In March of 1940, a young Woody Guthrie sat with folklorist Alan Lomax at the U.S. Department of the Interior studios for a series of oral history interviews for the Library of Congress archives. They were the first-ever professional recordings of Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, and while some of these recordings have been released on record, the original aluminum discs remain at the Library of Congress. Originally broadcast on the 29th anniversary of his death, the recordings offer a glimpse of Guthrie’s early music style and a frank account of his harrowing past.

Producer: Stacy Abramson / Associate Producer: Meagan Howell / Executive Producer: Dave Isay / Funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the New York State Council on the Arts and the Corporation. Archival recordings courtesy of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

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This piece is available in the following audio formats [11:22 min]:
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		intro
		transcript

		Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives
		Various Woody Guthrie audio from "Songs & Prose of the Prophet Singer"

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