Leon Jerry "Jack" Guthrie (November 13, 1915 – January 15, 1948) was a songwriter and performer whose rewritten version of the
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
song "
Oklahoma Hills
"Oklahoma Hills" is a song written by Woody Guthrie. In 2001 it was named the official Folk Song of the state of Oklahoma.
Chorus
:''Way down yonder in the Indian nation''
:''I rode my pony on the reservation''
:''In the Oklahoma Hills where I wa ...
" was a hit in 1945.
[Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits'', p. 146.] The two musicians were cousins.
[Logsdon, Guy,]
Guthrie, Leon Jerry "Jack" (1915–1948)
,"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
'' (accessed May 26, 2010).
Early life
Born in
Olive, Oklahoma
Olive is an unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most o ...
, he was a cousin of Woody Guthrie.
He grew up around horses and musical instruments before the family moved to California in the mid-1930s, where he took on the nicknames "Jack", "Oklahoma", and "Oke".
He competed in rodeo as a bucking-horse rider and in 1937 traveled with Woody to Los Angeles where they landed on The Oke & Woody Show on KFVD radio in Hollywood.
Career in music
Guthrie's rewritten version of a Woody Guthrie song "
Oklahoma Hills
"Oklahoma Hills" is a song written by Woody Guthrie. In 2001 it was named the official Folk Song of the state of Oklahoma.
Chorus
:''Way down yonder in the Indian nation''
:''I rode my pony on the reservation''
:''In the Oklahoma Hills where I wa ...
" (Capitol 201) reached No. 1 in 1945, staying on the charts for 19 weeks.
The b side, "I'm A Brandin' My Darlin' With My Heart", reached No. 5 later that year. At the time the record became a hit Jack Guthrie was in the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
and stationed in the
Pacific Theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. As soon as he got out of the service he wrote and recorded more songs, played live gigs up and down the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
. In July 1947 he was admitted to a hospital with
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. He died in 1948 in
Livermore, California.
Guthrie's style was influenced by
Jimmie Rodgers
James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...
and adapted to fit his cowboy image.
Although the labels listed 'Jack Guthrie & His Oklahomans' as the artist, in reality Guthrie had no working band. The studio brought in some of its better musicians to back Guthrie. Many of them, like
Porky Freeman
Quilla Hugh "Porky" Freeman (June 29, 1916 in Vera Cruz, Missouri, United States – July 8, 2001) was an American Western swing performer, bandleader, and songwriter. He was also an electric guitar pioneer and inventor.
In the 1940s he led ...
,
Red Murrell
Joyce Wayne "Red" Murrell (June 27, 1921 – February 10, 2001) was a Western swing performer from Missouri. He led one of the more notable Western swing bands in California
California is a state in the Western United States, locate ...
,
Cliffie Stone
Clifford Gilpin Snyder (March 1, 1917 – January 17, 1998), professionally Cliffie Stone, was an American country music, country singer, musician, record producer, Music publisher (popular music), music publisher, and radio and TV personality ...
, and
Billy Hughes
William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...
were recording artists in their own right.
Discography
note: (*) also released as part of the 3-disc 78rpm album set ''Oklahoma Hills: Jack Guthrie Memorial Album'' (Capitol AC-76).
Compilations
* ''Oklahoma Hills'' (Bear Family BCD-15580, 1991)
See also
*
Oklahoma Hills
"Oklahoma Hills" is a song written by Woody Guthrie. In 2001 it was named the official Folk Song of the state of Oklahoma.
Chorus
:''Way down yonder in the Indian nation''
:''I rode my pony on the reservation''
:''In the Oklahoma Hills where I wa ...
References
Bibliography
*Whitburn, Joel. ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits''. Billboard Books, 2006.
External links
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Guthrie, Leon Jerry "Jack"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Jack
1915 births
1948 deaths
People from Creek County, Oklahoma
American country singer-songwriters
Country musicians from Oklahoma
Western swing performers
Yodelers
Jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
20th-century American singers
United States Army personnel of World War II
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis deaths in California
Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma