Asch Recordings Vol 1 - Woody Guthrie (1944)

I realized yesterday that what I wrote today would publish on July 4th. So I thought I should have something that deals with America, and deals with its complexity.

Woody Guthrie was everything America could be. I’ve recommended a book that talks about him before, but here’s another good one if you’re into it. Guthrie understood that America’s strength was its people, and he traveled far and wide to gather as many stories and songs as he could. In the process, he revised his views on race and was an early example of recognizing that the struggles of poor whites and poor blacks had a lot in common.

He was part of the workers movements of the 30s and 40s that were sometimes labeled communist but were always humanist. No matter what labels people put on him, he was committed to making things better for as many people as possible, and his weapon was the songs that tie us all together.

We hear his songs about poverty, strife, and war along with his belief in our ability to make things better. When it comes down to it, the problems we had 80 years ago are not that different from the ones we face today. The prescription for a fix, too, is the same: more connection, more understanding, more inclusion; In short, to build the open society.

Tracks I Liked

This Land Is Your Land - The 1944 version of This Land Is Your Land is basically the song you learned in school, but one of the versions here leaves in the verse about ignoring private property

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me; / Sign was painted, it said private property; / But on the back side it didn’t say nothing; / This land was made for you and me.

Grand Coulee Dam - a pretty forward-thinking story about the origins of industrial America depending on the land’s natural majesty.

Jesus Christ - Jesus as a socialist hero of the people. A brilliant take, imo.

Lindbergh - a frighteningly factual tale of the America First movement and its pro-Nazi agenda.