Woody Guthrie in Will Geer's apartment. Guthrie made his first recordings—several hours of conversation and songs recorded by the folklorist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress—as well as an album, "Dust Bowl Ballads," for Victor Records in Camden, New Jersey. In February 1940 he wrote his most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land", as a response to what he felt was an overplaying of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on the radio. Guthrie thought the lyrics were unrealistic and complacent. He adapted the melody from an old gospel song, "Oh My Loving Brother", which had been adapted by the country
Woody Guthrie Folk Festival "Buffalo" Ware and the WoodyFest House Band, squeezed in 23 musicians each performing one song - the traditional last song being Bob Childers' "Woody's Road". During a "Woody100" celebration concert held at the Brady Theater in Tulsa on March 10, 2012, Robert Santelli, Director of the Grammy Museum, presented a plaque to Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon and a representative of the Woody Guthrie Coalition. Santelli read the inscription which honors the city of Okemah and the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival for their tremendous efforts in preserving the music of Woody Guthrie. The 15th annual festival – commemorating what would have