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Song Of The Day
Song of the Day
do you want to know the history of a folk song? submit an ask or dm me and I'll cover it
"Great Historical Bum" Odetta, 1960
Originally written in 1941 by Woody Guthrie for his Columbia River Song collection. That time when Woody Guthrie (a socialist) was commissioned by the US federal government (at the recommendation of Alan Lomax. to write folk songs in support of the Coulee Dam in 1941. Woody Guthrie was in poverty at the time and was happy to finally have a job. During the month he traveled through Oregon and wrote a song every day, including "Pastures of Plenty" and "Roll on Columbia".
the lyrics in these songs, including this one, include radical themes like working-class rights, unions, anti-fascism, and anti-capitalism. because of this and because Woody Guthrie was an anti-capitalist, the songs and the documentary they were made for were ordered destroyed by the Eisenhower administration. luckily the recordings were saved by a proletarian comrade: a former employee of the Bonneville Power Administration, who decided to keep a copy of the film and recordings.
this song may also be inspired by another traditional song recorded in 1928 by Harry McClintock , but I'm not sure.
I like this cover by Odetta quite a bit. I think she does the original one justice.
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Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten clipping, 1987
Song of the day
do you want to know the history of a folk song? submit an ask or dm me and I'll cover it
"Irene (Goodnight, Irene)"
Lead Belly, 1933
this song was covered by many artists, but my favorite is the most notable cover: this one by the Weavers
The Weavers' version is incredibly important to the history of folk music, as it was their most popular song in 1948 (and the first no. charting single in the folk music genre), and helped kick them off into popularity before they were blacklisted just 2 years later.
little song rec for this morning