Woody Guthrie

A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.

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For some 30 years, they embodied "country blues" for folk music audiences around the globe. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were once ubiquitous, and as such tended to be taken for granted in the halcyon days of the 1960s blues rediscoveries. But nearly two decades have passed since the perennial team parted, and the 16 performances here remind us of this superb duo's complementary strengths.

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Songs that live in the American heart can now be enjoyed by a new generation in "This Land Is Your Land: The Animated Kids' Songs of Woody Guthrie", a wonderful and imaginative music video program consisting of Guthrie's irresistible songs for kids of all ages. With superb animation that makes each song's story come alive, and featuring the voices of Woody Guthrie and his son Arlo, it's a songbook to see and share again and again. We think you'll agree it's good ― downright great ― to know songs like these.

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Documentary on the life of Woody Guthrie, the travelling songwriter and singer who paved the way for the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

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A warmhearted memorial to the folk singer whose songs galvanized organizers and guitar-pickers across the United States. Part biography, part travelogue and part hootenanny, it follows the singer's son, Arlo Guthrie, as he retraces his father's steps and collects reminiscences from his father's family, friends and musical partners.

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A 17-part television documentary series on the history of modern pop music covering some of the many different genres that have fallen under the label of "popular music" between the mid-19th century and 1976, including folk, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville and music hall, musical theatre, country, swing, jazz, blues, R&B, rock 'n' roll and others.

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Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

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A short film about Pete Seeger and the birth of banjo music throughout the Southern United States.

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The Fight for Life was documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz' first "dramatic" film, utilizing the talents of several top New York stage actors. A tribute to the Chicago Maternity Center and its efforts to provide the best possible care for destitute mothers, the film is based on the book of the same name by Paul de Kruif. Myron McCormick plays the largest role as a dedicated intern, while others in the cast include such theatrical heavywrights as Will Geer, Dudley Digges and Dorothy Adams. The film's many vignettes range from the tragic (a mother dying in childbirth in the opening scene) to the exultant (another mother rescued from the brink of death in a disease-ridden tenement). Filmed in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, Fight for Life is a worthwhile effort, though Lorentz seems more comfortable with the "actuality" scenes than with the dramatized passages.

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