Biography
Today Jack Guthrie tends to be recalled chiefly through his tie to cousin Woody Guthrie, yet during his own era he enjoyed considerably greater commercial success in country music than Woody managed to attain before his death. One of the era’s pivotal and widely emulated country vocalists in the mid-1940s, he would likely enjoy far wider recognition today had tuberculosis not claimed him at an early age.
Born in Olive, Oklahoma, in 1915, he was the son of a blacksmith who also played fiddle. The household moved frequently through Texas and Oklahoma, leaving little opportunity for lasting ties to any single place. As a boy he excelled at roping and trick riding; he also absorbed his father’s music and the recordings of Jimmie Rodgers, and some accounts credit Gene Autry with giving him guitar lessons prior to Autry’s own rise as a recording artist.
During the Dust Bowl years the family joined the westward migration and settled near Sacramento, California. Guthrie performed in rodeos and worked for the National Forest Service under the Works Progress Administration. In 1934 he married Ruth Henderson; for a time they appeared together in an act in which he used a bullwhip to snap cigarettes from her mouth. The marriage endured, though it was not consistently happy and the couple often lived apart; they had one son, Jerry Leon Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie’s arrival in California three years later allowed the cousins to collaborate. Their radio program, billed as The Oklahoman and Woody Show, aired during the summer of 1937. Listener response was strong, yet the show generated no income, and the extra club dates it produced still failed to support either man. The partnership dissolved when Jack accepted construction work for steadier pay; Woody soon teamed with Maxine (“Lefty Lou”) Crissman, though Jack occasionally rejoined them. By 1939 Woody had moved to New York and begun his association with the organized Left and singers such as Pete Seeger. Jack remained in California, performing in bars and local venues, where he began featuring a Woody composition, “Oklahoma Hills,” to which he made alterations that earned him co-writing credit. With thousands of transplanted Oklahomans then living in California, his rendition of the song brought him considerable local fame.
He became a familiar presence in Los Angeles clubs, where his dance-oriented style drew large crowds and his showmanship stood out; at rodeos he was known to leave the bandstand mid-set for trick-riding displays. By 1944 he was prepared to record. Encouraged by Maxine Crissman’s sister Mary Ruth, who also financed the demo session, he approached Capitol Records with “Oklahoma Hills.” He assembled a band from local musicians and cut the audition disc.
Capitol, founded only four years earlier, had begun signing country and blues artists including Leadbelly and Merle Travis; Guthrie was added to the roster under a seven-year contract. His first session took place in October 1944. Backed by the Oklahomans—Porky Freedman on lead guitar, Red Murrell on rhythm guitar, Cliffie Stone on bass, and Billy Hughes on fiddle—he recorded “Oklahoma Hills” along with the B-side “I’m Brandin My Darlin’ With My Heart” and a version of Ernest Tubb’s “Careless Darlin’.” Nine days later he returned to the studio and cut four additional titles, among them Jimmie Rodgers’ “When the Cactus Is in Bloom,” which showcased his yodeling. Released early in 1945, “Oklahoma Hills” reached number one on the country charts and remained there for six weeks.
Before the record appeared, Guthrie had been drafted and was serving in the Pacific with Special Services on Iwo Jima. Unable to promote the hit, he volunteered for an extra year of duty in exchange for a transfer stateside. He returned in the opening days of 1946 and, still in uniform, resumed performing while stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he worked with Buck Ritchey and His K-6 Wranglers in Tacoma. On January 29, 1946, he made his first Capitol session since 1944. Local popularity prompted a publisher to issue a Guthrie songbook that sold well in the area.
Early in 1946 his weight fell sharply; a civilian physician diagnosed tuberculosis. Released from the army, he declined rest and instead formed a new band and returned to the road. The success of “Oklahoma Hills” had attracted Ernest Tubb’s attention; Tubb arranged an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and booked a two-week tour during which the two men became close. Guthrie’s band, later taken over by T. Texas Tyler, proved popular, yet by the spring of 1946 his health had worsened. Despite medical advice to enter a sanitarium for a year, he continued working, smoking, and drinking. He kept recording and performing, appearing in the film Hollywood Barn Dance to sing “Okie Boogie.” A contract for a picture with Russell Hayden was signed that summer but never fulfilled. By spring 1947 he weighed under one hundred pounds; that summer he entered a veterans hospital near Sacramento and received a terminal diagnosis.
He refused to slow down. Capitol pressed for every possible master, and Guthrie cooperated, viewing the sessions as his chance to secure a lasting body of work. Even the later recordings retain a striking appeal: his relaxed phrasing, the studio band’s skill, and the overall melodic and lyrical attractiveness stand out, with few weak tracks despite the circumstances of their making. He amassed more than thirty songs plus radio transcriptions. By his final sessions he traveled by ambulance and rested between takes. He died in a sanitarium on January 15, 1948. His records continued to sell for years afterward, sometimes reissued with added instrumentation. Meanwhile Woody’s reputation for topical and political material grew within the folk community; the folk revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s, along with figures such as Bob Dylan who drew on Woody’s image, eventually overshadowed Jack’s memory in popular culture.
In 1966 Capitol issued the LP Jack Guthrie’s Greatest Songs. Arlo Guthrie, Woody’s son and Jack’s second cousin, further sustained interest by performing and recording his uncle’s songs into the 1970s.
Born in Olive, Oklahoma, in 1915, he was the son of a blacksmith who also played fiddle. The household moved frequently through Texas and Oklahoma, leaving little opportunity for lasting ties to any single place. As a boy he excelled at roping and trick riding; he also absorbed his father’s music and the recordings of Jimmie Rodgers, and some accounts credit Gene Autry with giving him guitar lessons prior to Autry’s own rise as a recording artist.
During the Dust Bowl years the family joined the westward migration and settled near Sacramento, California. Guthrie performed in rodeos and worked for the National Forest Service under the Works Progress Administration. In 1934 he married Ruth Henderson; for a time they appeared together in an act in which he used a bullwhip to snap cigarettes from her mouth. The marriage endured, though it was not consistently happy and the couple often lived apart; they had one son, Jerry Leon Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie’s arrival in California three years later allowed the cousins to collaborate. Their radio program, billed as The Oklahoman and Woody Show, aired during the summer of 1937. Listener response was strong, yet the show generated no income, and the extra club dates it produced still failed to support either man. The partnership dissolved when Jack accepted construction work for steadier pay; Woody soon teamed with Maxine (“Lefty Lou”) Crissman, though Jack occasionally rejoined them. By 1939 Woody had moved to New York and begun his association with the organized Left and singers such as Pete Seeger. Jack remained in California, performing in bars and local venues, where he began featuring a Woody composition, “Oklahoma Hills,” to which he made alterations that earned him co-writing credit. With thousands of transplanted Oklahomans then living in California, his rendition of the song brought him considerable local fame.
He became a familiar presence in Los Angeles clubs, where his dance-oriented style drew large crowds and his showmanship stood out; at rodeos he was known to leave the bandstand mid-set for trick-riding displays. By 1944 he was prepared to record. Encouraged by Maxine Crissman’s sister Mary Ruth, who also financed the demo session, he approached Capitol Records with “Oklahoma Hills.” He assembled a band from local musicians and cut the audition disc.
Capitol, founded only four years earlier, had begun signing country and blues artists including Leadbelly and Merle Travis; Guthrie was added to the roster under a seven-year contract. His first session took place in October 1944. Backed by the Oklahomans—Porky Freedman on lead guitar, Red Murrell on rhythm guitar, Cliffie Stone on bass, and Billy Hughes on fiddle—he recorded “Oklahoma Hills” along with the B-side “I’m Brandin My Darlin’ With My Heart” and a version of Ernest Tubb’s “Careless Darlin’.” Nine days later he returned to the studio and cut four additional titles, among them Jimmie Rodgers’ “When the Cactus Is in Bloom,” which showcased his yodeling. Released early in 1945, “Oklahoma Hills” reached number one on the country charts and remained there for six weeks.
Before the record appeared, Guthrie had been drafted and was serving in the Pacific with Special Services on Iwo Jima. Unable to promote the hit, he volunteered for an extra year of duty in exchange for a transfer stateside. He returned in the opening days of 1946 and, still in uniform, resumed performing while stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he worked with Buck Ritchey and His K-6 Wranglers in Tacoma. On January 29, 1946, he made his first Capitol session since 1944. Local popularity prompted a publisher to issue a Guthrie songbook that sold well in the area.
Early in 1946 his weight fell sharply; a civilian physician diagnosed tuberculosis. Released from the army, he declined rest and instead formed a new band and returned to the road. The success of “Oklahoma Hills” had attracted Ernest Tubb’s attention; Tubb arranged an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and booked a two-week tour during which the two men became close. Guthrie’s band, later taken over by T. Texas Tyler, proved popular, yet by the spring of 1946 his health had worsened. Despite medical advice to enter a sanitarium for a year, he continued working, smoking, and drinking. He kept recording and performing, appearing in the film Hollywood Barn Dance to sing “Okie Boogie.” A contract for a picture with Russell Hayden was signed that summer but never fulfilled. By spring 1947 he weighed under one hundred pounds; that summer he entered a veterans hospital near Sacramento and received a terminal diagnosis.
He refused to slow down. Capitol pressed for every possible master, and Guthrie cooperated, viewing the sessions as his chance to secure a lasting body of work. Even the later recordings retain a striking appeal: his relaxed phrasing, the studio band’s skill, and the overall melodic and lyrical attractiveness stand out, with few weak tracks despite the circumstances of their making. He amassed more than thirty songs plus radio transcriptions. By his final sessions he traveled by ambulance and rested between takes. He died in a sanitarium on January 15, 1948. His records continued to sell for years afterward, sometimes reissued with added instrumentation. Meanwhile Woody’s reputation for topical and political material grew within the folk community; the folk revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s, along with figures such as Bob Dylan who drew on Woody’s image, eventually overshadowed Jack’s memory in popular culture.
In 1966 Capitol issued the LP Jack Guthrie’s Greatest Songs. Arlo Guthrie, Woody’s son and Jack’s second cousin, further sustained interest by performing and recording his uncle’s songs into the 1970s.