Description:

Woody Guthrie
n.p., ca. 1947
Woody Guthrie Original Three Record Set "Songs To Grow On: Nursery Days," with Signed and Inscribed Booklet
Albums & Signed Booklet

Record Album, Songs To Grow On: Nursery Days WITH: Original booklet inscribed, "Our latest album, Woody Guthrie." Songs To Grow On: Nursery Days. New York: DISC Company, [1947]. Oblong quarto, original half black and red paper. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Original album of three 78 rpm discs containing the first recordings of six beloved children's songs by Guthrie, composed with and for his beloved daughter Cathy, given to the recipient with a laid-in original booklet from Moe Asch's legendary DISC Company inscribed on the title page. Three 78 rpm discs in fine condition, lightest edge-wear to original album boards; laid-in booklet in fine condition. A scarce about-fine album with a notable association. This rare album, with a distinctive association, is from the estate of Guthrie's close and intimate correspondent Charlotte Strauss.

"The most important Guthrie recordings on DISC Records before its demise [in 1947 were his children's songs… Woody made up songs to sing to his daughter Cathy, to whom he referred lovingly as Miss Stackabones…. Many of these are still loved by children today. In 1947, DISC released Songs to Grow On: Nursery Days (Disc 605)… Owing to their importance, Guthrie's children's recordings were among the very first Asch issued whenever a new format came along" (Santelli, 64).Guthrie's music and lyrics for the Songs to Grow On series of albums, composed for and with his beloved daughter Cathy, possess an artless glow that makes them "truly children's songs" - the work of a man whose "innocence [and childlike quality of wonder… were more than just a pose - he actually seemed to shed 30 years of experience and see the world as Cathy did… the bouncy, open rhyminess of being a kid. It was somehow inevitable, once he returned from the army [in early 1946 and began spending more time with her, that he and Cathy would become collaborators in fact as well as spirit" (Klein, 324-5). In early 1947 Cathy Guthrie died in a tragic fire at age six.

With laid-in original booklet for the DISC Company Songs to Grow On album series. With three original 78 rpm discs in original paper sleeves: "Needle Sing" (5074A), "Pick It Up" (5074B); "Build a House" (5073A), "Pretty and Shinyo" (5073B); "My Little Seed" (5075A), "All Work Together" (5075B). Cover illustration by Thelma Martin. New Grove, 856. From the estate of Charlotte Strauss, whose revealing and often passionate correspondence with Guthrie began in 1945, intensified as he completed his tour with the Army, and continued over several years.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: Oblong 4to
  • Medium: Albums & Signed Booklet

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