Generations of talented American singers and songwriters paid tribute to American folk hero Woody Guthrie last night in a magnificent and heartwarming three hour concert at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio.
This was not your typical tribute show, with the disciples playing lovingly faithful versions of the master's standards. Instead, Bruce Springsteen, The Indigo Girls, Arlo Guthrie, Billy Bragg, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Ani DiFranco, Joe Ely, David Pirner and other stars blended their own music with Guthrie's classics, giving the show a crackling air if contemporary relevance.
Actor Tim Robbins acted as master of ceremonies, introducing each artist with Guthrie penned anecdotes and dramatic readings of his prose.
The show kicked off in decidedly untraditional fashion, courtesy of punk folk singer songwriter DiFranco, a fiercely independent artist who also was the youngest performer on the bill.
DiFranco opened with a haunting, almost whispering blues version of Guthrie's "Do Re Mi," replacing the original song's good natured sarcasm with quiet rage over the rich taking advantage of the poor.
She then teamed up with Emily Saliers and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls for a pair of her own songs, including an angry love song called "Out of Range" and a wickedly funny feminist ditty called "Not a Pretty Girl."
It was the younger generation that dominated the early part of the evening. British folk singer Billy Bragg opened his set with Guthrie's union organizing song, "Farmer Labor Train," sung to the tune of "The Wabash Cannonball." He then introduced two new songs he wrote to Guthrie lyrics discovered recently in the New York based Woody Guthrie Archives.
"The Unwelcomed Guest," was the marvelous tale of a Wester Robin Hood, who talks to his horse about the reasons he robs from the rich and gives to the poor. "Against the Law," which Bragg set to a shuffling rockabilly groove, was a classic Guthrie lyric in which he bemoans that everything - including breathing - seems to be illegal.
The Indigo Girls applied their tight harmonies on Guthrie's dancing "Gypsy Davy," then played several tight renditions of their own songs, including "This Train," a sliding guitar folk blues inspired by Guthrie's "This Train Is Bound For Glory."
Pirner, the lead vocalist and songwriter in the Minneapolis rock band Soul Asylum, led off his set with Guthrie's tribute to the noble outlaw, "Pretty Boy Floyd," then rocked his through a pair of his own story songs, including a hilarious twist of fate called "String of Pearls."
After a brief intermission, some of the older performers got a chance to pay their respects. Guthrie contemporary Ramblin' Jack Elliot stuck strictly to his hero's songbook, serving up faithful singing cowboy renditions of "Talking Dust Bowl" and "1913 Massacre."
Then it was Springsteen's turn. The superstar rocker has a new Guthriesque acoustic album called "The Ghost of Tom Joad," named after the main character in John Steinbeck's Depression era novel, "The Grapes of Wrath."
Springsteen opened his set with Guthrie's "Tom Joad," then teamed up with Texas singer songwriter Joe Ely on a rollicking version of "Going Down the Road (I Ain't Going To Treated This Way)." The pair was later joined by Guthrie's son Arlo for a romp around "Oklahoma Hills."
Springsteen, whose 40 minute set was the longest of the evening lightened the mood with a funny take on Guthrie's children's song, "Riding in My Car." He then offered a powerful rendition of "Deportee," a song about illegal immigrants as relevant today as it was when Guthrie wrote it in the 1930's. Springsteen capped his set with one of his own songs, the hopeful, optimistic "Across the Border."
It was Arlo Guthrie's job to warm the crowd up for the sing along encore. He did it by playing his father's "Dust Storm Disaster" and "My Daddy (Flies a Ship in the Sky)" and his own Dylanesque "When a Soldier Makes It Home" and "Doors in Heaven."
The encore featured the entire cast (including artists who had performed in Saturday night's Guthrie tribute concert at the Odeon) in rousing, sing along renditions of Guthrie's signature tune "Hard Travelin'."
Pete Seeger then came on stage to lead the crowd in singing Guthrie's favorite song, "Hobo's Lullabye." The evening ended, as you might expect, with everyone in Severance Hall singing Guthrie's most famous tune, "This Land is Your Land."
The evening was a fitting end to a wonderful 10 day tribute to Woody Guthrie sponsored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Woody Guthrie Archives.
It was wonderfully played and paced, full of the humor and compassion that made Guthrie so special.
written by Michael Norman; re-typed and submitted by Joe Mally