Ramblin' Round

I mentioned before that I'm a Folkie of sorts. The Folk movement really started in the US in the early 1960s, but it owed its very existence as a civil movement to much earlier artists, most notably Woody Guthrie.   In 1941 a out-of-work Woody wrote "some feller from the department of the Interior" heard his records and wanted him to narrate and provide the music to a documentary on public works projects, particularly the Grand Coolee Dam, to be shot along the Columbia River.  The production had a year long sched ule. He spent a only month on the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington before the documentary was put on hold (due to Guthries' controversial status).  Fortunately Guthrie was inspired by this change of scenery and wrote 26 songs during that one month.  Two of them are among my favorite Guthrie songs: Hard Travelin' and Ramblin' Round.

Ramblin' Round on the surface is about itinerant farm workers, laboring for low wages, following the season.  But it's much more (to me).  It embodies the whole social movement of the time, including he misguided push towards communism (which was naively seen as a panacea against the evils of government).  This ideal was commendable even if the execution was flawed.  Rambin' Round shows the plight of the poor, the homeless and the hungry and society's lack of concern.

Some places I've seen attribute the lyrics to Huddie Ledbetter. They're confused.  Guthrie wrote the words but put them to the tune of Leadbelly's popular "Goodnight Irene."

Below are 7 renditions I've selected. 
I'm curious to know which is one's favorite and why that particular one:

Woody Guthrie:




Arlo Guthrie (Woody's son):




Bob Dylan (Guthries' heir apparent):




Odetta (The Unique!):




Barbara Dane (A Guthrie contemporary):




Linda Ronstadt:






The Indigo Girls with Ani DiFranco:

The first one by Woody is missing.

The one by his son, Arlo, sounds like a classic recording. It's the rendition you'll always come back to if you're a fan of the song.

Listening to Bob Dylan is like listening to a brother (or sister) playing to himself in the next room. You can't help but love it. The guitar has so much soul.

Odetta has a beautiful voice, and I absolutely loved Cello sound (and any other instrument blending in in the back).

Barbara Dane's rendition has a unique catch to it. I guess thst must be the contemporary side of things.

I believe Arlo would've loved Linda's rendition, so that says it all.

I can't really pick a favourite. All seven renditions are a great way to listen to the same song and not have your ears grow stale.

The last one is missing as well.

Thanks.  The first and last (my own two favorites) play fine for me.

Thanks for the post batgirl. I really enjoyed the songs.

as a migrant fruitpicker laborer, hitchhiking, hopping freights, from the orchards of the West to the Groves of Florida, and any which way from there, I was riding on the vibe of Woody's Tunes, which somehow found there way to the small Midwestern town where I was. A big Midwestern Prairie Town called Minneapolis is right now under siege. Having lived and travelled to and through there so much of my life, I will say Woody's legacy is alive there and will help that community get through anything it faces.  I say that because I know so many there dedicated to making life better for everybody. Very emotional times, the above artists are among those I go to for fine tunes that inspire.  Thanks BG

Big Arlo Guthrie fan.

Not as familiar with Woodys work.

very good !!

Sometimes the fruit gets rotten,
Falls down on the ground.
There's a hungry mouth for every peach
As I go ramblin' round boys.

VERY COOL!!!!!

When I was seventeen I watched an Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger concert on tv and I enjoyed it so much a couple of weeks later I purchased an inexpensive acoustic guitar. That was back in 1979 and I have been playing Woody Guthrie songs and songs from other folk artists ever since. I loved the article. Thanks for posting it batgirl!

Nice song .First is not availible to me, probably copyrights 

Gotta love woody and huddie ( or 'old Hughie' as Seeger called him) thanks batgirl. 👍😁

If Batgirl still like this,  is going to be famous!!!!  ... Well is already famous in chess.com I think

Arlo's is my favorite probably because it's most familiar to me. I think I saw a documentary about Woody that was exceptionally well done and made me an instant fan. I'll see if I can dig up an archive of that doc and buy it.

I never heard of Barbara Dane, her voice us sublime.  Thanks so much.

"Roll on Columbia", written during that month, is Washington's official folk song (our other state song is something no one knows).

I connect to the internet using electricity generated by Grand Coulee Dam.

Turns out that something I wrote for the Encyclopedia of the Great Depression got picked up by another encyclopedia: https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/grand-coulee-project

Thanks. I didn't even know states even had official folk songs.   I wonder what North Carolina's might be? 

I doubt that poaching articles is all that unusual.  I've noticed it a few times myself.

Although many of Guthries' songs are pretty mainstream now, it's hard to divorce his music from his social agenda. His most famous song, "This Land is Your Land" originally had somewhat different lyrics that reflected that agenda (I don't mean 'agenda' in a negative sense"-- just that his songs had more of a purpose than just entertaining).

It  had no lines saying "this land was made for you and me' but included stanzas such as:

Was a high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing
God blessed America for me.

   (This reminds me of the 5 man Electrical Band's "Signs")

and the more enigmatic:

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office I saw my people
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering
If God blessed America for me.

You gotta love old Hughie (see @Simaginfan 's post #12).

I replaced the first recording (Guthries' own rendition) with a different source since some people seemed unable to play it.  I couldn't find an alternate for the Indigo Girls' version.  It's also on their "Rarities" album (which is how I know it) but even though youtube has the songs from that album, for some reason the only tune omitted in "Ramblin' Round."

Supposedly, Guthrie wrote "This Land" in direct response and hostility to Pat Boone and others singing "God Bless America."

His trespassing sign is the best verse. I also point out the backside of "no trespassing" signs even today (when I have become a law-abiding citizen).

Arlo Guthrie was in my town on my birthday for the 50th anniversary Alice's Restaurant tour a few years ago. Naturally, my wife bought tickets so we could celebrate my antiquity appropriately. 

Lol