Shamus Records just revealed they’re putting out Woody at Home – Vol 1 + 2, a brand new set of 22 songs by Woody Guthrie that nobody’s ever heard before.
The album drops August 14, and the label already put out Guthrie’s only version of “Deportee”—the song he wrote after reading The New York Times report about a plane crash in Los Gatos Canyon that killed 32 people, including 28 farm workers from Mexico. Loads of famous musicians like Bruce Springsteen and Joni Mitchell have played this song, but this is the first time anyone can hear Woody himself sing it. You can check out “Deportee” right now.
All these songs came from old tapes Woody recorded at home when he was 38, using just one mic and a reel-to-reel in his Brooklyn apartment back in 1951 and 1952. The tapes had to be fixed up by Steve Rosenthal, then Jessica Thompson made them sound even better, and Anna Canoni and Kathryn Ostien helped put the whole thing together. They even found some old family pictures and Woody’s scribbled lyrics.
Some of the tracks even have the sound of Woody’s little kids running around, doors squeaking, and him just talking to himself. He says on one tape, “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.”
Fans really like hearing Woody sing in his own house, with his kids making noise in the background.
Anna Canoni, who’s Woody’s granddaughter, said these tapes show a side of Woody people never got to see because his life ended early from Huntington’s disease. These weren’t meant for sale—they were just for his music publisher. She said Woody sings about things like the Los Gatos crash, the Trenton Six, meeting Einstein and how his ideas could help stop hate, and just regular folks who don’t get noticed much. There’s love songs and some about fighting fascism too. Anna said, “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.”
Sometimes, when you listen to old tapes like these, you can almost smell the dust and hear the city outside the window.
