SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Top40 Charts / 429 Records) As the centennial of his birth approaches, the words of Woody Guthrie - America's greatest folksinger - seem more relevant than ever on the forthcoming album Note of Hope (429 Records). The Amazon.com Mp3 Store (www.Amazonmp3.com) will make Note of Hope the "Daily Deal" on
September 26th, and MSN.com will host a listening party on
September 27th, the day of its release and Jackson Browne's radio single from the album 'You Know the Night' is already topping AAA radio charts across the US.
"I was startled by how down to earth, funny and sophisticated Woody's lyrics were. Urban. They could have been written yesterday," saysLou Reed, who hits a nerve with a first-person tale of a man wandering Coney Island and contemplating "The Debt I Owe."
Reed is one of a stellar group of artists who collaborated with GRAMMY®-winning bassist Rob Wasserman to create Note of Hope's 12 tracks, which are based on primarily unpublished words and writings penned by Guthrie between 1942 and 1954 while he was living in New York City and Brooklyn.
Jackson Brownerecently explained to Rolling Stone how Guthrie's 30-page notebook entry about the evening he met Marjorie Mazia, his second wife, became the nearly 15-minute "You Know the Night." You can get the details and hear both the album version and the 4-minute radio edit at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/listen-jackson-browne-creates-epic-love-song-from-woody-guthries-diary-20110826.
"Woody Guthrie has been hugely inspirational to my solo Nightwatchman work," notes Tom Morello. "'Revolutionary Mind' is a great lyric combining fury and humor, a story of love and longing in the midst of a class war throwdown."
Michael Franti brings to light another side of Guthrie with the earthy "Union Love Juice." "Woody is known for his story telling, and his socially conscious lyrics, but this song came from a poem which is about him expressing his sexual freedom," observes Franti.
"I love 'Old Folks' because it's beautiful and noble, in a way only the very old and nature can be. It's about the essence of life - so many otherwise perceptive people fall into the facile trap of youth worship. Woody's song is an honest breeze blowing through," says Nellie McKay, who confesses that, as she wrote the song: "I kept wanting to ask his advice."
"It was in deep Brooklyn that I heard my father tear up and crackle while singing (or song-speaking) the lyrics to 'This Land Is Your Land.' 'As far as I'm concerned, that is the American national anthem,' he said,"recallsMadeleine Peyroux, who contributes the sultry, politically charged "Wild Card in the Hole." "At this later time in life, I feel as close to the new songs of Woody as I did to my father's wet cheeks."
The collection kicks off with the evocativeVan Dyke Parks' instrumental arrangement "The Note of Hope." Parks observes:"Guthrie fueled the counter-culture of the '60s. If it weren't for his prime example of unbartered love, courageous songsmiths like Phil Ochs et al would not have had a template to contemplate."
Ani DiFranco, Kurt Elling, Pete Seeger, Studs Terkel, Tony TrischkaandChris Whitleyalso contributed toNote of Hope, whichThe Australianhailed as "an extraordinary achievement that defies generic pigeonholing." The release is the first of a series of events leading up to the 2012 centennial celebration of Guthrie's birth. Note of Hope was conceived by Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, who asked Rob Wasserman to lead the project. You can check out their interviews with American Songwriter at:
https://www.americansongwriter.com/2011/08/nora-guthrie-discusses-note-of-hope-woodys-legacy/
Woody Guthrie was born on July 14th, 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma, and wrote over 3,000 songs in his lifetime. In February 2012, The GRAMMY Museum, in conjunction with Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. and the Woody Guthrie Archives, will kick off a yearlong celebration that will include tribute concerts at the Brady Theater in Tulsa, OK (March 10, 2012) and at L.A. Live in Los Angeles (April 14, 2012). Details on these and other centennial events can be found at www.woody100.com.
For more information on Note of Hope, visit: www.429records.com
https://www.429records.com
https://www.woody100.com
