Billy Bragg celebrates Woody Guthrie's 100th Birthday
Naturally Billy Bragg has played Cambridge Folk Festival before, both as a solo artist as well as part of Imagined Village, Billy Bragg celebrates Woody Guthrie's 100th Birthday promises to be something really special.
As Billy recently said on his blog, "As part of this year of celebration, I will be doing a number of shows which will focus on the legacy of Woody Guthrie as expressed through the Mermaid Avenue songs. I'll be playing acoustic instruments and singing from the book of lyrics which I compiled from the archives and used during the sessions, quoting from Woody's handwritten notes that are often tagged onto the manuscripts."
Woody Guthrie's tradgedy was that he never recorded most of the songs he wrote, huntingdon's chorea claimed him before he could get many of them in the can. Whilst he is best know for "This Land Is Your Land", his wider credentials were underlined by his determination to write about the lives of ordinary working people and to oppose racial discrimination. On his guitar he painted the words 'This machine kills fascists'.
Having been chosen by Woody Guthrie's family to put music to a number of Woody's lyrics for the "Mermaid Avenue" recordings, it'll be a fine tribute to see Billy Bragg bringing them back into the live arena.
Photocredit:Neil King