The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949 is a recording of a concert by Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...

 in Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

, one of a small number of surviving live recordings of the folksinger. The program consists of Guthrie answering questions from his wife Marjorie

Marjorie Guthrie

Marjorie Mazia Guthrie was for a time the wife of folk musician Woody Guthrie, and was the mother of folk musician Arlo Guthrie and Woody Guthrie archivist Nora Guthrie....

 about his life, and singing songs. The recording was made on an inexpensive wire recorder by Paul Braverman, and a significant restoration process was required to clean up the audio on the two spools of wire. In 2008 the album won a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album

Grammy Award for Best Historical Album

The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979. During this time the award had several minor name changes:*In 1979 the award was known as Best Historical Repackage Album*In 1980 it was awarded as Best Historical Reissue...

.

Track listing

1. "How much? How long?"
2. "Black Diamond"
3. "I was there and the dust was there"
4. "The Great Dust Storm"
5. "Folk singers and dancers"
6. "Talking Dust Bowl Blues"
7. "Tom Joad"
8. "Columbia River"
9. "Pastures of Plenty
   Pastures of Plenty
   "Pastures of Plenty" is a 1941 composition by Woody Guthrie. Describing the travails and dignity of migrant workers in North America, it is evocative of the world described in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The tune is based on the ballad "Pretty Polly," a traditional English-language folk...
   
   "
10. "Grand Coulee Dam"
11. "Told by Mother Bloor"
12. "1913 Massacre"
13. "Quit sending your inspectors"
14. "Goodbye Centralia"
15. "A cowboy of some kind"
16. "Dead or Alive"
17. "Jesus Christ has come!"
18. "Jesus Christ"