Country Joe's McDonald's Tribute to Woody Guthrie has been staged over a dozen times in England and in the United States since it was originally commissioned by the National Steinbeck Center in 2001. Created to be a part of the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibition, This Land Is Your Land: The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie, this spoken word and sung one-man performance piece is an unusually intimate and moving homage to Guthrie's life.
McDonald's deeply felt personal connection with Woody Guthrie and the state of Oklahoma begins with Joe's father, Worden, a farmer and a hobo who shared the same 1920s and 30s Oklahoma Dust Bowl roots as Woody. McDonald and Guthrie also share a similar social and political consciousness which give this performance a remarkable depth of honesty and integrity. Along with Woody Guthrie's music, Country Joe presents excerpts from Woody's autobiography, Woody's newspaper columns, readings from rare personal correspondence, previously unheard poetry, and more.