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Woodyboye
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Woodyboye: Songs of Woody Guthrie (and Tales Worth Telling), Volume 2 expands Woodeye’s achievements by shifting the balance of Guthrie originals to include four songs combining Woody’s lyrics and Joel’s melodies amongst its eleven Guthrie-penned tracks, plus another Woody-esque Rafael original. The new CD is indeed full of tales worth telling to a 21st Century audience, about political martyrs Sacco and Vanzetti (“Two Good Men”), the Dust Bowl disenfranchised (“Heaven My Home”), and Guthrie-like cross-country ramblers driven by compulsion or circumstance (“Stepstone,” “Ramblin’ Reckless Hobo”). Strong women save the day in a pair of Wild West adventures (“Rangers Command,” “Circle of Truth”) and are courted in the playful “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key” (a Guthrie lyric with its tune added by England’s Billy Bragg, one of Woody’s international torchbearers). The eerie “Dance Around My Atom Fire,” one of the songs completed by Joel, is a temperate welcome to the nuclear age, with its potential for “brotherhood or a world of ashes.” Guthrie’s faith in God (“Your Sandal String”) and man’s potential (“Love Thyself” and “This Train is Bound for Glory,” the CD’s best-known song), adds extra dimensions to this complex man’s world view. Rafael’s one original composition, the heartbreaking “Sierra Blanca Massacre,” recounts a true-life 1987 tragedy involving undocumented Mexican immigrants, whose plight was the topic of several Guthrie songs.This spectrum of events and ideas is lovingly colored by the authenticity and empathy of Rafael’s trio (Joel on mature, unaffected vocals and guitar; daughter Jamaica Rafael on violin and harmony vocals and Carl Johnson on acoustic lead guitar and backing vocals), who are joined on various tracks by established solo artists Jackson Browne, Joel’s fellow Guthrie-phile Jimmy LaFave (who trades verses on “Stepstone” with Joel and Jackson), Woody’s son Arlo Guthrie, the Burns Sisters, and Jennifer Warnes on guest vocals. Van Dyke Parks, who penned the lyrics for Brian Wilson’s long-shelved but recently and triumphantly revived SMiLE CD, provides understated flavoring on piano and accordion. Other contributing musicians include Matt Cartsonis (banjo, mandola) who has performed with Warren Zevon, Warnes, and Parks, among others, and a rhythm section comprised of Mauricio Lewak, Jackson Browne’s drummer, and Will Landin, Jimmy LaFave’s bassist.Forged by Joel Rafael’s vision of keeping Woody Guthrie’s old songs alive and bringing unheard Guthrie lyrics to a new generation of listeners without artificial attempts at modernization, Woodyboye is a triumph of genuine and meaningful folk music by two of our country’s finest songwriters. Only $11.98 - Click here to buy now! |