musicology #480

PoliceAndThieves #5

(Woody Guthrie – Pretty Boy Floyd)

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Have to be quick with today’s post..man on a mission ! so without further delay hold this cut from Master Woody Guthrie who I am a BIG fan of. Regulars to the musical diary might have already guessed that I hunger for authenticity whether in music or in life..too much bullshit angers me which is why ‘news’ doesn’t interest me at all. At the risk of seeming indifferent the conventional propaganda machine or to use it’s common name..the media has an agenda…the promotion and pursuit of Capital over happiness…money ain’t worth the paper it’s printed on…how much has been printed over the last year? something like 20 Billion?? and yet still the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. make no mistake the gap between the two is widening…how can that be?

Anyway…before I get involved hold this cut from Woody about outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd. Recorded in 1939 the song highlights Floyd’s apparent generosity to the poor which considering Guthrie’s Oklahoma roots and the mans authenticity I would imagine was true. Floyd’s funeral remains the States most attended funeral so he most have been popular for more than mere infamy… the outlaw is generally respected amongst the poor community and also revered for his generosity while his nefarious activities are often overlooked.

musicology #315

SongsOfProtest&Freedom#1

(Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston - Better World A Comin’)

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this weeks selection is a collection of songs that speak the language of protest and freedom. bypassing the rhetoric of the chattering classes to deliver the message as directly as possible to those who have the power to make change….the people.

The ‘establishment’ know this so, as with all modes of communication, do their best to bury such knowledge and even wisdom beneath the mountains of information that are served up 24 - 7 - 365.

Who and what are the establishment?..I’m not saying there is a group whose ‘job’ it is to serve up such mis-information I don’t believe that’s not the nature of such things…ideology provides such a platform so no one person or even group is to blame, making it almost impossible to step outside of. Our times are not much different from previous ones although globalisation can and does, (for now), provide an opportunity to connect and communicate instantly which is relatively new. Obviously this is a two sided coin making it easier to spread the word of freedom as well as slavery but at least there is a choice as to what we spend our time doing, listening to, reading and watching.

only time will tell what opportunity is taken? education or entertainment.

With that in mind hold this cut from one of the fathers and greatest proponents of the protest/freedom song, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, (named after the former president of the USA), whose relatively short life was FULL of experience and incident…

Mr Authenticity as far as I’m concerned whose musicology has touched my heart and mind from first hearing it a couple of years ago.Since introduction themusicologist is often to be found rocking and a rolling to this Cat.. This cut taken from the 1940’s ‘Asch’ Recording dates features his friend the singer and one time actor, Cisco Houston who along with Jim Longhi persuaded Woody to join the Merchant Marines during W.W II. Being political Woody was against supporting what was considered by some a Capitalist Fraud but rather than be drafted he settled for washing dishes and entertaining the troops.

Anyway….enough of the words and on with the music.

musicology #185

nowordsjustmusic #1

(Will Greer Reading Woody Guthrie/Woody Guthrie - Do-Re-Mi)

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