For this segment we’re reaching into history here and there. I like a bluegrass sound now and then, and that takes us right to the root of country music. This is going to be a mix of the real old stuff, and songs that imitate the real old stuff. Country has a certain political reputation, which colors many peoples’ surface level perceptions of it. If you think of country music as strictly a conservative genre, you might be surprised at some of the places its roots touch down. Political struggle is at the heart of this segment. I would bet most people reading this have encountered the phrase “This Machine Kills Fascists” at least once. That phrase originated pasted onto Woody Guthrie’s guitar sometime in the early 40s. The man himself starts us out at the top.
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Tear the Fascist Down by Woody Guthrie
WOW, this song is a history lesson. It was written toward the end of World War Two, and you can hear it still happening in the background. Paris is still occupied. Russia is cited as an ally. I hate that the subject is still relevant, but I would love to hear a modern update of this song. There’s a lot of material out there for it.
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This is in here because it is an interesting piece of history. Fox Chase is a brief instrumental, interspersed with vocalizations. It is also some of the most technical harmonica that has ever been played. So is Pan American Blues. Bailey’s go to trick was to take the sounds of his day to day life and recreate it in music, essentially painting by sight with a harmonica. It’s actually incredible. Pan American Blues, you instantly recognize what is up. Fox Chase takes a second to place, but it is essentially the soundtrack of him yelling to his dogs, who are wigging the fuck out because another animal is in their yard.
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DeFord “Harmonica Wizard” Bailey was a master of the instrument. He was one of The Grand Ole Opry’s first ever performers, way back in 1925. zYou also can’t understate how badly DeFord Bailey got screwed despite being an original headliner of the Opry. His career was hampered by living under Jim Crow, and eventually derailed by a broadcasting conflict over royalties. This is a guy who had to find different accommodations than the white performers he was traveling with on tour because the hotels they booked wouldn’t let him in. He deserved better.
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Rocky Top by the Osborne Brothers
This bluegrass classic from 1967 is just catchy as all hell. The upbeat, twangy sound almost completely disguises the fact that a multiple murder is happening in the background of the first verse. Very much the classic bluegrass sound.
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Sixteen Tons by Merle Travis (and later Johnny Cash)
You’ve heard this one but didn’t know what it was called. The line you’ve heard goes “St. Peter, don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store.” This is like THE bluegrass song about labor rights, which is impressive for a genre that is frequently about labor rights. These two versions have very different sounds, but both are excellent. Cash’s cover modernized the song, but Travis’s original just simply does not die. Amazon wishes this song was about them.
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You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive by Darrell Scott (and later Patty Loveless)
The Patty Loveless cover from 2001 gets a link, because that’s the one most people know. Darrell Scott was the original writer though, and his version is the one I prefer. Scott actually wrote a good few songs that are better known for their covers, including Long Time Gone and Heartbreak Town, covered by The Chicks and It’s A Great Day To Be Alive covered by Travis Tritt. . He also seemingly had something to do with the song Daddy’s Lessons by Beyonce, but I can’t quite confirm the timeline there. No link because that song gets its own entry later.
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You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive is another bluegrass song about labor. It is the actual story of Scott’s family, and was inspired by a trip he took with his father to investigate the life of his great grandfather
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I Hear Them All by Old Crow Medicine Show
This one is a modern offering, released in 2006. It has a very classic sound and covers a lot of ground in the era that it came from. Even if you don’t listen to this one, the lyrics are worth a look just for their value as political poetry from that particular moment in history.
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St James by The Devil Makes Three (but Cab Calloway first)
This is a cover of an American folk song of multiply disputed origin. I can’t confirm that it’s about a tuberculosis sanatorium, but it sure sounds like it is. This is the cover you’re getting because I really enjoy The Devil Makes Three, and their version rocks. However, probably the best known version of the song was sung by Cab Calloway for a 1932 episode of Betty Boop called Minnie the Moocher. The episode is infamous for being one of the most bizarrely unsettling cartoons ever made. The movements of the ghost voiced by Calloway are drawn directly from the performer’s distinctive dancing style, which is also shown briefly in the clip.
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I Am A Man of Constant Sorry by Soggy Bottom Boys
I, like most people, was introduced to this song through the OST of O Brother, Where Art Thou? However, the song dates back to at least 1913, titled “Farewell Song” by Dick Burnett and retitled in 1928 by Emry Arthur. As one might imagine, I had difficulty tracking down a recording by Dick Burnett, who was born in 1883, so I will offer this version by a 22 year old Bob Dylan instead. Gotta be real, the rest of the O Brother Where Art Though soundtrack is also awesome. I feel like I probably lose some credibility with “real” fans for that one, but it is the absolute truth.
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Betsy Lee’s Arrangement of Wayfaring Stranger
Wayfaring Stranger is itself an old song, as is Ain’t No Grave, which this arrangement is harmonized with. Both songs have been covered numerous times, including by Johnny Cash and other artists whose names that appear more than a few times on this list. This version was arranged for a web series called No Evil, which Lee also produces. The song itself is mournful, and usually feels a little world weary when performed well. Lee’s version ups the ante, blurring the line between this world and That Fair Land To Which I Go, with minimal instrumentation and a fascinating mix of layered vocals.
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NEXT TIME: Part three is titled “Women Going Apeshitt (sic), which you already know is going to be wall to wall bangers. Find it HERE.
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