Woody Guthrie: performed by Will Kaufman

[Gayle]

WOODY GUTHRIE: HARD TIMES AND HARD TRAVELLIN’ - performed by Will Kaufman
Friday, 9th September, 2011
8pm - Tickets £5
Civic Arts Centre, 155 Union Road, Oswaldtwistle BB5 3HZ

This is a live documentary and an absolute must for any Woody Guthrie fans, that sets the songs of Woody Guthrie in the context of the American 1930s – the Dust Bowl, the Depression, the New Deal and the state of popular music itself. In the presentation, Will Kaufman brings such hard-hitting Guthrie songs as “Vigilante Man”, “Pretty Boy Floyd” and “I Ain’t Got No Home” into conversation with other relevant songs – from Joe Hill’s “The Preacher and the Slave” to “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”. These renditions, buttressed by detailed historical commentary, exemplify the blending of music and radical politics that marks Guthrie's most powerful and evocative work.

I must stress, it's not a tribute act but an insight into the man and his life.

Tickets available by visiting the Centre, or going online to www.ticketsource.co.uk/civicartscentre.

[Gayle]

As featured in the Guardian.

Taking Woody Guthrie's politics to the people | Zoë Corbyn | Education | guardian.co.uk

[cashman]

That sounds like a good un to me Gayle.

[Wynonie Harris]

I wonder if there had been a "live documentary" about an admirer of Adolf Hitler, if the Arts Centre would have been as prepared to show it? Funny then, that they should be featuring one about an admirer of Joseph Stalin.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

I wonder if there had been a "live documentary" about an admirer of Adolf Hitler, if the Arts Centre would have been as prepared to show it? Funny then, that they should be featuring one about an admirer of Joseph Stalin.

I'm not sure what you're getting at!!! As I've said many times before, all points of view are welcome at the Arts Centre.

And why not have a documentary about Stalin? It's history, it's informative, some people like Woody Guthrie's music. Just because it's bad history doesn't mean it has to be written out and not talked about. It's not glorifying things to talk about history, it's something to learn from.

And as it happens yes we did have stuff at the Civic about Hitler. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui was all about Adolf Hitler but it didn't exactly show him in a good light. So quite happy to have documentaries about Hitler. Plus, Hitler and Stalin are taught at school - should they not be?

[cashman]

shame yeh cant get tickets at accy town hall fer this, called in today fer some,will have to trail up ossy tomoz.

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by Gayle

And as it happens yes we did have stuff at the Civic about Hitler. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui was all about Adolf Hitler but it didn't exactly show him in a good light. So quite happy to have documentaries about Hitler. Plus, Hitler and Stalin are taught at school - should they not be?

Of course it doesn't show him in a good light and I would expect a presentation about a Hitler admirer would similarly not show the person in a good light. Will Kaufman's treatment of Guthrie seems to me to be generally sympathetic; I personally find it curious that anyone could have any regard for someone who was the admirer of a mass murderer.

[cashman]

well ive always been curious wyn.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

Of course it doesn't show him in a good light and I would expect a presentation about a Hitler admirer would similarly not show the person in a good light. Will Kaufman's treatment of Guthrie seems to me to be generally sympathetic; I personally find it curious that anyone could have any regard for someone who was the admirer of a mass murderer.

I think he's fascinated by him. Will Kaufman says himself that it shocks him.

'Guthrie, the book reveals, wasn't only a communist but an intensely pro-Stalin one. "Shocking to me was the extent and the longevity of his appreciation of Stalin, even after much of the American left had begun to distance themselves," says Kaufman.'


Also, if you read the article about Will Kaufman, it says that Woody Guthrie may have been pro-Stalin to start off with but completely changs his view. I quote this from the article in the Guardian.

'It was in California that Guthrie's eyes opened to his own racism, according to the book. It details a turning point in 1937, when Guthrie – after he had played the appallingly racist song Run, Nigger, Run on the air – received a "politely incandescent" letter from a young black college student.
Guthrie was so shaken by it, he read out the letter on the airwaves the next day, apologised profusely, ripped the song sheet to shreds and swore he would never use the N-word again. He went on to become one of the most committed civil rights activists of his generation.'

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by Gayle

Also, if you read the article about Will Kaufman, it says that Woody Guthrie may have been pro-Stalin to start off with but completely changs his view. I quote this from the article in the Guardian.

'It was in California that Guthrie's eyes opened to his own racism, according to the book. It details a turning point in 1937, when Guthrie – after he had played the appallingly racist song Run, Nigger, Run on the air – received a "politely incandescent" letter from a young black college student.
Guthrie was so shaken by it, he read out the letter on the airwaves the next day, apologised profusely, ripped the song sheet to shreds and swore he would never use the N-word again. He went on to become one of the most committed civil rights activists of his generation.'

What's that got to do with his hero worship of Stalin? He still carried on being blindly pro-Stalin after that. When Hitler and Stalin cosied up together, that was simply Stalin being pro-peace. Of course when Adolf turned on his beloved Stalin, he was all for going to war against the fascists. Pity he couldn't have been as supportive when Hitler declared war on us, but of course we were just imperialists to be thrown to the wolves. Then shortly afterwards, when Stalin cynically invaded Eastern Poland, why, he was just liberating the place! As he sang in one of his songs: "Stalin stepped in and gave the land back to the farmers."

In my eyes if you blindly support mass murderers, you're a plonker, whether you're Sir Oswald Mosley or Woody Guthrie, makes no difference.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

What's that got to do with his hero worship of Stalin? He still carried on being blindly pro-Stalin after that. When Hitler and Stalin cosied up together, that was simply Stalin being pro-peace. Of course when Adolf turned on his beloved Stalin, he was all for going to war against the fascists. Pity he couldn't have been as supportive when Hitler declared war on us, but of course we were just imperialists to be thrown to the wolves. Then shortly afterwards, when Stalin cynically invaded Eastern Poland, why, he was just liberating the place! As he sang in one of his songs: "Stalin stepped in and gave the land back to the farmers."

In my eyes if you blindly support mass murderers, you're a plonker, whether you're Sir Oswald Mosley or Woody Guthrie, makes no difference.

So you're not coming then?

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by Gayle

So you're not coming then?

Would love to, Gayle, but unfortunately I'm otherwise occupied that evening attending a presentation entitled "In Praise of Mao Tse Tung - the political songs of Rambling Sid Rumpo" at Heckmondwike Mechanics' Institute.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Gayle

So you're not coming then?

Me n the boss will be, getting tickets tomoz, can i ask ? how come yeh can't buy em at accy town hall gayle? bought fer 2 concerts last week n there up yon.

[cashman]

Got me tickets, looking forward to this un, Gayle showed me around the joint,looks good done up.

[cashman]

Well was a very interesting evening, Will Kaufman did a first class job.imho.