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Magic Penny Award
Magic Penny Award
Woody Guthrie (2002)
The 2002 CMN Magic Penny Award honored the great children's songs of Oklahoma-born singer, songwriter and activist Woody Guthrie. Representing the Guthrie family at CMN's National Gathering Oct 19-20 in Freedom NH was Woody's daughter, Nora Guthrie, Executive Director of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives.
Woody Guthrie once said, "By far my best audience for folksongs and ballads have been the kids. The story you're telling them in words goes through their minds like a newsreel, only plainer." He wrote dozens of children's songs, eighteen of which first appeared on the 1951 Folkways recording "Songs to Grow On." Chock full of classics such as "Car Car," "Put Your Finger In the Air" and "Don't You Push Me," the album is recognized as one of the most influential collections in the history of children's music in the US. In 1990 during a routine cleaning, a librarian at Sarah Lawrence College rediscovered twenty more of Woody's classic songs, tunes that were presumed forever lost by his family.
Working out of a small office on West 57th Street in New York, Nora Guthrie keeps Woody's memory alive through books, recordings, exhibits, films and a superb website found at www.woodyguthrie.org. In 1998, she invited British recording artist Billy Bragg to comb through the lyrics to nearly 2,500 of Woody's unpublished songs, and to come up with tunes to those that moved him most. The result, in collaboration with the alt-country band Wilco, were two Grammy-nominated albums, "Mermaid Avenue" and "Mermaid Avenue Vol II." Nora narrated the feature-length film, "Man in the Sand," documenting Bragg's quest to find "the spirit of Woody Guthrie" through the Mermaid Avenue projects.
As Nora put it, "I'm not the musician in my family, but I can tell you about Woody the Dad." Not to worry. The weekend will give us plenty of opportunities to sing Woody's songs.
More about Woody
Award Ceremony
The award was presented to Woody's daughter Nora Guthrie at CMN's Annual Conference in 2002.
On behalf of her father, Woody, Nora Guthrie accepts the 2002 Magic Penny Award presented by Sally Rogers. Photos: Janice Buckner
Award Designer: Eliza Zeitlin. Photo L: Janice Buckner, Photo R: Allen Zak
About the Magic Penny Award
The Magic Penny Award, named after the song by Malvina Reynolds, is a Children's Music Network tribute to people in our community who have dedicated their lives to empowering children through music. In October 1999 the first award was given posthumously to Malvina herself, through her daughter, Nancy Schimmel.
Each year the Magic Penny Award program is a highlight of the CMN International Conference. The tribute program features songs written by or used by the recipient, informative appreciations of the recipient's work, and of course the presentation of the award itself.
Award Recipients
Dave Kinnoin
Melanie DeMore
Joan Ganz Cooney
Aaron Nigel Smith
Daniel J. Henry Jr. & Jean N. Hendricks
Fred Rogers
Nancy Schimmel
Kim & Reggie Harris
Sally Rogers
Jose-Luis Orozco
Pete Seeger
Ruth Pelham
Tom Hunter
Sharon, Lois & Bram
Joanne Hammil
Ruthie Buell
Tom Chapin
Bill Harley
Sarah Pirtle
Nona Beamer
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Bob Blue
Suni Paz
Woody Guthrie
Ella Jenkins
Marcia Berman
Malvina Reynolds
Photo Credits: Sandy Morris (Nancy Schimmel), Maile Beamer Loo/Hula Preservation Society (Nona Beamer), Ann Morse (Bob Blue), Robin Carson (Woody Guthrie), Janice Buckner (Marcia Berman), Eleanor M. Lawrence (Malvina Reynolds), Ramiro Fauve (Suni Paz)