amerpie's Full Review: Til We Outnumber 'Em: The Songs of Woody Guthrie
Shortly after Woodie Guthrie died in 1967, some of the most talented folk musicians in the world gathered in Carnegie Hall for a tribute concert. Woodie’s son, Arlo, performed with an all star lineup that included Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Tom Paxton, Joan Baez, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. Although each of these artists had their own extensive catalog of tunes, this concert contained nothing but songs written by Guthrie. More than 30 years later, as part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and in conjunction with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, feminist punk rocker Ani DiFranco produced another milestone concert at Cleveland’s Severance Hall. Once again all the material was written by the master. The result of that concert is the album Till We Outnumber ‘Em.
Financed and released by DiFranco’s independent label, Righteous Babe Records, this is a monumental recording. Its songs are interspersed with comments on the impact of Guthrie’s music by folks like Country Joe McDonald (who performed at the first concert too). Peter Glazer reads from a Guthrie essay about how we are defined by what we owe others. Tim Robbins, the New Left’s favorite actor, reads the Guthrie poem, “Born Naked” which is good as anything Ginsburg or Kerouac ever wrote.
What makes the album a testament to the American spirit is the music.
On “Hard Traveling Hootenanny”, the album’s opener, Arlo kicks it off, soon to be joined by Bruce Springsteen, then Billy Bragg, Ani DiFranco, the Indigo Girls, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. The title is right on target. This tune is performed in good old hootenanny style with all the artists stepping in for a solo on the verses and singing the chorus together. It’s an excellent start and it really sets the mood.
Following Glazer’s comments, the honor of the first solo goes to Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. I get chill bumps realizing that Elliot was a protégé of Guthrie’s. They played together. The song Elliot sings, “1913 Massacre”, he learned from Guthrie, personally. It is classic Guthrie pro-labor, anti-management folk music. Elliot’s unique voice gives a special poignancy to this story of children who died at Christmas under the cruelty of the “copper bosses gun thugs.”
Billy Bragg, the artist most responsible for the late 90’s Guthrie revival performs the hobo’s lament, “Against the Law”. He sings, “It’s against the law to walk. It’s against the law to talk. It’s against the law to loaf. It’s against the law to work.” If you’ve heard either of Bragg’s Mermaid Avenue albums, then you know the special touch that he brings to Guthrie’s music.
The comic highlight of the recording is Bruce Springsteen’s introduction to “Riding In My Car” a children’s song that I feel compelled to sing at the top of my lungs whenever I hear it. Springsteen mockingly berates Guthrie for writing about cars. “That’s my business, Mr. Guthrie, no disrespect, but that’s my business.” The audience howls and you will too.
“Pretty Boy Floyd” is one of the most recorded songs in the Guthrie catalog. I have a half dozen versions recorded by artists ranging from Bob Dylan to the Byrds. Davis Pirner’s version, while obviously influenced by the one Dylan did on the Grammy winning tribute album to Woodie and Leadbelly back in the 80’s, is flat and uninspired. Still, if you haven’t heard the song before, the sheer power of the lyrics will get to you.
The highlight of the entire album is DiFranco’s tantalizingly slow, sparse rendition of “Do Re Mi”. While artists like Nanci Griffith and John Mellencamp treaty this like a sarcastic romp, DiFranco’s performance is chilling. You can hear her tell the dust bowl refugees bound for California “believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot, if you ain’t got the do re mi…”. I’ll never listen to any version of this song in the same way again.
Arlo sings one of his father’s classics, “Dust Storm Disaster”. After a couple of hits in the 70’s, Arlo pretty much fell off the popular music scene. That’s a shame. He is hilariously funny and a worthy successor to his father. He adds his own peculiar charm to this song.
“Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportees)” is generally acknowledged to be the last great song that Guthrie wrote before the neurological disease that killed him took over his life. Springsteen does a creditable, if affected job here. Of note is the way that he changes the name of the female character from Rosalita, as written by Guthrie, to Rosalie. I guess the Boss only has room for one Rosalita in his life.
The Indigo Girls make Guthrie’s “Ramblin’ Round” sound as if they wrote it themselves. When you hear them sing this song, you realize the tremendous impact that Woodie had on their music. You get glimpses of this same phenomena throughout the entire concert but nowhere is it more evident than on this song.
The only other artists to get two solos is Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. He does a great performance in a musical style that was invented by Guthrie, the talking blues. The song is “Talking Dust Bowl.”
The album closes with Arlo reading a story while the rest of the performers sing, “This Land is Your Land”. The story Arlo tells is called “Till We Outnumber Them”. I’ll not reveal a single detail of the story. You’ll have to buy the CD to learn how it turns out!
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