Difficult times can inspire the sensibilities to record the emotional aspects of hardships. Woody Guthrie came to the fore from his origins in Oklahoma to become a folk music icon of the 1930's. His plain style spoke with a certain authenticity about the human condition in America during the Great Depression
Read more about him at the following links:
http://www.woodyguthrie.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie
In Italian: http://web.infinito.it/utenti/v/vallarsa/woody/indice.htm
Essay - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwghtml/wwgessay.html
Timeline - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwghtml/wwgtimeline.html
Woody Guthrie performs a straight interpretation of 'House of Rising Sun'. No one seems to know for certain who exactly wrote the song and what the 'House' actually was.
Read about the song at:
http://experts.about.com/q/3258/2370352.htm
Woody Guthrie is probably the only genuine 'non commercial' musician who ever became well known. At a time when America needed someone to express the spirit of the Great Depression, there he was. His idea about copyright for example was very interesting when he said, 'Anyone who wants to sing my songs is a friend of mine.' This attitude may have made him destitute but he firmly lived up to his own beliefs all his life. This artistic integrity earned the respect of all his peers and he became an icon of the subsequent folk music movement of the late fifties and early sixties from which sprang the phenomenons of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and the like. For all those who search for simplicity and purity in musical expression, Woody Guthrie remains the outstanding role model. His legacy will ring out through the ages.")