Biography of Jack Guthrie

During the late '40s, singer/songwriter Jack Guthrie was briefly among the most influential and popular singers in country music. He was born Leon Jerry Guthrie in Olive, Oklahoma, the son of a blacksmith. His father was a fiddler, and legend has it that Guthrie learned a few guitar chords from Gene Autry. His family moved to Sacramento, California during the Dust Bowl era, where young Guthrie rode in rodeos and worked in the forests for the WPA. In 1934, he married and with his wife formed an act where he would use his bullwhip to snap lit cigarettes out of her mouth. Later in the decade, he and his cousin Woody Guthrie, who had just moved out from Oklahoma, formed a duet and began starring on The Oklahoman and Woody Show on station KFVD Hollywood in 1937. However, Jack had children to feed, so he soon quit to become a construction worker. Meanwhile, Woody had written a song for Jack before he moved to New York; Jack added "Oklahoma Hills" to his act and it became quite popular. He cut a demo in 1944 and signed to Capitol; with a pickup band, he recorded Woody's song and "When the Cactus Is in Bloom." Guthrie was drafted before the single was released, and was stationed at Iwo Jima when he learned that his single had been at the top of the country charts for over six weeks. He was stationed in Tacoma, Washington in 1946 and began playing with Buck Ritchey and his K-6 Wranglers. He also continued recording and had another major hit in 1947 with "Oakie Boogie." However, Guthrie began feeling poorly, and a check-up revealed that he had tuberculosis, resulting in a discharge from the service. He did make one appearance in a film, 1947's Hollywood Barn Dance, but soon after, weighing only 95 pounds, he checked into a veterans hospital with little hope of recovery. Despite his illness, Guthrie managed to record a total of 33 songs and many radio transcriptions. He cut his final record in the summer of 1947 and was so sick that he had to be driven to the session in an ambulance. He died on January 15 of the following year. Guthrie's music lived on at the hands of Woody's son Arlo, who recorded many of his uncle's best songs. ~ Sandra Brennan