Welcome to the DFH Freaky Friday weekly music series
Because Team DFH operates more or less like a herd of cats, we’re here at roughly 9PM Eastern, every week. So take off your shoes, plop down on that beanbag chair over there, let your hair down, and get some groovy on. |
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma.
"Woody is just Woody. Thousands of people do not know he has any other name. He is just a voice and a guitar. He sings the songs of a people and I suspect that he is, in a way, that people. Harsh voiced and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings. But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of a people to endure and fight against oppression. I think we call this the American spirit."
~ John Steinbeck
.
Wonderful informative and interesting Democracy Now! yesterday has:
Today a Democracy Now! special on the life, politics and music of Woody Guthrie, the "Dust Bowl Troubadour." Born a hundred years ago on July 14, 1912, in Oklahoma, Guthrie wrote hundreds of folk songs and became a major influence on countless musicians, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs. While Guthrie is best remembered as a musician, he also had a deeply political side, speaking out for labor and civil rights at the height of McCarthyism.
with Guests:
Nora Guthrie, Woody Guthrie’s daughter. She’s president of both the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives, and Woody Guthrie Publications. She’s also the author of the new book, My Name Is New York: Ramblin’ Around Woody Guthrie’s Town.
Anna Canoni, Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter. She works for Woody Guthrie Publications.
Steve Earle, musician, actor, author and activist. He is a three-time Grammy Award winner. He’s performing in New York at WoodyFest, a three-day concert in celebration of Woody Guthrie’s birthday. His recent novel and album share the same name: I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.
A massive centennial website for Woody is really worth taking some time to wander around in there. They have an extensive Biography section... all kinds of stuff. For example, this:
1913 Massacre Trailer from Louis V. Galdieri on Vimeo.
.
For some, the classic This Land Is My Land contains a few verses you might not've heard before. For your edification, here they are, via Pete Seeger:
This Land Is My Land
[Chorus:]
This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley,
This land was made for you and me.
I roamed and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps
To the sparking sands of her diamond deserts,
All around me a voice was sounding,
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, then I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling,
A voice was chanting as the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.
One bright sunny morning, in the shadow of the steeple,
By the relief office I saw my people,
As they stood there hungry, I stood there wondering if,
This land was made for you and me.
Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me,
Was a great big sign that said, "Private Property,"
But on the other side, it didn't say nothing,
That side 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.
[Additional verses by Pete Seeger:]
Maybe you've been working as hard as you're able,
But you've just got crumbs from the rich man's table,
And maybe you're thinking, was it truth or fable,
That this land was made for you and me.
Woodland and grassland and river shoreline,
To everything living, even little microbes,
Fin, fur, and feather, we're all here together,
This land was made for you and me.
[And a Native American verse:]
This land is your land, but it once was my land,
Until we sold you Manhattan Island.
You pushed our Nations to the reservations;
This land was stole by you from me.
And now, let's have the tunes! (Feel free to sing-along!)
Woody Guthrie
.
.
Arlo
.
.
Pete Seeger
.
.
Bruce
.
.
Pete, Paul & Mary
.
.
Johnny Cash
.
.
OWS
.
.
Hobo's Lullaby
It's Freaky Friday! Bring some tunes, whatever you got! Feel free to comment with just a song-link and your thoughts, or try for the embed, for however long that works for us. Either way, we're just chillin' here, so c'mon and join in.
Here's HOW: To add vids in comments: Click on "share"; then the "embed" button; change the size of the video graphic too, so when it posts, it is smaller. Use 300pixels in the custom parameters (last one on the right) under the embed code. {h/t joanneleon}
SPECIAL NOTE: Got more musical ideas than just a comment or two? Volunteer to Guest Host some time! It's so easy, just send a kosmail to Lady Libertine or an invite request to the DK Freaky Friday Backstage Pass writers Group. We're here for tech support or other groovy advice or how to's for hosting your very own FF! :-)
|
.
Coming soon... a new cooperative site with content and discussion that focuses on the real issues of the day.
More signal, less noise.
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."
~ Winston Churchill
|