There’s a New Woody Guthrie Album
By the time iconic folksinger Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie [1912-1967] came to New Jersey in 1956 to live for six years within the walls of the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris County, he had cemented his reputation. In fact, the opening scene of A Complete Unknown has Dylan visiting him and playing for him a song from his 1962 debut album called “Song To Woody.” Now comes news that 22 of the private 1951 recordings from a stash of 300 songs on 32 tapes will be released by Shamus Records as Woody at Home Volume #1 and #2.
The songs were recorded in his Brooklyn apartment. According to Bruce Sylvester at www.goldminemag.com, “the intimate feeling of these informal home recordings is astounding. So’s the audio quality, a major accomplishment…he believed that no song was ever finished.” Thus, “Deportee,” “This Land Is Your Land” and “Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done,” have “new” lyrics. Only nine of the 22 tracks are on any other Woody album.