Woody Approve? Film, Guitar, Carla and Van Dyke Parks

Quite a couple days in L.A. Plus our usual cartoons and Jon Stewart

Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy.

Hello folks, I am still on my “tour” around my PBS film “Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad.” Had terrific screening in L.A. at the Autry with Carla Olson singing. Visiting the “This Land…” exhibit at the Huntington yesterday (see photo down below and more to come) and off to Tulsa tomorrow for premiere for the Guthrie Center there. You may be able to watch the film streaming as early as this Friday or on July 1 in any case as it starts over PBS stations.

So somewhat irregular and limited content newsletters all week….Jon Stewart last night:

Here I am with my longtime producer Lyn Goldfarb introducing the film at the Autry.

The one and only legend Van Dyke Parks (left) at the screening with ace publicist Bob Merlis before the show. Van Dyke got up and hailed the film from the audience later.

Carla Olson was fantastic, with Todd Wolfe, singing three songs, including “Deportee".”

Here’s Carla via Facebook shot by Merlis, I believe. And below doing her own protest song warning about Trump in 2016…

David Corn at Mother Jones:

Greg Mitchell has written and directed a wonderful documentary called Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad Today. It chronicles the intertwining paths of Guthrie and writer John Steinbeck in the 1930s, as the author chronicled the travails of migrant workers, culminating in The Grapes of Wrath, and the singer-songwriter gave voice to the Dust Bowl refugees, immigrants, and itinerant workers exploited, oppressed, and assaulted in the fields of California. But the film goes beyond depicting this important history and draws a poignant connection to the plight of migrant workers today and the cruelty and brutality they currently face from ICE raids and Trump’s anti-immigration crusade.

Meanwhile:

From Tunes to Toons

Wuerker::

Blitt:

KAL:

Bramhall:

Anderson:

Telnaes:

Ohman:

Bonus:

Photo Finish

At the major 250th USA birthday exhibit at the fabled Huntington, Woody’s guitar used in L.A. around 1937, inscribed on back with “This Machine Kills Fascists” and “Woody.” His painted portrait of George Washington behind.