Woody Guthrie: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Woody Guthrie carried the Carter Family's parlor hymns and the Wobblies' picket-line verse out of Okemah, Oklahoma and into the Dust Bowl migration, the New York left, and the Almanac Singers. This mix traces the hillbilly records and labor balladeers he rewired, the writers and screens that shaped his sense of America, and the songwriters who have been borrowing his tune-and-new-words method ever since.

The Kynda mix for Woody Guthrie

• Key Influence · Wildwood Flower by The Carter Family (1928). Guthrie's melodic vocabulary was largely Carter Family: he set new lyrics to their tunes constantly, most famously borrowing the melody line of their 1930 recording "When the World's on Fire" for "This Land Is Your Land." The Carters' Bristol-era repertoire of modal hymns and parlor ballads, broadcast across the Southwest on border radio, gave him the fixed frames into which he poured topical verse about migration, strikes and Dust Bowl ruin.
• Influencia Obscura · Hobo's Lullaby by Goebel Reeves (1934). Reeves, the "Texas Drifter," is largely forgotten, but Guthrie called his "Hobo's Lullaby" a favorite song and sang it throughout his life; Arlo Guthrie later titled an album after it in his father's memory. Reeves was an itinerant yodeler and genuine road-rider whose recordings sentimentalized and dignified the transient worker, offering Guthrie a tenderness toward the broke and homeless that his Dust Bowl ballads reproduce.
• Local Roots · Oklahoma Hills by Jack Guthrie (1945). Woody's cousin Jack brought him to Los Angeles in 1937, where the two performed as the Oke and Woody show on KFVD, singing to the Okie migrants crowding California's valleys. "Oklahoma Hills" became a number-one country hit for Jack with Woody eventually credited as co-writer — the single clearest artifact of the Okemah-to-LA pipeline that turned Guthrie from a sign painter into a professional radio singer.
• Beyond the Medium · The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939). Guthrie condensed Steinbeck's novel into "Tom Joad," a seventeen-verse ballad he reportedly wrote in a single night so that migrants who couldn't buy the book could get the story in six minutes. Steinbeck in turn admired Guthrie's songs as the migrants' authentic voice. The exchange defines Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads project: literary naturalism compressed into Carter Family chords and a talking-blues cadence.
• Peer · Goodnight, Irene by Lead Belly (1933). Huddie Ledbetter and Guthrie were close friends and frequent housemates in New York in the early 1940s, performing together at union halls, rent parties and on radio with the Almanac circle, both of them recorded and promoted by Alan Lomax. Lead Belly's twelve-string repertoire of work songs, prison hollers and children's tunes shaped the Village folk revival that adopted Guthrie, and the two traded songs constantly.
• From the Canon · Dust Bowl Ballads by Woody Guthrie (1940). Recorded for RCA Victor in two 1940 sessions at the urging of Alan Lomax, this is arguably the first concept album in American popular music: a sequence of songs about drought, foreclosure, migration and California's hostility to Okies, including "Do Re Mi," "Dust Bowl Refugee" and the two-part "Tom Joad." It fixed the idea that a singer could report an economic catastrophe as a coherent body of work.
• Key Collaborator · American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1 by Pete Seeger (1957). Seeger met Guthrie at the 1940 Grapes of Wrath benefit in New York, hitchhiked west with him, and co-founded the Almanac Singers, the group that put Guthrie's union songs into halls across the country. Seeger spent decades afterward keeping the repertoire alive and teaching audiences to sing it; this Folkways series is the clearest document of the songbook-for-everybody ethic the two men built together.
• Legacy · Song to Woody by Bob Dylan (1962). Dylan arrived in New York in January 1961 largely to visit the hospitalized Guthrie in New Jersey, having read Bound for Glory and adopted his voice, phrasing and Okie persona outright. This early original, built on a Guthrie melody, is an open letter of thanks; the whole chain of American topical songwriting that followed — from "Hard Rain" to "Hurricane" — begins with that pilgrimage to Greystone Park.

What influenced Woody Guthrie

• Lead Belly. Elliott recounts Guthrie saying he learned from Lead Belly. (also via Goodnight, Irene) “Woody didn't teach me. He just said, If you want to learn something, just steal it—that's the way I learned from Lead Belly ."” (Wikipedia)
• Wildwood Flower by The Carter Family (1928). Wildwood Flower (The Carter Family) — titan for Woody Guthrie “He adapted the melody from an old gospel song, "Oh My Loving Brother", which had been adapted by the country group the Carter Family for their song "Little Darling Pal Of Mine".” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Hobo's Lullaby by Goebel Reeves (1934). Hobo's Lullaby (Goebel Reeves) — ghost for Woody Guthrie “Reeves' most famous song is "Hobo's Lullaby", covered by various singers, as in Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939). The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) — culture for Woody Guthrie “He worked at the Los Angeles radio station KFVD, achieving some fame from playing hillbilly music, befriended Will Geer and John Steinbeck, and wrote a column for the communist newspaper People's World from May 1939 to January 1940.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• I Am a Union Woman by Aunt Molly Jackson (1931). I Am a Union Woman (Aunt Molly Jackson) — ghost for Woody Guthrie “She stayed in New York for much of that decade and was a part of the Greenwich Village folk revival, singing for Alan Lomax at the Library of Congress, and influencing folk singers from Woody Guthrie to Pete Seeger.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Ford (1940). The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford) — culture for Woody Guthrie (themoviedb.org)
• Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas) by Jimmie Rodgers (1927). Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas) (Jimmie Rodgers) — titan for Woody Guthrie
• The Preacher and the Slave (Pie in the Sky) by Joe Hill (1911). The Preacher and the Slave (Pie in the Sky) (Joe Hill) — titan for Woody Guthrie
• Mill Mother's Lament by Ella May Wiggins (1929). Mill Mother's Lament (Ella May Wiggins) — ghost for Woody Guthrie
• Will Rogers: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Will Rogers (1931). Will Rogers: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Will Rogers) — culture for Woody Guthrie

Peers and kindred spirits

• Wilco. Wilco and Bragg recorded unreleased Woody Guthrie songs for the Mermaid Avenue albums. (also via The Jolly Banker, Mermaid Avenue) “Nora Guthrie contacted singer-songwriter Billy Bragg in spring 1995 about recording some unreleased songs by her father, folk singer Woody Guthrie .” (Wikipedia)
• Anders Parker by Anders Parker. Parker recorded music using Guthrie's lyrics for New Multitudes. “Jay Farrar , Will Johnson , Anders Parker , and Yim Yames recorded her father's lyrics for New Multitudes to honor the 100th anniversary of his birth and a box set of the Mermaid Avenue sessions was also released.” (Wikipedia)
• Will Johnson by Will Johnson. Johnson recorded music using Guthrie's lyrics for New Multitudes. “Jay Farrar , Will Johnson , Anders Parker , and Yim Yames recorded her father's lyrics for New Multitudes to honor the 100th anniversary of his birth and a box set of the Mermaid Avenue sessions was also released.” (Wikipedia)
• Jay Farrar by Jay Farrar. Farrar recorded music using Guthrie's lyrics for New Multitudes. “Jay Farrar , Will Johnson , Anders Parker , and Yim Yames recorded her father's lyrics for New Multitudes to honor the 100th anniversary of his birth and a box set of the Mermaid Avenue sessions was also released.” (Wikipedia)
• The Klezmatics by The Klezmatics. The Klezmatics set Guthrie's rediscovered lyrics to music. “These lyrics were rediscovered by Nora Guthrie and were set to music by the Jewish Klezmer group The Klezmatics with the release of Happy Joyous Hanukkah on JMG Records in 2007.” (Wikipedia)
• Blackfire by Blackfire. Blackfire interpreted Guthrie's previously unreleased lyrics. “Blackfire interpreted previously unreleased Guthrie lyrics. [ 132 ] Jonatha Brooke's 2008 album, The Works , includes lyrics from the Woody Guthrie Archives set to music by Jonatha Brooke.” (Wikipedia)
• Bandwagon. Woody Guthrie joins the cast of Bandwagon. “Woody Guthrie and Cisco Hous ton, ballad singers, Helen Tamaris and Daniel Nagrin, concert dancers,” (Twin City Observer (Minneapolis, Minn.))
• Oklahoma Hills by Jack Guthrie (1945). Oklahoma Hills (Jack Guthrie) — geography for Woody Guthrie “Leon Jerry "Jack" Guthrie (November 13, 1915 – January 15, 1948) was an American songwriter and performer whose rewritten version of the Woody Guthrie song "Oklahoma Hills" was a hit in 1945.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Wayfaring Stranger by Burl Ives (1944). The Wayfaring Stranger (Burl Ives) — peer for Woody Guthrie “He was also associated with the Almanacs, a folk-singing group which at different times included Woody Guthrie, Will Geer, Millard Lampell, and Pete Seeger.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1 by Pete Seeger (1957). American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1 (Pete Seeger) — collaborator for Woody Guthrie “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, Donovan, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg,…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Land Where the Blues Began by Alan Lomax (1993). The Land Where the Blues Began (Alan Lomax) — collaborator for Woody Guthrie “Guthrie made his first recordings—several hours of conversation and songs recorded by the folklorist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress—as well as an album, Dust Bowl Ballads, for Victor Records in Camden, New Jersey.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sophie Maslow. Guthrie provided live music for a performance featuring Maslow. “Guthrie provided live music for the performance, which featured Maslow and her New Dance Group. Two and a half years later, Maslow brought Folksay to early television under the direction of Leo Hurwitz.” (Wikipedia)
• The Works. Brooke set archived Guthrie lyrics to music on the album. “Jonatha Brooke's 2008 album, The Works , includes lyrics from the Woody Guthrie Archives set to music by Jonatha Brooke.” (Wikipedia)
• Jim James by Jim James. The interviewer identifies James as a participant in the album made from Guthrie’s unpublished writings. “They eventually brought in My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and Will Johnson of Texas alt-country outfit Centro-Matic to help them complete the project. The result is New Multitudes” (American Songwriter)
• Aliza Greenblatt by Aliza Greenblatt. The Klezmatics describe an artistic exchange between Guthrie and Greenblatt. “Guthrie and Greenblatt developed an artistic camaraderie, sharing with each other their stories and poems.” (The Klezmatics)
• Christy Moore. Moore recorded a rendition of Guthrie's song. (via The Ludlow Massacre) “The Irish folk singer Christy Moore was also strongly influenced by Woody Guthrie in his seminal 1972 album Prosperous , giving renditions of " The Ludlow Massacre " and Bob Dylan's " Song to Woody ".” (Wikipedia)
• Andy Irvine. Irvine recorded both parts of Guthrie's song. (via The Ballad of Tom Joad) “In 1986, Irvine also recorded both parts of Guthrie's "The Ballad of Tom Joad" together as a complete song—under the title of "Tom Joad"—on the first album released by his other band, Patrick Street .” (Wikipedia)
• That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine by Gene Autry (1931). That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine (Gene Autry) — geography for Woody Guthrie (musicbrainz.org)
• Goodnight, Irene by Lead Belly (1933). Goodnight, Irene (Lead Belly) — peer for Woody Guthrie “Guthrie had some success in New York at this time as a guest on CBS's radio program Back Where I Come From and used his influence to get a spot on the show for his friend Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Southern Exposure: An Album of Jim Crow Blues by Josh White (1941). Southern Exposure: An Album of Jim Crow Blues (Josh White) — peer for Woody Guthrie “On June 26, 1998, as part of its Legends of American Music series, the United States Postal Service issued 45 million 32-cent stamps honoring folk musicians Huddie Ledbetter, Guthrie, Sonny Terry and Josh White.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Cisco Houston Sings Songs of the Open Road by Cisco Houston (1960). Cisco Houston Sings Songs of the Open Road (Cisco Houston) — collaborator for Woody Guthrie “When Guthrie's attempts failed, his friends Cisco Houston and Jim Longhi persuaded the singer to join the U.S.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Abel Meeropol. Dust Bowl Ballads (Woody Guthrie) — peer for Abel Meeropol (via Dust Bowl Ballads) (musicbrainz.org)
• New San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (1940). New San Antonio Rose (Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys) — geography for Woody Guthrie

Who Woody Guthrie influenced

• Bob Dylan. The article lists Dylan among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. (also via Dust Bowl Ballads, Song to Woody) “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Ramblin' Jack Elliott by Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Elliott studied Guthrie's writing and performance firsthand. “During this time Ramblin' Jack Elliott studied extensively under Guthrie, visiting his home and observing how he wrote and performed. Elliott, like Bob Dylan later, idolized Guthrie.” (Wikipedia)
• Billy Bragg. Bragg identified as continuing Woody Guthrie's thematic tradition. (also via Mermaid Avenue) “To Nora, Bragg was "the only singer I knew taking on the same issues as Woody."” (Wikipedia)
• Pete Seeger. The article lists Seeger among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. (also via American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1) “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Bruce Springsteen (1949). The article lists Springsteen among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. (also via Nebraska) “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Folksay. Maslow incorporated Guthrie's songs into the dance work. (also via Dust Bowl Ballads) “Choreographer Sophie Maslow developed Folksay as an elaborate mix of modern dance and ballet, which combined folk songs by Woody Guthrie with text from Carl Sandburg 's 1936 book-length poem The People, Yes .” (Wikipedia)
• Song to Woody by Bob Dylan (1962). Song to Woody (Bob Dylan) — legacy for Woody Guthrie “The Irish folk singer Christy Moore was also strongly influenced by Woody Guthrie in his seminal 1972 album Prosperous , giving renditions of " The Ludlow Massacre " and Bob Dylan's " Song to Woody ".” (Wikipedia)
• Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen (1982). Nebraska (Bruce Springsteen) — legacy for Woody Guthrie “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, Donovan, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg,…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Johnny Cash. The article lists Cash among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Lou Reed. The article lists Reed among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Phil Ochs. The article lists Ochs among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Donovan. The article lists Donovan among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Robert Hunter. The article lists Hunter among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Harry Chapin. The article lists Chapin among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• John Mellencamp. The article lists Mellencamp among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Joe Strummer. The article lists Strummer among songwriters who acknowledged Guthrie's influence. “Songwriters who have acknowledged Guthrie as an influence include Pete Seeger , Bob Dylan , Johnny Cash , Lou Reed , Phil Ochs , Bruce Springsteen , Donovan , Robert Hunter , Harry Chapin , John Mellencamp , Andy Irvine , Joe Strummer , …” (Wikipedia)
• Sammy Walker. Walker explicitly credits Guthrie with influencing his singing and songwriting. “Speaking of Guthrie, Walker said: "I can't think of hardly anyone who has had as much influence on my own singing and songwriting as Woody."” (Wikipedia)
• Mermaid Avenue by Billy Bragg & Wilco (1998). Mermaid Avenue (Billy Bragg & Wilco) — legacy for Woody Guthrie