U.S. music was shaped to a considerable extent by people the government sought to destroy. Even as it mounted an effective attack on the Communist Party, the government was unable to erase the influence of musicians with which it was associated.
In 1970, few record labels were documenting the music that had burst from liberation and resistance movements all over the world. Paredon Records motivation and goals half a century ago - and today - are humans' search for justice, peace, and love.
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Born in Brooklyn in 1947, the oldest son of folk icon Woody Guthrie and professional dancer Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, Arlo grew up surrounded by folk legends — Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, to name a few.
Legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie is best known for his anthem “This Land Is Your Land,” which can come off as an innocuous ode to America if you aren’t listening closely. But the singer-songwriter was a lifelong socialist.
As the author of three books on Guthrie, I wonder how the folksinger would respond to recent criticism of “This Land Is Your Land.” We can’t know for sure, but some of his unpublished writings and recently discovered recordings offer some clues
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Studs Terkel does the introduction to the beloved Woody Guthrie song, sung by Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman and Arlo Guthrie in this 1976 broadcast from PBS studio in Chicago. Full appreciation of the radical life of Pete Seeger here.
At a moment when the President of the United States is attacking the very idea of U.S. citizenship, this book reminds us how the true — and Constitutional — ideal of who this country belongs to is embedded in our traditions.
Reader Comments: Rage and Resistance to Kavanaugh, Rape, War on Women; Immigrant Children Still Kept, Moved in Dark; Reconstruction; Workers Struggles in Iran; Announcements: Laundry Workers; Broadway Stands Up; Socialism vs. Capitalism; and more...
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