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
Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie "Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag". However, at the end of the concert, Dylan returned to the stage to recite one of his poems in public, "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie", which he has never done since. In his introduction, Dylan explained that he had written the piece after being asked to "write something about Woody...what does Woody Guthrie mean to you in twenty-five words" in the impending release of a book about Guthrie. He then explained that he "couldn't do it -- I wrote out five pages and... I have it here...Have it here by accident, actually" The poem is