"In Praise of Woody Guthrie", Steve Earle

[WEagle]

http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16372


In Praise of Woody Guthrie

By Steve Earle, The Nation
July 11, 2003

When Bob Dylan took the stage at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, all leather and Ray-Bans and Beatle boots, and declared emphatically and (heaven forbid) electrically that he wasn't "gonna work on Maggie's farm no more," the folk music faithful took it personally. They had come to see the scruffy kid with the dusty suede jacket pictured on the covers of Bob Dylan and Freewheelin'. They wanted to hear topical songs. Political songs. Songs like "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," "Masters of War" and "Blowin' in the Wind." They wanted the heir apparent. The Dauphin. They wanted Woody Guthrie.


Dylan wasn't goin' for it. He struggled through two electric numbers before he and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band retreated backstage. After a few minutes he returned alone and, armed with only an acoustic guitar, delivered a scathing "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and walked.


Woody Guthrie himself had long since been silenced by Huntington's chorea, a hereditary brain-wasting disease, leaving a hole in the heart of American music that would never be filled, and Dylan may have been the only person present at Newport that day with sense enough to know it.


One does not become Woody Guthrie by design. Dylan knew that because he had tried. We all tried, every one of us who came along later and tried to follow in his footsteps only to find that no amount of study, no apprenticeship, no regimen of self-induced hard travelin' will ever produce another Woody. Not in a million years.
..more..

[flamingyouth]

1. Great article

We got our copy of the Nation on Monday and loved it! Good old Woody - what a giant.

[JitterbugPerfume]

2. Great post

Dylan may not be te new Woody Gurhrie, but he sure is DYLAN, and that is more than enough for me




I love Woody

[Archae]

4. Like Woody's son Arlo said once...

"Dylan proved one could be successful as a folk singer, and not be understandable." :D

[WEagle]

7. it wasn't long at all before he found his own voice

and Dylan has been diving deeper into it ever since. His songwriting is as challenging and creative as ever. Love the guy..

[Archae]

3. I wish I could have met Woody.

I did meet and talk with a guy who was a good friend of Woody, at an arts festival here in Sheboygan.

Guy named Pete Seeger.
Ever hear of him?
He's pretty good too. ;-)

[WEagle]

5. it was moved from GD

not sure why. Was Woody Guthrie not political enough?

[KG]

6. don't worry, Steve

you, and few others, are worthy succesors, and you carry the banner well. :)

Christmas In Washington
(Steve Earle)

It's Christmastime in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Things not gettin' worse
The Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
They said, 'He cannot seek another term
They'll be no more FDRs'
I sat home in Tennessee
Staring at the screen
With an uneasy feeling in my chest
And I'm wonderin' what it means

Chorus:
So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

I followed in your footsteps once
Back in my travelin' days
Somewhere I failed to find your trail
Now I'm stumblin' through the haze
But there's killers on the highway now
And a man can't get around
So I sold my soul for wheels that roll
Now I'm stuck here in this town

Chorus

There's foxes in the hen house
Cows out in the corn
The unions have been busted
Their proud red banners torn
To listen to the radio
You'd think that all was well
But you and me and Cisco know
It's going straight to hell

So come back, Emma Goldman
Rise up, old Joe Hill
The barracades are goin' up
They cannot break our will
Come back to us, Malcolm X
And Martin Luther King
We're marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring

Chorus

[WEagle]

8. Just what the doctor ordered!

:-) Thank you!

[WEagle]

9. Just what the doctor ordered!

:-) Thank you!

edit, oops didn't mean to post twice :-(

[Coffee Coyote]

10. I love this essay

One of those things that reminds me why I subscribe to the Nation. :-)