Pages tagged “woody guthrie”

Woody Guthrie would be a crazy blog sensation if his career began anew today. Thankfully, Guthrie's music continues to resonate because it stems from a time before music became a commodity. So while we're busy celebrating Bob Dylan's career yet again or pondering Bruce Springsteen's relevance to indie culture, perhaps it's time we looked back to the songwriter who inspired them both.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Philadelphia Folksong Society aims to do just that. Bringing together previously unheard Guthrie lyrics with modern-day folkies, the society will host "In Woody's Words" on Dec. 16 at Philadelphia's World Cafe Live. Artists such as Chris Smither, John Gorka, Jonatha Brooke, Tom Paxton, Sara Lee Guthrie & Johnnie Irion and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer will marry those old Guthrie words with their own melodies.

Woody's daughter Nora Guthrie will preside over the event and present a film featuring other Guthrie reinterpretations from additional artists, including Wilco and Billy Bragg.

“The wonderful thing about working with the new lyrics from the archives is that I keep realizing that there is a song for everyone,” Nora said. “Somewhere, in the pile of 2,500 lyrics, there's something that strikes a chord for each musician."

"In Woody's Words" is an invitation-only luncheon, with a very limited number of tickets available to the public. Those interested in attending can contact Philadelphia Folksong executive director Lauri Barish at (215) 247-1300 or lbarish@pfs.org.

Related links:
Philadelphia Folksong Society online
WoodyGuthrie.org
Woody Guthrie at the Library of Congress

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Any band trafficking in old-timey sounds risks crossing the fine line between celebrating its influences and mummifying them. Working from a musical template that stopped evolving, oh, 70 years ago, OCMS manages to stay on the right side of this line on its sophomore disc. Ketch Secor’s originals sound comfortably at home among the traditional folk, blues and country numbers, and by investing his tunes with a puckish modern sensibility, they manage to avoid sounding mannered or fusty. While it’s unlikely that any of the new material will be mined by future generations the way Secor mines the work of Woody Guthrie (whose “Union Maid” appears here), fiddle-and washboard-driven tracks such as the jaunty, surreal “Bobcat Tracks” and the lovely, despairing “James River Blues”—not to mention an Elijah Wood name-check on “Cocaine Habit”—prove OCMS understands that folk music is meant to be played, not studied.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has re-released Folkways: The Original Vision-Songs of Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly. The 15-year-old album has been digitally remastered and has six bonus tracks, new packaging and expanded notes.

Original Vision includes Lead Belly's signature "Midnight Special," "Rock Island Line," "Irene" and Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land.” Original Vision was a companion to the Grammy-winning 1988 album Folkways: A Vision Shared – A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Lead Belly (Columbia), which featured the original versions of songs reinterpreted by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, U2 and others.

After Folkways founder Moses Asch's death in 1986, The Smithsonian Institution acquired the massive Folkways catalog, forming Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to ensure that the music of its artists would be available to future generations. As a condition of the acquisition, the Smithsonian agreed that the entire catalog would remain in print forever—a condition it continues to honor through its custom mail order service and recently launched online digital download service, Smithsonian Global Sound. Since 1987, Smithsonian Folkways has continued to expand on Asch's legacy, acquiring several other record labels and releasing over 300 new recordings that document and celebrate the “people's music.”