Woody Guthrie fans will soon get new music from the revolutionary folk singer 58 years after his death.
Guthrie’s estate and Shamus Records will release “Woody at Home, Vol. 1 and 2″ on Thursday, Aug. 14, the artist’s
website
states.
The two-volume collection consists of 22 unreleased recordings, including 13 previously never-before-heard songs.
Among these rare recordings is Guthrie’s signature song, “This Land is Your Land‚” but with new verses. The collection also has Guthrie’s only known recording of
“Deportee”
as well as previously unheard renditions of “I’ve Got to Know,” “Pastures of Plenty” and “Jesus Christ.”
Guthrie was said to have recorded the songs in 1951 and 1952 at his family’s apartment in Beach Haven in Brooklyn, New York. The folk legend recorded the tracks with the use of a Revere T-100 Crescent home tape recorder that was given to Guthrie by his publisher, according to the
New York Times
.
“Woody was someone that loved to be the first at something,” Anna Canoni, Guthrie’s granddaughter and president of Woody Guthrie Publications, told the New York Times.
“It was a brand-new invention that had just come out, so he was absolutely fascinated with it,” she said. “He had a curiosity to share as much music as possible.”
The recordings were never released because Guthrie didn’t have a label that wanted to release them at the time. In fact, they were the musician’s last ones before he was debilitated by Huntington’s disease. Guthrie
died in 1967
from complications of the disease.
The singer’s publishing company, now TRO Essex Music Group, kept the tapes for decades. The company enlisted producer Steve Rosenthal and mastering engineer Jessica Thompson to remaster the recordings and prepare them for public release.
“The job for me is just to allow Woody to be himself and to keep exposing new generations and new audiences to how he said things and what he said,” Canoni told the New York Times. “Every new generation is a new opportunity.”
Born on July 14, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie is regarded as one of the most significant figures in American folk music. The musician wrote more than 3,000 songs, hundreds of which that have become longstanding folk staples.
Dozens of artists have cited Guthrie as a major influence, including Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp. Guthrie’s work heavily focused on the themes of American socialism and anti-fascism, as heard in songs such as
“This Land Is Your Land”
and
“Tear the Fascists Down.”
“Woody at Home, Vol. 1 and 2″ is available for pre-order
online
.
