POP/ROCK - March 2, 1987

Five songs by legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie--feared lost for more than 40 years--were found Thursday and will be completed and issued on an album by a Guthrie colleague, folk singer Pete Seeger. The Portland, Ore.-based Bonneville Power Administration, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, commissioned the songs from Guthrie in 1941 to promote its hydroelectric projects along the Columbia River, and Guthrie responded by writing 26 in a month’s time. The utility agency said in a statement that it will publish a songbook this summer, including the five unpublished works, and that it will release a record album, produced by Seeger, containing 17 of the 26 songs.