Woody Guthrie and the Columbia River

Propaganda, Art, and Irony

Bibliographic Data

ID8103246
AuthorsMark Pedelty (0000-0002-5762-8064, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume31
Issue3
Pages329-355
Publication date2008-06-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePopular Music & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0300-7766 • E-ISSN: 1740-1712
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03007760701219079
OpenAlexW1965562497
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited10

In 1941, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) hired Woody Guthrie to record music for a film promoting dams along the Columbia River. A fierce debate rages today concerning the dams. Both sides reference Guthrie's music and image in order to bolster their arguments. An examination of contracts, diaries, lyric sheets, letters, interviews, and other documents housed in the Woody Guthrie Archives reveals that the folk icon's relationship to the project was as complex as the man himself. The case is instructive, for both informing the current debate and, more generally, understanding the relationship between institutional sponsorship and art. Notes 1. Guthrie claims that he wrote 26 songs for the BPA. Rumor has persisted that Guthrie wrote 28. During this research, two songs were found among Guthrie's lyric sheets and notebooks that may represent the additional two “missing” songs. One is titled “Roll on, Little Ocean” (entitled, “Roll Little Ocean” on another lyric sheet). It is a tightly knit song about a series of proud ships, one of them named the Columbia. Given the Columbia reference and the “roll on” phrasing, there is clearly a connection between “Roll on, Little Ocean” and “Roll on Columbia, Roll on.” Unlike that other “roll on” song, however, “Roll on, Little Ocean” is a delightfully cryptic work, ending with a submerged ghost boat resting quietly on the ocean floor. Whether produced at the same time as the 11 that were selected for the recording or the other 26 Bill Murlin earmarked for the published collection, “Roll on, Little Ocean” is obviously connected to the Columbia River song cycle. The potential 28th song, although previously ascribed to Guthrie, is not his at all. “We Fought the Old Columbia,” although similar to several of Guthrie's Columbia River songs, was written by his boss, Stephen Kahn. Kahn presented the song to Guthrie as an example of what he wanted Guthrie to write. Here is the entire list of 26 songs normally included in the Columbia River Cycle: 2. The Woody Guthrie Archives are located at 250 West 57th Street, Suite 1218, New York, NY 10107‐1218, . 3. As of July 2006, Mr Kahn, 96, was living in Carmel, California. In correspondence with the author, Mr Kahn enclosed a lyrical tribute to Woody, which he wrote in 2005. “This Land Was Your Land” is a warning that land is being lost to private interests and poor environmental stewardship. 4. Woody Guthrie Archives, Correspondence 1, Box 1, Folder 4. Woody Guthrie to Ambellan, June 10 1941. 5. Words by Woody Guthrie; music by Pete Seeger. Copyright Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc., 1990. Used by permission. 6. As of July 2006, Mr. Buehler was 94 and living in Portland, Oregon. 7. Words and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright TRO‐Ludlow Music, Inc. 1976. 8. Words and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright TRO‐Ludlow Music, Inc. 1963. 9. Woody Guthrie's Diary, Notebook 10. Woody Guthrie Archives. 10. Kahn. 11. “Folksay Album #1”, 1944, in Woody Guthrie Archives, Manuscripts 1, Box 1, Folder 19, Item 1. 12. Music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright TRO‐Ludlow 1961. 13. Woody Guthrie to Ambellan, June 10 1941. Woody Guthrie Archives, Correspondence 1, Box 1, Folder 4. 14. Guthrie's atom bomb songs appear in unpublished notebooks located at the Woody Guthrie Archives. 15. “Atom Dance”, words and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright Ludlow Music 2003. 16. “Freedom's Fire”, copyright Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. 2001. Used by permission. 17. “Dance around My Atom Fire”, words by Woody Guthrie, music by Joel Rafael. Copyright Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. 2005. Used by permission. 18. “Atom Dance”, words and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright Ludlow 2003. 19. Notebook 16, Woody Guthrie Archives. 20. “Talkin' Atom Bomb”, words and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright Ludlow 2003. 21. “Lackamoney”, words and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. 2006. Used by permission. 22. “Above the Money”, words and music by Woody Guthrie. Copyright Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. 2006. Used by permission

Acoustics · Art · Art history · Country · Icon · Irony · Literature · Political science · Power (physics · Rumor · Visual arts · Computer Science · Diverse Musicological Studies · History · Law · Music History and Culture · Poetry Analysis and Criticism

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