some notes from a 1967 memorial album (Everest Records):

... Woody Guthrie is one of America's greatest writers. He saw many great and sad things in this country of ours and what he saw he put into music. Woody said "I make up a ballad song or more every going-coming day." His close friend Cisco Houston said "Woody is a man who writes two or three ballads before breakfast every morning."

Woody came out of hard times; led a life filled with personal tragedy; and yet his songs are filled with hope. He traveled all over this land, and wherever he went he made music. He had the ability to identify with the ordinary man and woman, speak their language without using the fancy words. He wasn't polite at all, he would cuss and shock people, and he was going to stay the way he was. He wasn't going to let "money men" make him slick. His abrupt honesty cost him many jobs. Pete Seeger says, "Well, that's Woody for you. He didn't always pay his bills, and he made life hard for his family and friends sometimes -- always traveling, itching heels, ants in his pants -- but Lord, Lord, he turned out song after song after song...."


2¢ from Mrs. Z: looking for some Woody lyrics last week led me to discover this amazing website.