Woody Guthrie “Woody At Home- Vol 1+2”

These home recordings of previously unreleased songs, including some previously not recorded, are a great historical document.

The story of this album starts when Woody Guthrie got his first publishing deal in 1950 with Howie Richmond’s company, TRO. Richmond sent a two-channel stereo tape recorder to Guthrie’s home in Beach Haven, Brooklyn. Guthrie then proceeded to tape songs in his home during 1951 and 1952 as a musical introduction to his publisher, and you can actually hear household sounds, including his young children, on them. His wife also speaks on one of the “spoken” interludes. They were to be his last ever recordings.

Fast forward nearly 75 years, and some of the songs have been restored and mastered by GRAMMY nominee Jessica Thompson and produced by GRAMMY-winner Steve Rosenthal. There was no generative AI used in the restoration process, with Guthrie’s voice and guitar unchanged. The collection contains 22 previously unreleased recordings, including 13 Guthrie songs not heard on any of his other recordings, as well as three spoken word tracks.

The work here is lower key and quieter than more well-known recordings, and there is none of the harmonica that can appear on some of his songs, but just his voice and gentle folk guitar picking as an accompaniment. It all starts with a slower and less vigorous version of ‘This Land Is Your Land’ but with extra new verses. There is then a new version of the jaunty ‘Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done’, which showcases Guthrie’s playful, jovial side. This is also seen later in ‘One Little Thing An Atom Can’t Do’, where he argues the atom has the power to make a huge atomic bomb, but it can’t get involved in affairs of the heart. Guthrie was a complex character, and ‘My Id & My Ego’ discusses these two competing pulls of Freudian psychology on him in a light-hearted way.

Next up is the spoken message to Howie Richmond ‘Howie, I’d Like To Talk To You’ where he explains that these songs aren’t the finished article but are works in progress. It is wonderful to hear his voice here, with its slow Oklahoma drawl, and it makes the recordings feel more human and alive.

This is followed by ‘Deportee’, the very moving song written after a 1948 plane crash where 32 people died, including 28 migrant workers. They had been fruit picking in California, but had served their use and were being deported back to Mexico after initially wading through rivers to get to the US. Guthrie was outraged that none of the migrants’ names were mentioned in a NY Times article about the crash- they were just referred to as ‘deportees’. This song has been covered by many artists, including Joan Baez and Billy Bragg. These covers are better to listen to and more memorable musically than Guthrie’s, but they don’t have the authenticity, historical interest and emotion of his version. These qualities are heard throughout and are the great strength of the album.

Guthrie sings about love and politics, but mainly politics. As you would expect, his left-wing world-view is heard throughout the album, for example, in his sympathy for the working people and migrant workers who don’t get the just deserts for their labour. His political views are put simply, but his desire for a better world shines through and is inspiring. His religious belief is seen in ‘Jesus Christ’, where he points out that Jesus was a champion of the poor. There are also calls for peace and against race hate. ‘I’m A Child Ta Fight’ is a call for action against fascists, and Hitler in particular.

Guthrie had Huntington’s, a cruel genetic disease that his mother died from. He died in 1957, aged 55, but had symptoms at the time of these recordings and must have known his fate. He had begun to behave erratically, and this led to his separation from his wife. ‘Ain’t Afraid To Die’, where he states that he is not afraid of death as long as he is not alone, is a very poignant track on here.

Anna Canoni, Woody’s granddaughter, hits the nail on the head when she says that the album is like “I’m sitting in the same room with him, listening to him work through a song”. Big Woody Guthrie fans will absolutely love it, but it is a great listen for anyone interested in roots music.