Woody Guthrie Serenades New York City (1943)

In 1943, the modern-day troubadour and national treasure, Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie, was about to publish his now-classic, semi-fictionalized autobiography, Bound for Glory, in which he wrote vibrantly about his childhood, his love of American folk songs, and his epic travels as a freight car-hopping hobo.
While Bound for Glory would introduce Guthrie to a much broader audience than that which knew him only through his music, he was already something of an underground folk hero to what, in retrospect, feels like the early stirrings of the counterculture of the 1960s. A politically engaged — and occasionally enraged — artist, Guthrie crafted wrenching tales of loss and struggle, as well as paeans to romantic love and national pride, into some of the most enduring American music ever made. (At the time the pictures in this gallery were made, Guthrie had written and performed, but not yet published, the song that more than a few people believe should be the national anthem; namely, the simple, celebratory gem, “This Land Is Your Land.”)
Guthrie, an Oklahoma native, had a strong connection to New York City. It was where he lived at various times in the 1940s, and made his first real recordings; where he wrote “This Land Is Your Land”; where he befriended and collaborated with other politically minded artists like Pete Seeger; and where his devotees — including the likes of Bob Dylan and the great Phil Ochs — later ignited their own Guthrie-inspired folk scene.
On assignment for LIFE in 1943, photographer Eric Schaal followed Guthrie as he gave impromptu performances around New York — in bars, on the stoops of brownstones, on the subway. Engaging, charming, and at ease, the Woody Guthrie in these photos is exactly where he most liked to be: among the people, guitar in hand.
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(Thanx Tony!)