Woody Guthrie Lost Bonneville Power Recordings Preservation

In case anyone is interested in the apartment Woody live in while in Portland and recording these songs, the Oregonian did an article about it last year.

Woody, his wife and three kids lived in a one-bedroom apartment on (what was then) the edge of town for a month while he wrote and recorded

 

Any update?

 

Yeah, is there any news?

 

Any word?

 

Conspicuously silent. I guess it's easier to post when you are asking / looking for information.

 

We're still a relatively young country, but despite all of the superficial phony baloney put in front of us, American culture has great width and depth. Unfortunately far too few of us explore it or are even fully familiar with it. Maybe that's why it keeps getting new layers added.

One thing is for sure... Woody Guthrie's art doesn't belong in a museum. It's still living and breathing, and we need it perhaps more now than ever.

 

Don't harsh on the OP. He's shared something wonderful with us and it appears that he is doing the appropriate thing by getting the experts involved.

 

Personally, I am on pins and needles over this.

 

For me it was the other way around. Having an appreciation of the way Woody sang about the American land and people helped me understand how the Aussie country artists - Slim, Buddy, Tex, etc. - had a similar outlook and appreciation of our land and people. It is unfortunate that due to our smaller population and isolation that these artists don't have the global appreciation that the pioneering American and Canadian country artists have. The Australian artists talent and contribution warrants it.


Apologies for going off-topic somewhat. It is always exciting when new material from a major artist is unearthed and can add to their legacy. I too look forward to updates, and appreciate that it can take time. I hope the OP remembers to keep us updated when new info can be shared.

 

It's readily apparent to me the shared heritage as former British colonial outposts that the USA, Canada and Australia have. Our three countries are in many ways more alike than different. We are probably more similar to each other than we are with England.

 

It's most conspicuous in literature; the U.S. seems to produce The Great Novel like China produces steel.

 

One thing that made me appreciate Guthrie more was watching the Ken Burns documentary on the Dust Bowl. After seeing what happened, then listening to some of Guthrie's songs on the event, it gave me a whole new view on just how topical his songs were and how he was able to capture real events in such a wonderful, musical way.

 

Going to watch this thread even though I'm not (yet) a fully fledged fan, I remember reading about the 'Live Wire' Woody live recording and the restoration that it took getting the audio off those reels of brittle wire. I love stories of archive finds and the process involved in getting these things restored and released.

It would be quite something if these are clean copies of recordings that aren't previously documented in a clean state, or even better, alternate or unknown takes. Who knows, I love a good musical mystery!

 

I've been revisiting Kerouac's novels lately, and I know exactly what you mean!

 

This post is the only reason I joined SHF. Is there any news from the OP? What did he finally do with the discs?

 

Out of this era there are three artists that were writing songs for the people, not for airplay or radio necessarily, and that was Woody, Jimmie Rodgers, and AP and the Carter Family. None were spectacular musicians, but their guitars were the lead instruments. Rural indeed.

 

Its been nearly two months Nate, is there any further word? There are a lot who want to know what you stumbled onto.

 

Sorry - these posts didn't show up on my alerts for some reason. Long story short the discs are going to the folklife collection at the library of congress where they will be available to the public after being properly archived. I don't have the resources to archive them and I want it done right. By all appearances they are the real deal. Period dubs including a few songs that don't have great known recordings. Thanks you everyone for your help and enthusiasm.

Or I'll trade them for a pair of harbeth 40.2's

Just kidding

 

Before you go and give it to the government, maybe a SH board member with proper equipment can get it transfered for you....

 

I foresee several articles written about these discs as Folkways releases a new Woody compilation. Be ready for the calls Nate.

 

I'm really glad they found their way into the hands of someone who knew what they could be. They very easily could've ended up at the dump instead. Please keep us informed of the progress!

 

Agree 100%! Great news indeed!

 

That's really good news, but you might want to ask the folks at the LC about their latest approach to public accessibility to the disc transfers. I don't think the American Folklife Center, which is in the Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C., offers ready public access and listening stations any longer. Instead, everything goes to an audio archive in Culpeper, Virginia, which is 75 miles away and is not open to researchers. Pertinent catalog entries are made there and archival and safety copies are made and stored. You really should insist on personal copies of the recordings for yourself; you earned this.

Those interested in hearing the recordings provide pertinent catalog information to staff members in the Recorded Sound Research Center which is in the Madison Building in Washington within the Performing Arts Reading Room. Staff members request the recordings from Culpepper and the researcher waits days for them to be delivered. Your donation may be an exception, but digital distribution (controlled listening) copies aren't automatically generated. The LC waits for a researcher to request a recording, then produces digital transfers for listening. This can take two or more weeks. Once these are ready, you schedule a listening session in Washington. Unlike Performing Arts which is open six days a week, Recorded Sound is only open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm. Researchers MUST use the LC's Windows PC and shared headphones (ick!) to listen. You cannot use your own equipment for playback and you cannot make copies.

While acknowledging that I'm not being very positive about this process here, I fully support what the Library does to curate, archive, preserve, and serve the treasures in its collection. I haven't requested anything myself in over a year and their procedures may have changed. That's why I recommend asking how they'll handle your discs and make the songs available.

American Folklife is something of the unruly child among reading rooms and research centers there. Its managing staff might be open to suggestions that these recordings go online in some splashy manner that draws eyes to their Web site. They've done this for others.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your find with the world and for getting back to us, Nate!

 

Has this been done?
Somebody, help him get this done.

Burying it in the archives is fine for preservation but music that is delayed indefinitely is music that is denied.