Hard travelin'; Travelling the land

A series dedicated to people. When Woody Guthrie came to New York he met Pete Seeger the two became close friends putting together a song like singing for union rallies and later becoming the nucleus of the Almanac Singers. This is how Pete remembers Woody. I met Woody Guthrie in 1939. He said Oh Pete there's a big beautiful country you ought to see it. I've never been west of the Hudson

River hardly and had a rather prickly supercilious attitude. I said well why. What's out there to see. He gave me a good bawling out. And I said well if I travel how do I get the money. He says use the rule of the thumb. And he lifted up his hand as though we were hitchhiking. And if you get to a place where there's no cars you can get on freight trains. I asked him how he says Well you wait outside town. Because it takes the freight train about a mile or two or more to pick up speed and when it's going for five miles an hour. Well then you hop on. And then you could likewise can hop off when it's slowing down someplace and you don't get caught back in the 30s there were a great many people that did travel in the West by that method I don't think it's done so widely now maybe the police are more strict. I think more likely it's just that it's not so convenient you can make better

time on the highway. A freight train goes quite slowly and it's dirty and bumpy uncomfortable way to travel but travel they did from what is Criss crossings of the country came a hymn of praise to the glories of America. This Land Is Your Land with. The air weighing out in the sky it's all below this line with you with the snow and the and the. The yacht the

yacht the of the Fords the sparkling the yacht the A meets B.

THE FLOWER GIRL IS A little boy to the yard the yard the yard. Am I as I am I am.

Those were the weavers in 1947 when he wrote a brief autobiography which was published by oak publications under the aegis of Moses Asch also the director of Folkways Records. From this autobiography here is what is description of the New York scene. I got jobs on the big New York radio show's pursuit of happiness cavalcade of America back where I come from a pipe smoking time WNYC as music festivals and bought a new 41 Pontiac. I got disgusted with the whole sissified and nervous rules of censorship on all of my songs and ballads and drove off down the road across the southern states again. In the mountains of North California later. I got a registered letter that told me to come up to the Columbia River to the Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dam to the office of the Bonneville Power Administration. Well I talk to people I got my job it was to read some books about the coolie and Bonneville dams to walk around up and down the rivers and to see what I could find to make up songs about. I made up 26. They played them over the loudspeakers at meetings to

sell bonds to carry the high lines from the dams to the little towns. Here is Will gears account of what his return trip from the northwest. Not good Robert McKee. A river that runs from the train back to Columbia River from the river and the better way to work was take to the Columbia River. Take that to.

The ocean. Oh oh oh oh oh.

That was Pete Seeger singing roll on Columbia in 1966 under the urging of secretary of the interior you doll a substation in the Bonneville Power Administration was officially named the Woody Guthrie substation. The citation commended Woody for his contribution to the greater appreciation of America mainly through his songs. The Talking Blues is a simple form of song and perhaps the most easily adaptable for topical songs. The simplicity of the talking blues however is deceptive because any looseness of lyric or callousness of phrasing stands out sharply. Here is Pete Seeger again with talking Bonnie Vale. Down by the river just set another rock watching all the boats in the Bonneville lock

the gate swings open the boat sails in. She's gone again. Gasoline going up and I filled up my hat took a little taste of all that water just going to worry about the dust. Thought about this and thought about the people I thought about the land rolling around all over creation looking for some little place to call home. You know folks but he's doing a lot of talking to some of the Balkans some of them squawking but with all if it isn't all a book some boys don't know their royal Chinooks. Some of. These some of the fish are pretty screwed. They got senators and politicians to run every four years. You watch this river pretty soon everyone back east going to be changing their tune.

Big Grand Coulee in the Bonneville Dam factories for Uncle Sam and fertilizer sewing machine last. Everything's going to be plastic and limited like dictators. Well I think the whole country ought to be run to city. Our next two programs will take a look at what is children. The land and off are off by an outline of the way to mind it a bit off the if you have been listening to hard travelling as series devoted to the life and music of Woody Guthrie written and rated by Judith Adams produced by Job walked May 4 to meditation center the

University of Texas at Austin. This program was distributed by a national educational radio. This is the national educational radio network.