Composer of the Month 7/2012: Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (selected by Peter van Dessel / Belgium)

USA 26.6.1998 The video shows Woody Guthrie's son Arlon, along with Pete Seeger, performing the well-known song by Woody Guthrie "This Land is Your Land." The American singer-songwriter Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie was born on 14 July 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. After his father had lost all his money during the oil boom in Oklahoma, Woody Guthrie managed his life with odd jobs, performing in bars and playing as a street musician. Finally he found a first unpaid job at a radio station, where he played mainly popular cowboy ballads. Together with Maxine Chrissman he got the "Woody and Lefty Lou Show", a folk-oriented, socially critical radio show, which was very popular mainly with the common people. The fate of these people more and more became the subject of Guthrie's ballads. In 1940, he did his first recordings for RCA Victor record label in New York. In 1941, he became member of "The Almanac Singers" where he met Pete Seeger, with whom he then had a close friendship. Together they founded the musicians' union "Peoples Song." Woody Guthrie was suffering from a nervous disorder inherited from his mother and could no longer perform as a musician since the early 1950s. His work includes approximately one thousand songs, several books and numerous essays and other texts. Guthrie influenced the development of instrumental folk music and is now an American icon. Woody Guthrie died on 3 October 1967 in New York. In July 2012, the birthday of this great folk musician will mark the 110th times. More composer can be found in the members only section