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
God Bless America (film) to shoot the judges, contestants and several members of the audience before being gunned down by the police. "God Bless America" was selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, as well as the Maryland Film Festival and the Brisbane International Film Festival. "God Bless America" premiered on September 9, 2011 at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released video on demand on April 6, 2012 and in theatres on May 11, 2012. The DVD and Blu-ray for the film were released on July 3, 2012. "God Bless America" received generally mixed