With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie a.k.a. Woody Guthrie died nearly 60 years ago aged just 55. Now some of his previously unpublished home demos have been released almost 75 years after they were recorded. ‘This ‘Woody At Home’ was released this weekend on Shamus Records. The 22 song collection features recordings made by Guthrie at his Brooklyn home during 1951 and 1952. It is just Guthrie and his legendary guitar recorded directly onto a reel-to-reel tape machine. Apparently the songs were never set for any kind of commercial release. But then the AI technology to make them stronger and cleaner became available alongside the production prowess of Steve Rosenthal and mixing and mastering skills of recording engineer Jessica Thompson. In addition to AI the pair used vintage audio restoration methods while seeking, and succeeding, in maintaining the rawness and charm of these historical home recordings.

The collection opens with a very familiar Woody tune, “This Land Is Your Land”, but this time I believe it contains additional verses that have not been heard before. I love that there is a lot of ambient sounds, brief conversations, someone coughing and this really makes the listener feel like they are in the room with him. Tow tracks including “Howie, I’d Like To Talk To Yuh” are effectively a voice note for someone else, the titular Howie in this instance. I think that might refer to Howie Richmond who was Guthrie’s music publisher. One of my favourite songs here is “Deportee” a song that is as relevant now as it was then. It tells the story of how the USA treats immigrant workers back then and clearly still do. Guthrie wrote the song after a 1948 plane crash killed 28 farm workers who the media referred to as deportees. These were human beings and it is clear that Guthrie understood that. The song has been covered by many artists over the years including Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell to name just a few.

You would expect that given these recordings were made six or seven years after the end of the 2nd World War that fascism and Nazism would feature strongly and they do. But what resonates most is how easily those songs relate to the present day US government under Donald Trump. Woody Guthrie once wrote a song about Trump’s father Fred Trump who was once Guthrie’s landlord. That song describes the racist housing practices and discriminatory rental policies perpetrated by Trump Sr. Clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. That song isn’t include here, but we do get “Back Door Bum And The Big Land Lord” a song about a fictional trek through the afterlife of a rich man and a poor man in which the Big Land Lord gets sent to Hell after trying to buy his way through the Pearly Gates. “I’m A Child Ta Fight” was one of the tracks to be issued as a single and shows how much Guthrie hated fascists, Nazis and particularly Hitler. The line “look out you fascists here I come” sits nicely with “This machine kills fascists” which Woody painted on his guitar in the 1940s.

Another song that works so well for our current times is “Peace Call” a song that urges global peace. I have always felt that I am not afraid to die, but do not wish to die alone or in great pain. Woody’s song “Ain’t Afraid To Die” deals with a fear of dying alone among many other themes. “Innocent Man” is an intelligently crafted anti racist song and in the spoken intro to “Einstein Theme Song” Guthrie shares a conversation with Albert Einstein where the famous and revered theoretical physicist talks of inventing something that would kill racism for good. That would be great, but maybe we just need to ensure children are not taught how to hate. If you felt that Woody Guthrie only wrote protest and political songs take a listen to “Forsaken Lover” this is a gorgeous moving song of love and heartbreak, truly a thing of musical and poetic beauty. Guthrie has fun with Sigmund Freud’s theories of the id, ego and superego on “My Id & My Ego”. The closing song is “You Better Git Ready” a rousing call to arms about getting ready to fight for what you believe in. This wonderful, historic and heartfelt collection of songs opens a window on Woody Guthrie’s creative process and must be the only contender for best reissue of the year. The New York Times called this compilation a “treasure trove” and that phrase sums it up perfectly. The full track listing is shared below.

VOLUME 1, SIDE A

1. This Land Is Your Land (Woody’s Home Tape) (3:00)
2. Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done (2:53)
3. Howie, I’d Like To Talk To Yuh (spoken word) (2:25)
4. Deportee (Woody’s Home Tape) (3:47)
5. Great Ship (2:53)
6. Pastures of Plenty (3:11)

VOLUME 1, SIDE B

7. Jesus Christ (4:39)
8. I’m a Child Ta Fight (2:23)
9. Innocent Man (3:32)
10. I’ve Got To Know (4:17)
11. Backdoor Bum and the Big Landlord (3:18)

VOLUME 2, SIDE A

1. I Just Want To Tell You Fellers (spoken word) (0:55)
2. Peace Call (4:11)
3. Ain’t Afraid To Die (3:35)
4. Buoy Bells from Trenton (3:54)
5. Einstein Theme Song (with spoken word) (1:19)
6. One Little Thing An Atom Can’t Do (3:35)

VOLUME 2, SIDE B

7. Forsaken Lover (4:15)
8. My Id & My Ego (3:20)
9. Lifebelt Washed Up (5:17)
10. Funny Mountain (1:57)
11. You Better Git Ready (2:42)

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