> Woody, whether isolated
geographically and socially or under the ideological sway of the CP's
elevation of "folk" and disdain for commercial music , sounds quaint and
old-fashioned
compared to the exciting, electric music made by transplanted Okies in the
1940s and beyond. Listen not only to Bob Wills, but also to Billy Jack
Wills, John Lee Wills, and Spade Cooley, Jimmie Rivers and you might
understand that Woody was a musical reactionary. (That's not to say he
didn't write and steal some nice songs,)
Yeah! A good place to start, for the interested, is the Okeh Western Swing anthology, if it's still in print. (All those Okeh anthologies were good, but this one was vital to me.)
> "Oklahoma Hills," the song co-written by the two Guthries was a huge hit in
the 1940s and in 2001 became the official Oklahoma folk song. There is also
an official state song. Oklahoma, of course. And an official country and
western song: Bob Wills' "Faded Love." A western swing classic to be sure,
but a better choice would have been "Take Me Back to Tulsa."
Sure--but not when the capital and the power is in OKC.
> It has these lyrics which just might be relevant to the recent discussion
here about art, persuasion, and propaganda.
> "Little bee sucks the blossom, big bee gets the honey,
Dark man picks the cotton, White man gets the money."
. George Strait, and probably others, sanitize it to "poor man/rich man"
In all fairness, I've heard Wills' band do it with those lyrics, too--and I've got one tape (a Capitol cheapie cassette) where you can hear the band crack up as Tommy Duncan sings:
"Little man picks the cotton, beer joint gets the money."
> This year Arlo's daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie performed with her band.
Saw her in March opening for Mark Olsen and Gary Louris of the now-defunct Jayhawks (whose "Haywire" is also in my head via Katrina) and was not terribly impressed. One great song in a so-so set. (But then, when I saw Jackson Browne open for Bonnie Raitt in the Black Hills in 1980, I thought he sucked--might've had something to do with the flu, the cold, and the wait for Bonnie Raitt.)
> The sign above the Rocky Road Tavern in Okemah says "Home of
Woody Guthrie and the common folks. God Bless America."
Ah, the irony!
Thanks,
John A
see me fulminate at http://www.jzip.org/