Mumford & Sons recently collaborated with Elvis Costello to record Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” They made the recording for Bono’s One campaign to get world leaders to focus on poverty issues as the leader meet in Northern Ireland at the G8 summit.
In this video, Elvis Costello and Mumford & Sons talk about the song before playing it. Check it out.
We have discussed on Chimesfreedom the connection between “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and the work of Woody Guthrie. In the video at the end, you see Costello bring the song back to Woody Guthrie with an impromptu singing of “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You,” whose history we also have discussed.
The new recording of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” is part of a collection of protest songs that you can listen to for free and learn more about on the One website, including songs by Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, The Cranberries, and may others. The collection is listed as “songs that changed the world.”
What do you think of the new version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
that’s great! I don’t think I would have found this otherwise. A lot of that music looks really good. I’ll have to check it out over time.
The collection does have some really good tracks, and this one is a nice collaboration on an excellent song. Thanks for the comment!