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Collection Woody Guthrie and the Archive of American Folk Song: Correspondence, 1940 to 1950

Related Resources

Finding Aids for Related Collections at the American Folklife Center

Woody Guthrie manuscript collection, 1935-1950 [Finding aid]

Ken Lindsay collection of Woody Guthrie correspondence, 1952-1953 [Finding aid]

Selected Bibliography

The following sources were particularly helpful in preparing the online presentation of the Woody Guthrie Manuscript Collection. Other articles, books, and unpublished dissertations pertaining to Woody Guthrie may be available to researchers at the Library of Congress, but fall outside the scope of this online presentation.

  • Asch, Moses, ed. American Folksong: Woody Guthrie. New York: Disc Company of America, 1947. Reprint, New York: Oak Publications, 1961.
  • Denisoff, R. Serge. Great Day Coming: Folk Music and the American Left. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1971.
  • Greenway, John. American Folksongs of Protest. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1953.
  • Guthrie, Woody. Born to Win. Edited by Robert Shelton. New York: Macmillan, 1965.
  • ________. Bound for Glory. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1943. Reprint, New York: New American Library, 1983.
  • ________. Pastures of Plenty: A Self-Portrait . Edited by Dave Marsh and Harold Leventhal. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.
  • ________. Seeds of Man: An Experience Lived and Dreamed. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1976. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.
  • ________. Woody Sez. Compiled and edited by Marjorie Guthrie. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1975.
  • Klein, Joe. Woody Guthrie: A Life. 1980. Reprint, New York: Dell, 1999.
  • Lawless, Ray M. Folksingers and Folksongs in America: A Handbook of Biography, Bibliography, and Discography. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1960. Revised ed., Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981.
  • Leventhal, Harold, and Marjorie Guthrie, eds. The Woody Guthrie Songbook. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1976.
  • Logsdon, Guy. "Woody Guthrie: A Biblio-Discography." In Hard Travelin': The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie, edited by Robert Santelli and Emily Davidson, 181-243. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England for Wesleyan University Press, 1999.
  • Lomax, Alan, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People. New York: Oak Publications,1967. Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999.
  • Longhi, Jim. Woody, Cisco, and Me: Seamen Three in the Merchant Marine. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
  • Reuss, Richard A. A Woody Guthrie Bibliography: 1912-1967. New York: Guthrie Children's Trust Fund, 1968.
  • ________, and JoAnne C. Reuss. American Folk Music and Left-Wing Politics, 1927-1957. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2000.
  • Robbin, Ed. Woody Guthrie and Me: An Intimate Reminiscence. Berkeley, Calif.: Lancaster-Miller Publishers, 1979.
  • Santelli, Robert, and Emily Davidson. Hard Travelin': The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England for Wesleyan University Press, 1999.
  • Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives. New York: Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives, 2000. http://www.woodyguthrie.org, accessed September 25, 2001.
  • Yates, Janelle. Woody Guthrie: American Balladeer. Unsung Heroes series. Staten Island, N.Y.: Ward Hill Press, 1995.
  • Yurchenco, Henrietta, assisted by Marjorie Guthrie. A Mighty Hard Road: The Woody Guthrie Story. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.

Selected Discography

The following list of published sound recordings represents those that the curators of this online presentation thought to be the most representative and readily available of Woody Guthrie's work.

The recordings issued by the Recording Laboratory of the Library of Congress are currently sold in cassette format only through the Public Services Office of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540. Selected titles are being reissued in CD format by Rounder Records in cooperation with the Library of Congress.

  • Anglo-American Ballads, Volume 1. Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder CD 1511, 1999.

    One CD with thirteen ballads performed by various artists. Reissue of Library of Congress Recording Laboratory AFS L1, Folk Music of the United States series, 1956. Recorded in various parts of the United States by Alan Lomax and others, 1934-41. Edited by Alan Lomax. Includes Woody Guthrie's performance of "Gypsy Davy," recorded by Alan Lomax and John Langenegger in Washington, D.C., January 4, 1941 (AFS 4491B3).

  • The Ballad Hunter, Parts I and II. Folk Music of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Recording Laboratory AFS L49, 1958.

    One cassette containing two radio programs on American folk music with musical illustrations. Narrated by John Lomax, 1941. Part I - Cheyenne: Songs from the Range and the Hill Country. Part II - Blues and Hollers: "Being Lonesome" Songs. Includes excerpts of Woody Guthrie performing "Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Dogies" and "The Trail to Mexico," recorded by Alan Lomax and John Langenegger in Washington, D.C., January 4, 1941 (AFS 4491B1-2).

  • The Ballad Hunter, Parts III and IV. Folk Music of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Recording Laboratory AFS L50, 1958.

    One cassette containing two radio programs on American folk music with musical illustrations. Narrated by John Lomax, 1941. Part III - Chisholm Trail: Cowboy Songs Along the Famous Old Cattle Trail. Part IV - Rock Island Line: Woodcutter's Songs and Songs of Prison Life. Includes "A Discussion of Blues" by Woody Guthrie, recorded by Alan Lomax and Elizabeth Lomax in Washington, D.C., March 22, 1940 (AFS 3416A1).

  • The Ballad Hunter, Parts V and VI. Folk Music of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Recording Laboratory AFS L51, 1958.

    One cassette containing two radio programs on American folk music with musical illustrations. Narrated by John Lomax, 1941. Part V - Two Sailors: Sea Shanties and Canal Boat Ballads. Part VI - Boll Weevil: Songs about the Little Bug that Challenged King Cotton. Includes excerpts of Woody Guthrie performing "Boll Weevil Song," recorded by Alan Lomax and Elizabeth Lomax in Washington, D.C., March 21, 1940 (AFS 3409B2).

  • Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings Volume 4. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 40103, 1999.

    One CD with twenty-six songs about cowboys, outlaws, and other western themes, performed by Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston. Recorded by Moses Asch, ca. 1944-49. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon.

  • The Concert and Radio Series: The Ballad Operas: The Martins and the Coys. The Alan Lomax Collection. Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder CD 1819, 2000.

    One CD with thirty-seven songs and dialogue segments comprising the ballad opera about legendary mountain families setting aside their differences to defeat Hitler during World War II, composed by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax and produced for the British Broadcasting Corporation, 1944. Includes six songs and three skits featuring Woody Guthrie as character Alec Coy.

  • Dust Bowl Ballads. Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder 1040, 1988.

    One LP with fourteen songs performed by Woody Guthrie. Recorded for RCA Victor, April 26, 1940. Reissue of RCA LP CPL1-2099 (Woody Guthrie: A Legendary Performer, 1977).

  • Hard Travelin': The Asch Recordings Volume 3 . Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 40102, 1998.

    One CD with twenty-seven topical songs composed and performed by Woody Guthrie. Recorded by Moses Asch, ca. 1944-49. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon.

  • Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings Volume 2. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways CD 40101, 1997.

    One CD with twenty-five American folk and country songs performed by Woody Guthrie. Recorded by Moses Asch, primarily in April 1944. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon.

  • Songs to Grow on for Mother and Child. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 45935, 1991.

    One CD with eighteen children's songs composed and performed by Woody Guthrie. Recorded by Moses Asch. Reissue of Folkways LP F-7015 (1956) with selections from Folkways LP F-7016 (1985).

  • Struggle. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 40025, 1990.

    One CD with twelve songs of the working classes performed by Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, and Sonny Terry. Recorded by Moses Asch. Reissue of Folkways LP F-2485 (1976).

  • That's Why We're Marching: World War II and the American Folk Song Movement. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways CD SF 40021, 1996.

    One CD with twenty-five patriotic songs featuring Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers, Lead Belly, Tom Glazer, Cisco Houston, Pete Seeger, Josh White, and others, recorded principally 1944-49. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon.

  • This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Volume 1 . Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Folkways CD SFW 40100, 1997.

    One CD with twenty-seven of Woody Guthrie's best-known songs taken from the original masters. Recorded by Moses Asch, ca. 1944-47. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon.

  • Woody Guthrie: Columbia River Collection . Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder CD 1036, 1987.

    One CD with seventeen songs presenting all the known recordings of Woody singing his Columbia River songs, written on contract to the Bonneville Power Administration and recorded in Portland, Oregon, May 1941.

  • Woody Guthrie: Library of Congress Recordings. Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder CD 1041-1043, 1989.

    Three CDs with twenty-nine songs and spoken commentary by Woody Guthrie, interviewed for the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song by Alan Lomax and Elizabeth Lomax over a three-day period in March 1940. Reissue of Elektra LPs EKL 271/272 (1964).