In 1948, Woody Guthrie read a newspaper story about a plane crash in California's Los Gatos canyon. The crash killed 32 people, 28 of whom were migrant farm workers. The plane crew's remains were sent home to their families, but the farm workers were only named as deportees in news reports and were buried in a giant mass grave. Guthrie, furious at the dehumanization of those workers, wrote a protest song called "Deportee": "Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?/ Is this the best way we can raise our good crops?/ To fall like dry leaves and rot on out topsoil/ And be known by no names except 'deportees.'" It's as relevant today as it was in 1948.
Woody Guthrie recorded "Deportees" at home in his Brooklyn apartment. His acoustic demo was never intended for release. Instead, it was something that he sent to his new publisher. Over the years, "Deportees" has been recorded by a great many artists, including the Kingston Trio, Odetta, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, the Byrds, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, the Highwaymen, and Billy Bragg. Today, we get to hear Guthrie's original home recording, since it's being included on a new collection called Woody At Home - Vol 1 + 2.
The new Guthrie collection includes 22 recordings, all of which Guthrie made at home in the early '50s, before Huntington's Disease made it impossible for him to work. The set includes 13 songs that have never been released, one of which is Guthrie's only known recording of "Deportees." It's a very lo-fi recording, captured on a one-microphone reel-to-reel tape recorder. Hear it below.
Woody At Home - Vol 1 + 2 is out 8/14 on Shamus.
