Woody Guthrie

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie described his hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma as "one of the singiest, square dancingest, drinkingest, yellingest, preachingest, walkingest, talkingest, laughingest, cryingest, shootingest, fist fightingest, bleedingest, gamblingest, gun, club and razor carryingest of our ranch towns and farm towns." From that hardscrabble frontier, the self-taught writer and artist became America's greatest folk balladeer. Though he lived to just 55, Woody Guthrie's music, prose and poetry continue to inspire and invigorate legions of new fans, songwriters and performers. "Those songs will always remain rallying points for generation after generation after generation," says Bruce Springsteen in AMERICAN MASTERS Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home. Some people are going to rap them. Some people are going to thrash them out, however they're done. But people are going to return to them and find something in them."

Narrated by Peter Coyote
Directed by Peter Frumkin.