Despite his significant influence on folk music and Americana, my only real exposure to the work of Woody Guthrie has been through the ill-tempered collaboration of Billy Bragg and Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue Sessions.
Admittedly there is some powerful work amongst the 60+ songs, completed and produced from an unfinished Guthrie catalogue (California Stars and Ingrid Bergmann spring to mind), it doesn’t really scratch the surface of his work and his legacy.
A product of hard times – born in 1912 in a pre-depression and dust-bowl Oklahoma – Guthrie would leave a rich catalogue of music which was inspired by his nomadic experiences, continually moving to find work and always being considered as an outsider, no matter where he landed.
The last 7 years have been hard for us in Ireland but God knows what life was like for Guthrie in the 1920s, but it was clearly those early experiences of which shaped and crafted the man and his music. His cynicism and anti-establishment perspective are reflected in much of his music and he was very alert to the corruption and abuse which was rife in politics and big business at that time – leading him to brilliantly describe the political zeitgeist as “busted, disgusted and not to be trusted.”
He was very aware of his own surroundings but used his position as a songwriter and for a while DJ on a radio station in LA to fight the corner of the working class and politically disenfranchised. Reading about him and listening to his music it’s hard not to see the parallels with Guthrie and Joe Strummer and maybe Springsteen or Steve Earle but arguably his influence is more far reaching than all three combined.
The truth is in his work: ‘Be Kind To The Boy On The Road’, ‘Dust Bowl Blues’, ‘Hard Travelling’, ‘Hobos Delight’, “I Ain’t Got No Home’ and of course ‘This Land Is Your Land’.
A great insight into the man’s thinking is in his “List of rullins” – his own personal “commandments” which show his lighter side but underline his focus, emotional intelligence and his generosity towards those less fortunate than himself. Whilst his work is reflected in much of todays Americana and alt-Country, the real magic lies in the original material.
Get on it.
Guthrie’s Rulins
| Work more and better. | Work by a schedule. | Wash teeth if any. |
| Shave. | Take bath. | Eat good — fruit — vegetables — milk. |
| Drink very scant if any. | Write a song a day. | Wear clean clothes — look good. |
| Shine shoes. | Change socks. | Change bed cloths often. |
| Read lots good books. | Listen to radio a lot. | Learn people better. |
| Keep rancho clean. | Dont get lonesome. | Stay glad. |
| Keep hoping machine running. | Dream good. | Bank all extra money. |
| Save dough. | Have company but don’t waste time. | Send Mary and kids money. |
| Play and sing good. | Dance better. | Help win war — beat fascism. |
| Love mama. | Love papa. | Love Pete. |
| Love everybody. | Make up your mind. | Wake up and fight. |