Grand Coulee Dam (song)

Last updated
"Grand Coulee Dam"
Song by Woody Guthrie
RecordedMay 1941
Songwriter(s) Woody Guthrie

"Grand Coulee Dam" is an American folk song recorded in 1941 by Woody Guthrie.

Contents

Background

He wrote it during a brief period when he was commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs as part of a documentary film project about the dam and related projects.

The song was part of the Columbia River Ballads , a set of 26 songs written by Guthrie as part of a commission by the BPA, the federal agency created to sell and distribute power from the river's federal hydroelectric facilities, in particular the Bonneville Dam and Grand Coulee Dam. On the recommendation of Alan Lomax, the BPA hired Guthrie to write a set of propaganda songs about the federal projects to gain support for federal regulation of hydroelectricity. [1]

Although the intended documentary film was not completed until 1949, Guthrie's songs were recorded in Portland, Oregon in May 1941. The tune for "Grand Coulee Dam" is based on that of the traditional song "The Wabash Cannonball". [2] Guthrie's recording was reissued on the Folkways album Bound For Glory in 1956, [3] and subsequently on numerous compilations of Guthrie's songs.

The song was later recorded by British skiffle musician Lonnie Donegan, whose version entered the British pop charts in April 1958, rising to number six on the chart. [4] Donegan was featured performing the song in the movie Six-Five Special, a spin-off of the British TV show of the same name. [5] [6] One critic has written: [7]

[I]t remains arguable that, without recordings like [Donegan's] version of Woody's "Grand Coulee Dam", later performers (perhaps even Dylan himself) might not have beaten their way to Guthrie's door.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia River</span> River in the Pacific Northwest of North America

The Columbia River is a major river which flows through southern British Columbia, central Washington and forms a portion of the Washington - Oregon boundary before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. It is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river is 1,243 miles long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven of the United States plus a Canadian province. The fourth-largest river in the United States by volume, the Columbia has the greatest flow of any North American river entering the Pacific. The Columbia has the 36th greatest discharge of any river in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Guthrie</span> American singer-songwriter (1912–1967)

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie 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 inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as "This Land Is Your Land".

<i>Bound for Glory</i> (1976 film) 1976 American film

Bound for Glory is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Hal Ashby and loosely adapted by Robert Getchell from Woody Guthrie's 1943 partly fictionalized autobiography Bound for Glory. The film stars David Carradine as folk singer Woody Guthrie, with Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, John Lehne, Ji-Tu Cumbuka and Randy Quaid. Much of the film is based on Guthrie's attempt to humanize the desperate Okie Dust Bowl refugees in California during the Great Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Coulee Dam</span> Dam in Grant and Okanogan counties, near Coulee Dam and Grand Coulee, Washington, US

Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhouses. The third powerhouse ("Nat"), completed in 1974 to increase energy production, makes Grand Coulee the largest power station in the United States by nameplate-capacity at 6,809 MW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonneville Dam</span> Dam on the Columbia River, United States

Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located 40 miles (64 km) east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of Bonneville Lock and Dam are electrical power generation and river navigation. The dam was built and is managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. At the time of its construction in the 1930s it was the largest water impoundment project of its type in the nation, able to withstand flooding on an unprecedented scale. Electrical power generated at Bonneville is distributed by the Bonneville Power Administration. Bonneville Lock and Dam is named for Army Capt. Benjamin Bonneville, an early explorer credited with charting much of the Oregon Trail. The Bonneville Dam Historic District was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roll On, Columbia, Roll On</span> Song by Woody Guthrie

"Roll On, Columbia, Roll On" is an American folk song written in 1941 by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, who popularized the song through his own recording of it. The song glamorized the harnessing of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. The 11 hydroelectric dams built on the American stretch of the Columbia helped farms and industry, but their construction also permanently altered the character of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonneville Power Administration</span> United States federal agency that provides power supply to the Pacific Northwest

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to construct facilities necessary to transmit that power. Congress has since designated Bonneville to be the marketing agent for power from all of the federally owned hydroelectric projects in the Pacific Northwest. Bonneville is one of four regional Federal power marketing agencies within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

<i>King of Skiffle</i> 2000 compilation album by Lonnie Donegan

King of Skiffle is an album by Lonnie Donegan. A CD version of the album was released in the United Kingdom on 18 February 1998 by Castle Music. The CD was also released by Pickwick under the title The Best of Lonnie Donegan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">This Land Is Your Land</span> Folk song by Woody Guthrie

"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", with melody based on a Carter Family tune called "When the World's on Fire". When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically called his song "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Guthrie discography</span>

American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie's published recordings are culled from a series of recording sessions in the 1940s and 1950s. At the time they were recorded they were not set down for a particular album, so are found over several albums not necessarily in chronological order. The more detailed section on recording sessions lists the song by recording date.

<i>The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949</i> 2007 live album by Woody Guthrie

The Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949 is a recording of a concert by Woody Guthrie in Newark, New Jersey, one of a small number of surviving live recordings of the folk singer. The program consists of Guthrie answering questions from his wife Marjorie 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.

<i>Columbia River Collection</i> 1987 studio album by Woody Guthrie

Columbia River Collection, originally released as the Columbia River Ballads, is a compilation album of songs folksinger Woody Guthrie wrote during his visit to the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington in 1941. Guthrie traveled to these states on the promise of a part narrating a documentary about the construction of public works dams and other projects in the Pacific Northwest. The documentary never came to fruition, but 17 of the 26 songs he wrote during this period were compiled and released as this collection, including some of his most famous songs, such as "Roll on Columbia", "Grand Coulee Dam", "Hard Travelin’," and "Pastures of Plenty."

Grand Coulee may refer to:

<i>Jack Elliott Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie</i> 1960 studio album by Ramblin Jack Elliott

Jack Elliott Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie is an album by American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott, released in September 1960. It consists of songs written or well known as performed by Woody Guthrie.

<i>Ramblin Jack Elliott Sings Songs by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers</i> 1960 studio album by Ramblin Jack Elliott

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Sings Songs by Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers is an album by American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott. It was released in 1960 in Great Britain and in 1962 in the US on the Monitor label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Delmage Ross</span> Canadian-American engineer and electric grid administrator

James Delmage Ross was the superintendent of lighting for Seattle for 28 years and was the first administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration. He was instrumental in developing the Cedar Falls and Skagit River hydroelectric power plants. A self-taught engineer, Ross advocated for public utilities and regional power networks. He also later served as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"This Train", also known as "This Train Is Bound for Glory", is a traditional American gospel song first recorded in 1922. Although its origins are unknown, the song was relatively popular during the 1920s as a religious tune, and it became a gospel hit in the late 1930s for singer-guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe. After switching from acoustic to electric guitar, Tharpe released a more secular version of the song in the early 1950s.

<i>Bound for Glory</i> (album) 1956 compilation album by Woody Guthrie and Will Geer

Bound for Glory is a 1956 album by Woody Guthrie and Will Geer. It consists of a selection of songs from Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads of 1940 and his Asch recordings of 1944–45, each introduced briefly by Geer with spoken relevant extracts from Guthrie's writings.

Roll on Columbia: Woody Guthrie and the Columbia River Songs is a 2011 documentary film concerning Woody Guthrie's music created for Columbia River projects, especially "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On". It premiered at McMenamin's Pub in Troutdale, Oregon. In the documentary, oral historian Michael O'Rourke is interviewed about Guthrie's month of songwriting in Oregon and Washington. O'Rourke also produced the film. The film was spawned from a radio documentary that O'Rourke did for Oregon Public Broadcasting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covington Electrical Substation, Bonneville Power Administration</span> United States historic place

The Covington Electrical Substation, Bonneville Power Administration is an electrical substation in Covington, Washington. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 29, 2018.

References

  1. Biography at Woody Guthrie official site, p.5. Accessed 15 March 2011
  2. Jeff Brady, Woody Guthrie's Fertile Month on the Columbia River, NPR Music. Accessed 15 March 2011
  3. Bound For Glory LP at Discogs.com. Accessed 15 March 2011
  4. Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004 (1st ed.). London: Collins. p. 231. ISBN   0-00-717931-6.
  5. Image of "Grand Coulee Dam" record label. Accessed 15 March 2011
  6. Six-Five Special at Allmovie.com. Accessed 15 March 2011
  7. Michael Brocken, The British Folk Revival, 1944-2002, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, p.76