Woody Guthrie and 100 years of ramblin'

Today is the 100th birthday of Woody Guthrie.  If you don't know who that is, you really should.  You already know a little about him.  In elementary school you probably sung the lyrics to his best known hit, "This Land is Your Land" (which he wrote in response to listening to "God Bless America" being over played on the radio).  And you know his son Arlo's songs, "City of New Orleans" and "Alice's Restaurant".  But you have to listen to more of his work to understand his influence on modern music.  He directly influenced singers from Bob Dylan (who at the age of 19 visited Woody when he was dying, trying to learn as much as he could) to Bruce Springsteen, and his sound has indirectly influenced every folk, country, and rock song with a social message for the past eighty years.  Pretty good for a guy who traveled around the dust bowl in the 1930's playing for farmers and migrant labor.  There are dozens of his songs on iTunes.  I think the Library of Congress recordings are the best because he is being interviewed in between his songs so you can hear his story behind each one, and the sound quality is better.  My favorites are "Dirty Overhalls", "Dust Bowl Talking Blues", "Talking Fishing Blues", "Hard Traveling", "Pastures of Plenty", "Jolly Banker", "Boll Weevil Song", "Do-Ri-Me", and "Tom Joad" (that he wrote the night he saw "Grapes of Wrath").  Check it out and you won't be disappointed.