Musician Doc Watson passed away on May 29, 2012 at the age of 89 following complications from abdominal surgery. Watson, who went blind at the age of one, influenced many musicians with his flatpicking style of playing the guitar.
In this clip from a documentary about Earl Scruggs, Watson and Scruggs play the song “John Hardy” at Watson’s home. “John Hardy” is about a real person who killed a fellow worker at a coal camp and then was hanged in January 1894.
Before Hardy’s hanging, he was remorseful and allegedly composed the ballad in his jail cell and sang it on the scaffold. Woody Guthrie used the music from “John Henry” for one of his own classic songs.
Earl Scruggs passed away earlier in 2012 in March. Unfortunately we will not hear the likes of Watson and Scruggs playing together again. At least in this world. What is your favorite Doc Watson performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Millions of people have seen this funny video of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” with comedian David Armand (who sometimes goes by the alter ego Johann Lippowitz) acting out the words. But in case you are like me and had not seen it, check it out.
Imbruglia started out as an actress in her native Australia and then went on to score a huge hit in 1997 with the song, “Torn,” which was actually a cover of a song by Ednaswap, an alternative rock band from Los Angeles that also recorded an excellent version of the song.
Inbruglia’s single was huge around the world even though it originally was released only as a single and was not on an album. The song was eventually included on Imbruglia’s debut album, Left of the Middle, and climbed up the charts in the US and UK.
More than a decade later, Armand helped make “Torn” popular again with his comedic mime routine to the song. Then, in the above video, Imbruglia was a good sport and sang the song live with his routine, all for a good cause, at Amnesty International’s The Secret Policeman’s Ball (2006).
Make sure you watch toward the end when Imbuglia joins in the fun. Armand has done similar mime routines for other songs. Although Imbruglia has yet to match her success with “Torn,” she continues to record and is reportedly working on her fifth album. What do you think of the mime version of “Torn”? Leave a comment.
Last night on American Idol, the finalists Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips made the case for taking home the crown. This season of American Idol had a number of strong contestants, but these two are certainly great talents, with Sanchez having a great singing voice and Phillips having a unique style. Phillips showed off that style on the final song of the night, “Home.”
Often, the new song that American Idolists sing is the weakest of the songs, because it is hard for an unfamiliar song to compete with classics familiar to the audience. For example, Sanchez received a tepid reaction to her new song, “Change Nothing.” But last night, Phillips’ rendition of “Home” was the highlight of the show.
I thought the song might go over the top when the drummers came on stage, but Phillips kept it restrained throughout, leaving the audience wanting more. Randy Jackson noted that the song reminded him of Mumford & Sons, and I can see the connection too. It is not surprising that the writer of “Home,” Drew Pearson, is a fan of Mumford & Sons. Pearson originally wrote the song for British singer Greg Holden, but Pearson’s publisher submitted it to American Idol for consideration, and Jimmy Iovine loved the song.
Recently, Pearson participated in Phillips’ recording of “Home.” Win or lose tonight, it looks like we will be hearing a lot more of Phillip Phillips.
Woody Guthrie’s song about the outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd begins with a story of Floyd getting into a fight. Floyd gets upset that a deputy used vulgar language in front of Floyd’s wife. After Floyd “laid that deputy down,” he fled to the country where every crime was blamed on him. But Guthrie did not write the song to sing about an unfortunate event. He wrote it as a critique of society, not of a man.
The Underlying Subject of “Pretty Boy Floyd”
The key part of the song regarding Guthrie’s message is near the end. Guthrie tells how Floyd helped strangers and gave money to struggling farmers.
The final verses are the most cutting and still relevant today in light of the worldwide financial problems and concerns raised by people such as within Occupy Wall Street. And the song’s final verse sums up much of Guthrie’s philosophy and his work.
But as through your life you travel, Yes, as through your life you roam, You won’t never see an outlaw Drive a family from their home.
As Woody’s son Arlo Guthrie sings in this performance of his father’s song, “Some will rob you with a six gun / And some with a fountain pen.”
At another time, Woody Guthrie explained, “[Y]ou know — a policeman will jest stand there an let a banker rob a farmer, or a finance man rob a workin’ man. But if a farmer robs a banker — you would have a hole dern army of cops out a shooting at him. Robbery is a chapter in etiquette.” (Joe Klein, Woody Guthrie: A Life, p. 128)
Guthrie wrote “Pretty Boy Floyd” in March 1939, and many consider it among his finest songs. While it is not covered as often as some of Guthrie’s other songs, “Pretty Boy Floyd” has been played by Roger McGuinn, Kinky Friedman, Melanie (Safka), and others.
The Real Pretty Boy Floyd
When Guthrie wrote “Pretty Boy Floyd,” only five years had passed since Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd had died. The real Floyd was born on February 3, 1904. And he was first arrested at the age of 18 for stealing money from a post office.
FLoyd later graduated to bigger crimes in several states. He earned his nickname from the way a bank robbery witness described him. Although Floyd committed a number of crimes, Guthrie’s song correctly notes that Floyd probably was blamed for more than he did, including killings during a 1933 gunfight that became known as the “Kansas City Massacre.”
On October 22, 1934, as law enforcement officers pursued Floyd, he was killed in an apple orchard near East Liverpool, Ohio. Approximately 20,000 to 40,000 people attended Floyd’s funeral in Oklahoma.
Like all great folk songs, “Pretty Boy Floyd” has lived on as more than just a story about one person. And that is why we are celebrating Woody Guthrie.
{Woody at 100 is our continuing series celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Woody Guthrie in 1912. Check out our other posts on Guthrie too. }
What do you think of “Pretty Boy Floyd”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Another giant of the disco era has passed away. Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees died today of colorectal cancer at the age of 62. Barry is the only surviving Bee Gee, as their brother Maurice died in 2003.
A standout Bee Gees track is “I Started a Joke,” which was mainly written by Robin, who also sings lead on the song. The song was released in September 1968 on the album Idea. According to Wikipedia, some think the song is about the devil, but the more common interpretation is that the song is sung by someone who did something wrong and regrets it. In the video below of a performance at Festival Hall, a young Robin sings the song. RIP.
What is your favorite Bee Gees song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Musician Doc Watson passed away on May 29, 2012 at the age of 89 following complications from abdominal surgery. Watson, who went blind at the age of one, influenced many musicians with his flatpicking style of playing the guitar.
