A GREAT STORY I HEARD YESTERDAY & I THINK IT SHOULD BE TOLD ON THE MOG
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Artist:
......I saw a special about Woody Guthrie Yesterday..& Jim Longhi told a story from their days together in the Merchant Marines.
........Woody, Cisco Houston. & Jim Longhi, longtime collaboraters, served in the Merchant Marines to avoid military service in WW II. While serving as mess stewarts on a troop transport ship laden with soldiers who would take part in the coming invasion of Normandy. Their ship was one of many in a huge convoy that came under U-boat attack. The escort ships were dropping depth charges....and the soldiers deep in the ships hold were getting anxious, as were all the sailors. And so Woody, along with very relunctant cohorts descended to the bowels of the ship & put on an impromptu concert/sing along. During s break...Woody heard other music drifting in from somewhere & followed it to the ship's head (Latrine). Inside were the ships African American soldiers & sailors having their own jam session...& Woody joined right in. After about a half hour or so the ship's Captain came down, livid, & demanded that Woody discontinue his fraternizing...it was against all regulations. & besides the soldiers in the hold needed him. Keep in mind there're U-boats about & the constant reverberating whooomping thuds of the depth charges were rattling the ship. Woody flat out refused until ALL the soldiers & sailors Could join together & sing. The Captain finally agreed & Woody & Cisco & Jim Longhi entertained ALL the folks that long night.
....Now, i know Woody Guthrie needs no introduction. He's one of the GodFathers In Spirit for all of us. From the folkie to the rocker to the rapper (what? You thought no one ever used songs as poor man's CNN before? No one ever used music to "keep it real"? used music as a bludgeon against injustice?)
.....With a voice as flat an unadorned as a kansas cornfield & a heart as big as this Land He loved, Woody Guthrie traveled this land, lending his voice to causes great & small, the voice of everyman. His songs stand the test of time...some of them have been etched into the very foundation of our collective conciousness. What child in America does not know "This Land Is Your Land"? Who among us here on the MOG doesn't know this song? Its been recorded more times than i care to recount by a who's who of stars & wanna-be's. Its been prettified, sanitized, harmonized, & sanctified. Yet for my money...Woody's own voice..free of "artyfact"...best serves this lyric of celebration & defiance. Woody wrote many verses to this song, though to the best of my knowledge no recording of the entire song (by Woody) exists. There is joy in this song..and anger too.
Ramblin Round
Do Re Mi
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Comments (14)
Alright Woody..nice one DMDM. I like the Sharon Jones version, but no one beats the woodman.
Thanks bones...inspiration for sure. We need as much honesty and simplicity as we can find these days, eh?
I wonder if spam likes the song
His life in the dust bowl, and onto California after the war is a great story as well. And his son isn't half bad either.
Without Woody, there would be no Dylan, there would be not much of anything to think of it.
...When one explores his songbook.....its stunning, the wide array of human emotion & condition that he chronocaled(?). His Children's songs are absolutely stunning & still have the same appeal for the target audience today. His laments of the down-trodden have a dignity that inform his characters & make them as real as any who listen.
Bound for Glory should be required reading.
tis a thing of beauty - nice post my man!
Great story Jeff. You know, I probably wouldn't play the tune except for the story. Interesting how one motivates the need for the other.
Great post!
What a great post!
Thumbs up all around. The Ash Recordings Vol. 1 has more verses than I've heard anywhere, and I think a couplemore in the liner notes. Woody embodied the "folk process" as we understood it. He'd put in or take out a verse at any time. Great post.
Guthrie was a true original, like Pete Seeger and Leadbelly, fellow founders of the American folk movement. It's hard to find earlier equivalents to them of any importance.
Great post DMDM.
Something for capndad and others north of the 49th parallel:
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
Canadian Version
This land is your land, this land is my land
From snow capped mountains to Prince Edward Island
From the BC forests to the seaway waters
This land was made for you and me
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And saw above me that endless skyway
And saw below me the golden valley, I said:
This land was made for you and me
When the sun came shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving, and dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me
In the squares of the city by the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office I saw my people
And some were stumbling and some were wondering if
This land was made for you and me.
I can see your mailbox, I can see your doorstep
I can feel my wind rock your tip-top treetop
All around your house there my sunbeam whispers
This land is made for you and me.
Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property
But on the back side it didn't say nothing
This land was made for you and me
Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking my freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
(Contributed by Bette Carl - November 2002)
Woody avoided military service during WWII? This is the guy that sings about loving his land?