Woody Guthrie

Introduction

Woody Guthrie (born on 14th July 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma and died on 3rd October 1967) was a singer and folk guitarist in the United States. His father, named Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election. Woody's mother died of Huntington's disease, which was transmitted to her son. He was the father of Arlo Guthrie and grandfather of Sarah Lee Guthrie.

He also wrote songs for children, including his son Arlo Guthrie, who is also a well-known musician. His daughter Nora, who had dedicated herself to organize the huge archive of his work, discovered hundreds of songs which (her father could not write or read). Many of the0 musicians have contributed to the work of this artist, by putting melodies to his verses (Santelli, 56).

Discussion on the Life of Woody Guthrie

According to Cray (2004), Woody Guthrie was the third in a family of five children. His father, Charley Guthrie Edwards, left southern Texas and settled in Indian Territory, which became Oklahoma in 1897. He practiced as a cowboy for several ranchers located in Okmulgee which was the territory of the Creek Nation. After three years, he turned to teaching calligraphy in 1902 and then worked as a bookseller for a merchant near Okemah. His mother, Nora Guthrie Sherman settled in the same area with his parents in 1900 (the exact date is not known). They got married on February 14, 1904.

The cultural legacy of Woody Guthrie is very mixed as a microcosm of the culture of Oklahoma. His father came from the south, and his mother and half-brothers were descendants of the region of the India. Figurehead of the movement folk of the 1960s, Woody Guthrie was foremost a musician in the country. After a childhood marked by countless tragedies, Woody, as a teenager, lived on his talent as a multi-instrumentalist playing in the street, where he also sold his drawings (Cray, 90).

Professional Life

He engaged in political action when he was young. He left for California, as thousands of these people like him were fleeing the misery of Oklahoma. Woody Guthrie then settled in the heart of the social struggles, opposing with his guitar and his songs in some of the companies of the State of California. His reputation earned him formidable agitator number of problems with the police and justice. On the other hand, his protest songs also attracted the attention of listeners to country music and folklore in New York. One of his most famous protest songs was undoubtedly the “Deportee” that was inspired by a plane crash carrying on board of Mexican migrants. This sharpened his spirit of being rebellious by having the treatment of the press to cover the event vis-à-vis these twenty-eight victims who saw their name mentioned; whether in writing or by radio, and they argued that they were only the deportees (Klein, 89).

For the anecdote, the song was originally a poem by the singer, whose additional music was composed by Martin Hoffman and popularized ...