Twenty-Two Tracks Previously Unreleased and 13 Songs That Guthrie Never Recorded Elsewhere
The film A Complete Unknown shined a new spotlight on Woody Guthrie, who was a monumental cultural, political, and music figure. Guthrie documented American life in song and prose; his songs are still sung everywhere from arenas to coffee houses, schools to protests. NPR said, “Guthrie left a lasting mark on music, culture and politics.”
On July 14, Shamus Records will release Woody’s only known recording of his original song “Deportee (Woody’s Home Tape)” as a single. “Deportee (Woody’s Home Tape),” (also known as “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos”) was originally written in 1948 in response to a New York Times article about a plane crash in Los Gatos Canyon, California that killed 32 people, including 28 migrant farm workers. Pre-save.
In audio found on these original home tapes, Guthrie himself explains: “I just want to tell you fellers that I’m awful glad sending this batch of songs to you. This sounds like about the best tape I made so far… I was here at home watching the kids by myself. So the kids tapes I’m sending you, the ones with me and the kids on them, I don’t want you sending them back or anything like that. I just want you to keep them and play them, and see the place from whence all good folk songs breed and spring.”
Thirty-eight-year old Woody Guthrie recorded these songs himself into one microphone on a reel-to-reel tape machine at the Guthrie family’s two-bedroom apartment, located at 49 Murdock Court, in the Beach Haven apartment complex, Brooklyn, NY in the early months of 1951 and 1952. The tracks include sounds of Woody’s then-toddlers as well as doors opening.
Nearly 75 years after they were made, the recordings have been newly transferred and produced by GRAMMY-winner Steve Rosenthal (The Rolling Stones, Blondie, Lou Reed, Natalie Merchant, Laura Nyro) and restored and mastered by GRAMMY nominee Jessica Thompson (Kurt Vile, Erroll Garner, Mickey Newbury, Ralph Stanley, Lou Reed, Janis Ian), using both pioneering software and antique tape machines to de-mix and mix the voice and guitar, while staying true to the homemade, analogue spirit of the original recordings.
These raw and intimate home tapes were recorded in the early months of 1951 and 1952, at the family’s apartment in Beach Haven (Gravesend), Brooklyn. Woody made them as his musical introduction to his publisher. Woody got his first publishing deal in 1950 with a new startup, TRO, founded by music publisher Howie Richmond.
By 1950, two-channel tape recorders allowing recordings in stereo appeared in the United States for the first time. Able to get his hands on one of the new machines, Howie sent the recorder to Woody in Brooklyn. Woody spoke, rambled, sang, and gave new context and intimate reflections into his songs using the single mic reel-to-reel machine. Woody sings about historic events, stories of the disenfranchised and ignored, love, and of course, the fight against fascism.
For Woody, to be at home producing his music at his leisure allowed a different focus and sense of safety. Writing was an obsession for Woody. His inspirations might come from a newspaper article, a movie, a conversation, or just from observing people. His lyric sheets are filled with quips, notes, and anecdotes that give insight into his personality, motivations, and process. Being a songwriter was more a matter of having something to say than developing special skills for Woody. One of the most prolific songwriters of his era, Woody’s output was constant.
In July 1952, Woody was first admitted to Brooklyn State Hospital. In and out of hospitals for the next few years, Woody finally received a diagnosis of Huntington’s chorea in 1956, a disease that he had inherited from his mother, Nora Belle. He would spend the rest of his life in and out of hospitals, including Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey (1956–1961), Brooklyn State Hospital (1961-1966), and finally Creedmoor Hospital (1966-1967), where he passed.
His last of the home tapes—the last Woody Guthrie recordings made—were sent to TRO in December 1952. In total, 32 tapes and more than 300 recordings of Woody at home were submitted.
It has been my great pleasure to get to know and work with the Guthrie family for the past 25 years,” says Rosenthal. “With recent advancements in sound restoration technology along with the current political climate, I believe this is the right time to release Woody’s home tapes. These are not professional studio recordings, but instead, highlights from Woody’s audio sketchbooks. These are his words and music, shared with his publisher Howie Richmond in 1951, and happily in 2025 with us.”
Anna Canoni, Woody’s granddaughter and President of Woody Guthrie Publications, adds: “We are thrilled to finally share this private treasure trove of Woody Guthrie’s home recordings! These raw and intimate home tapes consist primarily of songs that Woody was unable to release in his lifetime, a life cut short by Huntington’s disease. Never intended for commercial release, these tapes were recorded as Woody’s introduction to his music publisher. In these private tapes, Woody sings about important moments in history like the plane crash at Los Gatos Canyon and the case of Trenton Six, meeting Albert Einstein and how his theories can help end race hate, stories of the disenfranchised and ignored, he sings about love, and of course, the fight against fascism. Woody’s gentle, matter-of-fact voice and sometimes out-of-tune guitar is a refreshing and humble reminder of the true power of song.” As Anna notes, in these songs, Woody validates his own words, ‘I’ll use a song to tell the things that are right and the things that are wrong.’
The new set was produced by Anna Canoni, Kathy Ostien, and Steve Rosenthal.
About Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma. Over the decades, his songs have run around the world like a fast train on a well-oiled track. They’ve become the folk song standards of the nation, known and performed in many languages throughout the world. He wrote over 3,000 songs in his lifetime, hundreds of which have become staples in the canon of American music. He inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as “This Land Is Your Land.”
“Woody is just Woody,” John Steinbeck wrote. “Thousands know him by no other name. He is a voice with a guitar. He sings the songs of a people and I suspect that he is, in a way, that people. Harsh voiced and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings. But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of a people to endure and fight against oppression. I think we call this the American spirit.”
About Woody Guthrie Publications
Woody Guthrie Publications is the home for all things Woody Guthrie. Since Woody’s passing in 1967, three generations of Guthrie’s family have been the administrators of Woody’s creative legacy. First through Woody’s wife Marjorie Guthrie, then daughter Nora Guthrie, and now granddaughter Anna Canoni, they have consistently reminded us that Woody’s work is enlightening, inspiring, edifying, and most importantly, current – spotlighting Woody Guthrie as a significant guiding voice and citizen of the world. For more information, visit. WoodyGuthrie.org.
WOODY AT HOME: VOL. 1 & 2 TRACK LISTING
VOLUME 1, SIDE A
1. This Land Is Your Land (Woody’s Home Tape) (3:00)
2. Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done (2:53)
3. Howie, I’d Like To Talk To Yuh (spoken word) (2:25)
4. Deportee (Woody’s Home Tape) (3:47)
5. Great Ship (2:53)
6. Pastures of Plenty (3:11)
VOLUME 1, SIDE B
7. Jesus Christ (4:39)
8. I’m a Child Ta Fight (2:23)
9. Innocent Man (3:32)
10. I’ve Got To Know (4:17)
11. Backdoor Bum and the Big Landlord (3:18)
VOLUME 2, SIDE A
1. I Just Want To Tell You Fellers (spoken word) (0:55)
2. Peace Call (4:11)
3. Ain’t Afraid To Die (3:35)
4. Buoy Bells from Trenton (3:54)
5. Einstein Theme Song (with spoken word) (1:19)
6. One Little Thing An Atom Can’t Do (3:35)
VOLUME 2, SIDE B
7. Forsaken Lover (4:15)
8. My Id & My Ego (3:20)
9. Lifebelt Washed Up (5:17)
10. Funny Mountain (1:57)
11. You Better Git Ready (2:42)
