October 29, 2013

It Takes 6 CDs, a DVD, a Book, and a 78 RPM Record to Capture Woody Guthrie

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Woody Guthrie
American Radical Patriot
Rounder
 
With six CDs, a DVD, a 60-page book (plus a 258-page PDF), and a 78 rpm vinyl record—who can even play such a thing these days?—the elaborate American Radical Patriot might seem to miss the point of folksinger Woody Guthrie’s no-nonsense populism. Still, if you know him only as the guy who inspired Bob Dylan, or the impetus for the Billy Bragg-Wilco project Mermaid Avenue, it’s a revelation to hear the source firsthand.

Four of the CDs offer Guthrie’s complete Library of Congress recordings from 1940, featuring five hours of interviews and songs with folklorist Alan Lomax. The entertaining spoken-word segments merit one play, but the music, with its blunt wisdom, flinty wit, and exuberant spirit, bears repeated hearing. There also are songs recorded for the Bonneville Power Administration in the Pacific Northwest, music for an anti-venereal disease campaign, and a radio drama. The 78 backs a Guthrie performance with an oft-bootlegged Dylan cover of his “VD City” from 1961. More than a historical curiosity, American Radical Patriot is essential fare for upstarts of all ages.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate