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Donnerstag, 17. Mai 2012

This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie, 1940)

Washington, DC,  January 18, 2009:

As the finale of Barack Obama's Inauguration Concert, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Dr. Martin Luther King had delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963, folk legend Pete Seeger, his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, and Bruce Springsteen, lead the other performers and an audience of thousands into a rousing rendition of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," a song which has long become an unofficial second national anthem.




I. Origin

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was born and raised in Okemah, OK, spent some time in Pampa, TX after his mother had been institutionalised for hereditary Huntington's Disease, before joining the massive exodus of "Dustbowl Refugees" (title of another Guthrie song) from the duststorm-ravaged Southern Great Plains area to California at the height of the 1930s Depression.   

"Before heading to California in early 1937, he roamed and rambled a bit around Oklahoma and Texas, getting a taste for the road and developing an insatiable curiosity that carried him along. He played music and painted signs, earning whatever he could in the darkest days of the Depression, all the while creating a base for a body of music that would soon come splashing out of him." (Santelli 2012)

While in Pampa, TX, Woody started performing professionally first with his uncle Jeff (an accomplished fiddler) and his aunt Aileen, then as a duo ("Woody & Matt") with Matt Jennings, brother of his first wife Mary, whom he married at age 19, and with Matt Jennings and Cluster Baker as the "Corncob Trio".

After his arrival in California, Woody first joined his cousin Jack Guthrie on Jack's country music show on KFVD, Los Angeles, CA, before establishing a duo act with "Lefty Lou from Old Missou" Maxine Chrisman, first on KFVD and then on XELO, Tijuana, Mexico.

In Jim Brown's 1984 documentary, "Hard Travelin'", Maxine remembers:
"We had a built-in audience of more-or-less displaced persons from the Dust Bowl, and they made up a good part of our audience, and because it was the same kind of songs they’d always known, we used to have a good audience right away, friends not fans. When we first started  out we didn’t have too many songs and that was how Woody started  putting his own versions to original old songs. And then after a while we ran out of those, and he started  writing his own” (Brown 1984).

In 1940, following actor Will Geer's invitation to come to New York, Woody first stayed with Will and his wife Herta, and performed at several events organised by Will Geer, among them a Spanish Civil War Refugees Benefit and a "Grapes of Wrath" benefit (March 03, 1940) where he met folklorist Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger.

 Around the same time, on or around February 23, 1940, Woody wrote "This Land Is Your Land," initially entitled "God Blessed America For Me" as a response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," sung by Kate Smith which seemed to dominate the airwaves in the late 1930s and whose "super-patriotism" seems to have annoyed Woody who "felt the song did not speak to the Americans he knew and the things he had seen in his travels all over the nation. He sat down and wrote his own song." (Place 2012)
Transcribed by Manfred Helfert.                                    
Crossed-out original lyrics: in square brackets

[God Blessed America]
This Land Was Made For You And Me
This land is your land, this land is my land
From [the] California to the [Staten] New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
[God blessed America for me.]
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway,
And saw below me the golden valley, I said:
[God blessed America for me.]
I roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me, a voice was sounding:
[God blessed America for me.]
Was a high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing --
[God blessed America for me.]
When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling;
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting:
[God blessed America for me.]
One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people --
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
[God blessed America for me.]
*all you can write is
what you see.
Original copy of this song
WOODY G.
N.Y., N.Y., N.Y.,
Feb 23, 1940
43rd Street & 6th Avenue
Hanover House         

I.1 Melody

The melody used by Woody seems to be derived from the old Baptist hymn "Oh, My Loving Brother" aka "(What You Gonna Do) When The World's On Fire."

 The oldest recording of that song in my own collection is one of four sides recorded by the 
Birmingham Jubilee Singers (as Alabama Four) for RCA Victor:
What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire (40405-2, Victor 21136)
unaccompanied vocal quartet: 
Charles Bridges, leader; Leo "Lot" Key, tenor vocal; Dave Ausbrooks, baritone vocal; Ed Sherril, bass vocal,  New York, NY, October 06, 1927.


 Woody's direct model seems to have been The Carter Family's 1930 RCA Victor recording:
When The World's On Fire (59984-2, Victor 40293)
A. P. Carter, vocal; Sara Carter, vocal/autoharp; Maybelle Carter, vocal/steel guitar, Memphis, TN, May 24, 1930.

A slightly modified tune had been previously used for The Carter Family's 1928 RCA Victor recording Little Darling, Pal Of Mine (45021-2, Montgomery Ward: M-4427, Bluebird  B-5301)
A. P. Carter, vocal; Sara Carter, vocal/autoharp; Maybelle Carter, vocal/steel guitar, Camden, NJ, May 09, 1928.

I.2 Recording and Publication History


 I.2.1
Woody Guthrie's earliest recording (verses 1 through 4 of the original 1940 manuscript, with verse 1 repeated as a coda, Matrix MA114) was recorded by Moe Asch in late April 1944 (after the 25th), while Woody was on a break from the Merchant Marine. This track remained unissued until 1997 when Smithsonian Folkways archivist Jeff Place discovered it on Smithsonian acetate 164 (10" shellac disc).



It was subsequently released on Woody Guthrie, This Land Is Your Land -- The Asch Recordings Vol. 1 (Smithsonian Folkways SFW 40100) and on Woody at 100 -- The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (SFW40200) released on July 10, 2012.

 Also on My Dusty Road (box set), 2009, transferred from a Stinson Records metal master ("mother"). MA-114, dated May 19, 1944. 


Transcribed by Manfred Helfert.    

 This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley,
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
All around me, a voice was asounding:
This land was made for you and me.

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side, it didn't say nothing --
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling;
A voice was chanting as the fog was lifting:
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

I.2.2
Fragmentary recording (verse 1 only, with lyrical changes) -- "This Land Is Your Land" used as a "theme" song for a musical train ride acoss the USA, Woody Guthrie (with Cisco Houston), unknown recording date (probably April 1944), Smithsonian acetate 388 (16" glass acetate), released on Woody Guthrie, This Land Is Your Land -- The Asch Recordings Vol. 1 (Smithsonian Folkways SFW 40100).

 Woody and Cisco recorded different versions of a musical train ride across the nation.... this... is an opening statement on one of those musical trips. In this variant Woody changes the lyrics to 'Redwood Forest' and 'Canadian Mountains' and retrospectively states 'East Coast here I come!'"
(Logsdon & Place, 1997)

Transcribed by Manfred Helfert.
Well, this land is your land, and this land is my land,  
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
Canadian mountains to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me.



I.2.3 
Mimeographed Song Folio, 
Ten of Woody Guthrie's Songs, April 3rd, 1945 
Copyright 1945 W. Guthrie

Verses 1, 2, 3 & 5 of the original 1940 manuscript
(Verse 1 now identified as "Chorus", some lyrical variations like "Canadian mountain [sic]", "This land is made for you and me"), new verse added:

Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking my freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land is made for you and me.

Annotation (excerpt):
"The main idea about this song is, you think about these eight words all the rest of your life and they’ll come a bubbling up into Eighty Jillion all Union. Try it and see. THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME."

Complete transcription by Lynne Harrison
(lynneh@lynxus.com) at woodyguthrie.de.


 Complete scan (pdf) at Electronic Frontier Foundation






I.2.4
"The Ballad Gazette" Radio Program, WNEW, New York, NY, October 16, 1945,
Smithsonian acetate 2117, released on July 10, 2012 on
Woody at 100 -- The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (SFW40200).

Theme song of short-lived radio show (verse 1 of original 1940 manuscript, with lyrical variations, another verse is basically hummed only, as the radio announcer introduces Woody Guthrie).

Transcribed by Manfred Helfert.
This land is your land, and this land is my land,  
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
Canadian mountains to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me.
 

I.2.5
This Land Is Your Land (standard version)
Recorded  1946; from Folkways 7027, released on 

Verses 1, 2, 3 & 5 of the original 1940 manuscript, with verses 1 & 5 repeated as a coda.

 "This later recording of “This Land Is Your Land” is the version most people know. This edited version first appeared on a Folkways children’s album, Work Songs to Grow On; however, the song became very well known in the folk music community through channels other than records—Work Songs to Grow On was not a big seller, and “This Land Is Your Land” was not recorded by others widely until the late 1950s. Instead, due to the fact it was copyrighted and included in many songbooks (some for schools and summer camps), many of the young people who became the musicians of the folk revival knew the song well by the time they started  their own music careers." (Place & Santelli, 2012)

Transcribed by Manfred Helfert.    
This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walkin' that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway,
Saw below me that golden valley, 
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
All around me, a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling 
In the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling; 
A voice was chanting as the fog was lifting:
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York Island,
From Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling 
In the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling; 
A voice come achanting and the fog was lifting:
This land was made for you and me.


I.2.6
January 07, 1952 Decca Recording,
first released on Songs for Political Action, Bear Family Records, 1996.
Substantially different lyrics,  of an (at times) almost "surreal" quality:

This land is your land, this land is my land
From the redwood forest to the New York island.
From the snow-capped mountains to the Gulf Stream waters
This land is made for you and me.

As I go walkin' my ribbon of highway
I see all around me my blue blue skyway
Everywhere around me the wind keeps a-whistlin'
This land is made for you and me.

I'm a-chasin' my shadow out across this roadmap
To my wheat fields waving, to my cornfield dancing
As I go walkin' this wind keeps talkin'
This land is made for you and me.

I can see your mailbox, I can see your doorstep
I can feel my wind rock your tip-top treetop
All around your house there my sunbeam whispers
This land is made for you and me.

I.2.7                                                                                                                                                          
© Copyright 1956 (renewed), 1958 (renewed), 1970 and 1972 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
The version copyrighted in 1956 is a rearranged seven-verse composite of different variants:
Verses 1 through 3 follow the 1940 manuscript,
verse 4 corresponds to verse 5 of the manuscript 
and is followed by verses 4 and 6 of the 1940 original
while the final (7th) verse is the "freedom highway" verse unique to the 1945 song folio (I.2.3).

Note: 
Verse 5 of the 1956 copyrighted version contains lyrical changes (compared to verse 4 of the original 1940 manuscript): 
  
Was a high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing --
[God blessed America for me.]

was changed to:

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

I.2.8
Commercially unreleased recordings by Woody Guthrie


I.2.8.1
Undated fragmentary recording, probably Asch studio recording 1945-'46 (based on the lyrical variations which are closest to the 1945 song folio and those of other 1945-'46 performances)

This undated Woody Guthrie studio recording (probably by Moe Asch, 1945-1946) was discovered on a reel-to-reel tape in the possession of the late Shel Silverstein.

There is a fascinating story about the discovery of this recording at NPR.

Transcribed by Manfred Helfert. 

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
Canadian mountain down to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me.

As I go walking my ribbon of highway
See around me this endless skyway, 
And all around me, the wind is whistling
This land is made for you and me.


This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
Canadian mountain to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me.

I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
Till I come to the sands of her diamond desert.
And all around me, a cloud was saying
This land is made for you and me.

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
Canadian mountain down to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me.

An' I kept a-roaming and I kept on roaming,
The wheat fields waving, the dust clouds rolling.
All around me, the wind was singing
This land is made for you and me.

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the Redwood forest to the New.... [recording breaks off]
I.2.8.2
"Folk songs by Woody Guthrie", Program 46
WNYC, New York, NY, dated February 14, 1946

Poor quality recording of Woody Guthrie performing "Grand Coulee Dam", "New Found Land" (which he claims to have written only three nights earlier), "This Land is Your Land", "East Texas Red" and "Worried Man Blues" (incomplete).

Technical notes by WNYC:
Numerous skips towards the end, digitally spliced together.
Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 2973
Municipal archives id: LT6227

Transcribed by Manfred Helfert.  

 An' next one I wanna do here on my bill of fare
is one you've heard before, I know.
It goes... name of it is "This Land Is Made for You and Me":

As I go walking this ribbon of highway
I see around me me this endless skyway,
And all around, me the wind is saying 
This land is made for you and me.

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
The Canadian mountain to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me.

As I went rambling and I followed my footsteps
To the diamond desert and the mineral desert,
All around me, the wind was saying:
This land is made for you and me.

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
The Canadian Rockies to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From the Redwood forest to the New York Island,
The Canadian mountain to the Gulf stream waters,
This land is made for you and me. 

Well, I don't know... I'll have to ask the man here at the control boards how much more time I got....
You know?


II. Context and textual analysis

Woody's 1940 original manuscript (with its images of breadlines and the gap between rich and poor, property owners and dispossessed in verses 4 and 6) clearly reflects his first-hand experience of the social injustices and hardships of the Depression years.
By the time of its first recording (1944) (I.2.1), the "private property" verse (verse 4) is still valid and appropriate, while the "relief office" verse (verse 6) is outdated and obsolete in view of the "boom years" caused by the United States' war efforts. Therefore, it is only logical that this verse is omitted.

In April 1945, as the victorious Allied forces have liberated most of Europe and are advancing towards Berlin and Tokyo, the "freedom road" verse of the 1945 song folio (I.2.3) makes perfect sense and replaces the "private property" verse. After V-Day, this verse has become obsolete and is dropped from subsequent performances/recordings.

Tranquility and peace of post-war America are reflected in the 1946 "standard" version (I.2.5), while the somewhat surreal lyrics of the 1952 Decca version (I.2.6) can almost certainly be attributed to the growing effects of Huntingdon's Disease on Woody's brain by that time.

The 1956 composite version (I.2.7) can be seen mostly as an attempt to copyright all existing verses, arranging them in a somewhat logical manner. The verses of the 1952 Decca version (I.2.6) were either not known at the time or deemed definitely inferior and not warranting inclusion.

III. Musical Analysis

All recorded versions are performed by Woody Guthrie, guitar and vocals (on I.2.2, Cisco Houston is addressed by Woody, but not audible on the recording as published by Smithsonian Folkways).

Whereas Woody's presumed model (The Carter Family's When This World's On Fire, 1930) follows an ABCD-pattern, with a new melody for each line, Woody's modification could be described as ABAC, with Woody repeating the melody for the first line as the third line and concluding the song with a new fourth line.

Initially conceived without a chorus, by 1945 (as witnessed by the April 1945 song folio, I.2.3 and subsequent performances/recordings), the first verse becomes a chorus (and is clearly designated as such in the 1945 song folio).


IV. Reception (work in progress)


Credits

Songwriter: Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie
Lyrics:         Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie 
Producer:    Moses "Moe" Asch (I.2.5 and most likely I.2.8.1)
                   Jeff Place (for I.2.1, I.2.2 and I.2.4)
                   Milt Gabler (for I.2.6)
                   probably Morris Novik, WNYC (for I.2.8.2)
Labels:       Folkways, Smithsonian Folkways, Bear Family Records 

References

Brown, Jim (director). 1984, Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin' (documentary movie).

Cohen, Ronald D. & Samuelson, 1996. Songs for Political Action (liner notes).
http://woodyguthrie.de/thisl2.html (May 18, 2012).

Document Records. 1995. Birmingham Jubilee Singers, Vol. 2 (Liner Notes).
http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-5345 (May 18, 2012)

Guthrie, Woody. 1940. This Land Is Your Land: (original manuscript). Transcription.

Guthrie, Woody. 1956. This Land Is Your Land (copyrighted lyrics).

Guthrie, Woody. 1945. Ten Of Woody's Songs (privately published song folio). Transcription:

Logsdon, Guy & Place, Jeff. 1997. Woody Guthrie: This Land Is Your Land, The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1 (liner notes). http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/smithsonian_folkways/SFW40100.pdf (May 18, 2012)

NPR, All Things Considered: Unearthing an Unexpected Musical Treasure, September 19, 2006 (March 04, 2013)

Place, Jeff & Santelli, Robert. 2012. Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (liner notes for individual tracks, advance copy). http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=3367 (May 18, 2012)

Santelli, Robert. 2012. Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (essay, liner notes, advance copy). http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=3367 (May 18, 2012)

Taylor, Mike. no date. The Carter Family: A Comprehensive Discography.

Wikipedia. no date. This Land Is Your Land.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Land_Is_Your_Land (May 18, 2012)

WNYC, Folk songs by Woody Guthrie, February 14, 1946 (March 04, 2013)

© Copyright (for research and original content) Manfred Helfert, 2012-2013


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