Listen to the Only Recording of Woody Guthrie Singing His 1948 Poem, Later Protest Song, “Deportee”(Exclusive)
Molly Molloy
Listen to the Only Recording of Woody Guthrie Singing His 1948 Poem, Later Protest Song, “Deportee”(Exclusive)
Nearly 80 years after Woody Guthrie
wrote the poem “Deportee” (also known as “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos”),
his sole recording of the piece performed as a song is being released to
commemorate his birthday, July 14. The release is one part of the
expansive collection of the folk legend’s recordings on the two-volume
collection, Woody At Home – Volumes 1 & 2 (Shamus Records), out August 14, 2025.
Guthrie originally wrote the poem in response to a New York Times
article he read on the January 28, 1948, plane crash in an agricultural
section of the San Joaquin Valley in California called Los Gatos
Canyon. There were 32 passengers aboard the D-3 aircraft, including 28
Mexican farm workers who were returning home. Some had finished their
working contracts under the Bracero Program, the WWII initiative which
brought Mexican citizens to the U.S. for temporary employment, while
others were undocumented and being deported.
Following the
crash, all of the Mexican passengers who perished were reported as
“deportees,” while the Americans on board were mentioned by name. The
migrants on the flight were also buried anonymously in “the largest mass
grave in California’s history,” according to historian and author Tim
Z. Hernandez, while the remains of the American passengers were returned
to their families, who later identified and named all 28 laborers who
were killed.
Moved by the lack of respect for those who died, Guthrie wrote his memorial to those he said were scattered like dry leaves, just days after the crash on February 3, 1948.
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“After
reading the article, which only named the four Americans that perished,
Woody wrote this song in—I don’t want to say anger or frustration, but
perhaps in observation of the 28 Mexican nationals who were not named in
the article, and moreover, an observation of how the U.S. treats
foreigners,” said Guthrie’s granddaughter Anna Canoni, and president of
Woody Guthrie Publications.
“In this powerful version of the
song, Woody writes from a first-person perspective,” added Canoni. “He
becomes the ‘I’ in the story, beckoning you to be more invested: ‘Some
days I’m not legal/Some days I’m not wanted/My contract is gone, so
I hafta move on/More than six hundred miles/You chased me towards that
border/Worse than maddogs or thieves or outlaws, either one.’”
Goodbye
to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita / Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria / You
won’t have your names when you ride the big airplane / All they will
call you will be “deportees,” sings Guthrie in the opening.
“Woody
understood that to be nameless in death was an injustice of the highest
order, and within days of the crash he sat down to pen what would
become one of the major protest songs of the last century, perhaps even
more relevant today than it was nearly 80 years ago,” said Hernandez in a
statement. “To finally hear these words in Woody’s own haunting voice
is to hear a prophetic voice from the grave, warning us about
where we’ve been, who we’ve become, and where we are headed.”
[RELATED: 3 Covers of Bruce Springsteen’s Guthrie Tribute, “The Ghost of Tom Joad”]
What started out as a poem for Guthrie became a chant for Pete Seeger,
who would perform it in concert before it became a full musical
composition in 1958, when California high school teacher Martin Hoffman
composed a melody, crafting the first song version of “Deportee.”
Along
with earlier covers by Odetta and Judy Collins, it was Seeger’s 1967
rendition that popularized the song. From there on, the Byrds, Joan
Baez, Dolly Parton, the Highwaymen, and even a new recording with Seeger
and Arlo Guthrie revisited the folk classic in 1975. Bob Dylan and Baez
also performed the song together at the Hard Rain concert in 1976, during his Rolling Thunder Revue.
“It’s fascinating how relevant this song is in 2025,” said Woody At Home
producer Steve Rosenthal. “With all the craziness that’s going
on with you know who, this song has a super high level of relevance.
What Woody speaks about, and how he speaks about people, and how he
speaks about the whole issue of immigration, is really amazing and spot
on, and it’s good for Americans to hear it. This is a good time for this
song to resurface.”
Rosenthal continued, “Having this song come
out now is very important. It’s fascinating that it still needs to be
said, and that the lessons of the song haven’t been learned yet. But
that’s America, right? It needs to be reminded of its better side
because it tends to forget it. “
Woody Guthrie (Photo: Courtesy of Woody Guthrie Publications)Guthrie’s recording of “Deportee” and the others on Woody At Home – Volumes 1 & 2
were recorded at his family apartment in Beach Haven, Brooklyn, between
1951 and 1952. Using at newly introduced two-channel tape recorder,
Guthrie sent his recordings to his publisher, TRO Essex Music Group, as
his “musical introduction” and even accompanied the batch with a
recorded personal message.
“My grandfather wrote, ‘A
song ain’t nothing but a conversation you can have again and again,’”
says Canoni. “It keeps this conversation in the narrative. The song is
the medium, but the conversation is what needs to be said, what needs to
be had. And unfortunately, it needs to be had again and again and
again. That’s what Woody’s lyrics remind us of—these larger life
lessons, these conversations that must continue.”
Woody At Home – Volumes 1 & 2 Tracklist
Volume 1, Side A
1. This Land Is Your Land (Woody’s Home Tape)
2. Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done
3. Howie, I’d Like To Talk To Yuh (spoken word)
4. Deportee (Woody’s Home Tape)
5. Great Ship
6. Pastures of Plenty
Volume 1, Side B
7. Jesus Christ
8. I’m a Child Ta Fight
9. Innocent Man
10. I’ve Got To Know
11. Backdoor Bum and the Big Landlord
Volume 2, Side A
1. I Just Want To Tell You Fellers (spoken word)
2. Peace Call
3. Ain’t Afraid To Die
4. Buoy Bells from Trenton
5. Einstein Theme Song (with spoken word)
6. One Little Thing An Atom Can’t Do
Volume 2, Side B
7. Forsaken Lover
8. My Id & My Ego
9. Lifebelt Washed Up
10. Funny Mountain
11. You Better Git Ready
Main Photo: Sid Grossman