Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchists in Massachusetts, were framed with murdering a guard and paymaster at a shoe factory and for allegedly stealing over $15,000. They were electrocuted in 1927. The judge that convicted them described the pair as "anarchic bastards." Their execution caused unrest and outcry across the globe.
On Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti, Woody Guthrie champions their politics (they led labor strikes and participated in the anti-war movement) and decries the system that put them to death. On "I Just Want to Sing Your Name", Woody does just that. He sings their names with tremendous emotion, illustrating his appreciation for the pair and his immense sorrow at their fate. Other songs develop the story, with the opener "The Flood and the Storm" laying out the historical backdrop of the story. World War I has ended and in the following economic boom in the states "a few got richer, and richer, and richer but the poor folk got poorer."
Remarkably, this is the first Woody Guthrie album I've heard. Upon hearing it, I've realized to what extent Bob Dylan imitated Guthrie in the early 1960s. Much of the guitar picking on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is directly traceable to Guthrie's style. The melodies and vocal habits of Guthrie also turn up in Dylan. Guthrie half-laughs in the midst of some lyrics, a trait that Dylan emulates often.
Today, Guthrie's music will probably garner comparisons to the explosion of bluegrass following the release of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Unsuspecting listeners engaged by the folksy guitar and old-time country voice, however, might be caught off guard by the words. Guthrie doesn't waste a single line on this album with musings on love or traveling- every word is devoted to the story of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Guthrie's skill is storytelling through his tunes. Over the course of these songs, characters are developed. He gets you to despise the villains, including Judge Thayer and Eva Splaine, who "sent these men to the chair." In "You Souls of Boston", Guthrie sings:
One lady by the name of Eva Splaine saw the robbers jump in their car and drive away. For a second and a half she seen this speeding car,she swore Sacco was the bandit man. It was twenty, or thirty, or fifty more, said Sacco was not in the robber's car. Judge Webster Thayer stuck by Eva Splaine, said Sacco was the guilty man.
His delivery evokes a friendly conspiracy between Thayer and Splaine. One can't help but be appalled by the villainy of these characters.
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Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
Oh, if you're just discovering Woody Guthrie you are in for a treat.He is a wonderful, brilliant man.
I wrote two items about him that might interest you - one about the albums of his lyrics Billy Bragg and Wilco made and one about the bastardization of his song "This Land is My Land."
I'll grab links for you later.
Great piece and excellent song choice for a review.
2 - Scott Butki
The Wilco/Bragg/Guthrie link
and
the one about the song.
3 - alpha
I echo the prediction that you are in for a treat. First Ledbelly, then Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and, finally, Arlo. And the telling scene in Arlo's film of the garbage dumping episode in Stockbridge (why can't I remember the name right now?) where he is called to the bedside of Woody dying painfully in his hospital bed.
I missed the Sacco and Vanzetti album and its songs and thank you for pointing it out.
4 - alpha
Alice's Restaurant. Thank you, brain synapses. Memories are strange.
5 - John Rocha
Guthrie will show you how to live. Such a great man. Words can't even describe how great he is.