In 1937 Guthrie moved to Califonia where he became a regular attraction on radio KFVD not only playing regularly but also presenting a show for which he received the princely sum of a dollar a day. The experiences he indured gradually began to inform his writing, songs on Dustbowl Ballads like, The Great Dust Storm, Vigilante Man, Dust Pneumonia and Tom Joad Parts 1 2, were all written around this time. He teamed up with singer Maxine Crissman known as Lefty Lou. Despite achieving some popularity in Los Angeles his rambling spirit led him to move on to New York in 1939.
He was soon adopted by the leftist intelligentsia, of artist, writers, and actors. Woody teamed up with like minded musicians such as Lead Belly, PeteSeeger,Will Geer and Cisco Houston to form various bands and groupings. In 1940 he made his first recording for the Library of Congress, with folklorist Alan Lomax.
Unhappy with the increasing commercialisation and censorship of the new folk music, he decided to hit the road again. He headed first to Oregon, where he was commissioned to write music for a documentary, on the building of the Grand Coulee Dam. In 1946 with dissolution of his first marriage , Woody married his longtime partner, Marjorie Mazia in 1946, they had four children Cathy, Arlo, Joady and Nora. The domestic stability he experienced allowed to complete his first novel, the semi-autobiographical Bound for Glory in 1943, it received much critical praise.
Woody Guthrie is well known for the slogan, "This Machine Kills Fascist", which he wrote on his guitar, he was also immensely proud of the period in the Merchant Navy with his two friends Cisco Houston and Jimmy Longhi. He wrote the song Seamen.Three about the experience. Ater the War Woody moved back to New York and experienced much commercial success with recordings such as the childrens collection, Songs to Grow On. This was not matched with a stable family life and he married for the third time to Anneke Van Kirk. His health began to falter and he was eventually diagnosed with the degenerative disorder Huntingtons Chorea.
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