The Unbounded Glory of Woody Guthrie

Woody at 100 Finale / photo © 2012 by Howard B. Leibowitz

Brooklyn Roads was honored to have been at Brooklyn College‘s Walt Whitman Theater for the Woody Guthrie Centennial Concert in September. This incredible evening was one of a yearlong worldwide series of events and concerts that were put together by The Grammy Museum, Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. and the Woody Guthrie Archives to commemorate the life and career of folk music legend Woody Guthrie.

The Brooklyn installment of the “This Land Is Your Land Concert“ series featured Billy Bragg, Judy Collins, John Cohen & The Dustbusters, Steve Earle, The Klezmatics, Mike & Ruthy, Pete Seeger, the Tony Trischka Band, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (Arlo Guthrie was also scheduled to perform, but had to bow out due to his wife Jackie’s illness) .There were also special guests such as Brooklyn College alumnus Oscar Brand, whose Folksong Festival radio program has been on WNYC Radio (wnyc.org) since 1945.

A tireless Nora Guthrie told how her formative years growing up in Brooklyn caused some consternation for Woody Guthrie devotees during her travels as she was repeatedly asked about her accent. “People always say, ‘Are you from Oklahoma? You don’t sound like Woody Guthrie’s daughter!’ And I would go ‘No! I’m from Brooklyn!’”

Kenny Kosek and Billy Bragg / photo © 2012 by Howard B. Leibowitz

Billy Bragg told Brooklyn Roads that there is an abundance of interest in Woody Guthrie in places such as the UK. He had just performed some centennial shows in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and is headed to play Woody concerts in Australia “where he’s very popular…Mermaid Avenuewent gold in Australia. It amazes me that they love Woody there.” He went on to tell us that Nora had invited him to come to Coney Island, as they were having a family tribute by the beach in July. “When we got down there, she asked me to sing that song Go Down To the Water, which I played tonight.”

All of the above has inspired us to present our own tribute to the Guthrie family in this edition of Brooklyn Roadsand offer our condolences to Arlo Guthrie and his family on the passing of his wife, Jackie on October 14, 2012