This Land is Your Land

As a child I was introduced to folk music by my father who brought home a Peter, Paul and Mary album one Friday after work. The album entitled Moving featured several songs that would become famous, including Puff the Magic Dragon.  One song, This Land is Your Land, was particularly captivating.  

For years I thought that Peter, Paul and Mary had written this song only to eventually learn that it was a Woody Guthrie song that had not only been covered by this famous trio but other artists to include Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, to name just a few.

The impact that Woody Guthrie made through his music and writings was inextricably woven in the fabric of our country during the 20^th century.

I was reminded of this recently during a visit to Tulsa, OK, where I came across the Woody Guthrie Center which sports the largest collection of Guthrie material in the world.

If you find yourself in Tulsa, I highly recommend visiting this shrine to one of our nation’s most iconic songwriters.

As a teaser, when you’ve finished touring the Guthrie Center, make sure you visit the Bob Dylan Center located just down the street…more on that next week!