Day 87: March 28: Pretty Boy Floyd
"If you'll gather 'round me children, a story I will tell."
Woody Guthrie's tale about a Robin Hood type bank robber. Maybe he wasn't motivated the way Robin Hood was but he was at least given to generosity with his loot. Even with the moral, it's a good tune and pretty well known. Dylan has covered it, but James does a beautiful job with it here. This is an early concert- and this clip is a whole lot more than just this song. He opens with the Guthrie song but enjoy the whole thing if you're so inclined.
Woody Guthrie is one of the most important American songwriters in history. He most famously penned This Land is Your Land, a song often mistakenly viewed as flag-wavy and patriotic, mostly because people usually stop at the first verse. Woody though, was a voice for the disenfranchised, for the powerless, for the blue-collared, for the poor. Here's Leftover Salmon's tribute to Arlo's dad.
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