparent lack of understanding for the meanings the public attached to his writing.
Woody Guthrie was an amazing artist/songwriter he made hundreds of songs . Woody wrote a amazing song in 1940 called This Land Is Your Land. He was famous for this song this was one of his best songs. He made this song and sung the it all across the USA. Although he made his hit song he also had a genius quote he made this quote to inform people that this land is for everyone. There are some similarities and differences about the passage and the song.
Woody Guthrie's guitar sang out to the people when he sang. Woody wrote positive songs to build people up. He wrote the famous song ¨This Land Is Your Land¨ in 1940, and traveled all over the U.S.A. During Woody’s time of singing, he wrote hundreds of songs! Woody was an inspirational speaker and wrote a famous quote. The quote and the song are similar in a way, but also different.
... lines of each stanza and the “Yes” before most lines. This makes the words really stick to you. I think the song is very affective because all of the comparisons he makes are all so true. I also think because he made the song from different perspectives including the blacks, whites, and the government makes a big difference too. It makes it so that you can rather see what it feels like to be in the different people’s shoes.
The poem ‘I hear America singing’ by Walt Whitman is about music that all america hear and dance, also is about the independence patriotic people, and we gonna talk about people that works hard in the united states.
My artist from the 1960’s was Bobby Darin, his Simple Song of Freedom lyrics can relate to the 1980’s Public Enemy Fight the Power song. They both send the message to others about Civil Rights and the importance of equality among all regardless of race, gender etc. The 1960’s generation was fighting the Vietnam War which most of the United States popular was against. The 1980’s generation was also fighting a war but it was geared toward corrupt Government Officials but most importantly being able to speak up for what you believe