#325 - Pretty Boy Floyd (Then and Now)

Song - Pretty Boy Floyd
Artist - Woody Guthrie

Today is a pretty special ukudaily for me. When I was 12 I was in a production with my dad called "A Tribute to Woody Guthrie". While I had done plenty of theater by that time, it was like any production I had ever been in. Joseph, the director, had taken the time to find really amazing pieces of writing and music by Woody Guthrie. He arranged them all together to describe a side of Woody Guthrie I think only the hard core fans knew about. I was the youngest member of the cast, but he really made a place for me and helped me to feel very included in the production. One of the ways he did this was by giving me a piece to sing called Pretty Boy Floyd. My dad played the viola, bringing a perfect sense of sadness to the song while I charged my way through the 12 versus. At times it was terrifying, knowing that it was all on me to keep all those versus in my head, but it was an amazing challenge and changed me as a musician and a performer. After one performance a kind elderly woman said, "who was the young lady with the voice like Ethel Merman?" That comment was a real boost for me! I knew my voice wasn't conventionally pretty, but Ethel Merman had a functional and extremely powerful voice and that was good enough for me.

Joseph gave me this memory with my dad and a few weeks ago he offered to send me the dvds of the performance. I am so happy to get to view this experience in all it's awkward glory. So much awkward hair tucking and feet shuffling, I'm sure I'm doing everything I can not to pass out or barf and it shows, but hey I got through it. Here it is enjoy, and feel free to laugh!!




I thought I would give it another try 17 years later. I don't know all the words by heart anymore, but it's a hell of a lot less awkward!

#309 - Forsaken Lover

Song - Forsaken Lover
Artist - Woody Guthrie (as far as I know?)

This is another song we did from the Woody Guthrie tribute I was in with my dad when I was a kid. It's still one of my favorites from that show and I'm surprised it hasn't made it's way into this blog yet! I couldn't find chords for it, so I had to wing it. I couldn't find anyone else covering so the tune is just from memory, I'm hoping I got it right!

#273 - This Land is Your Land

Song - This Land is Your Land
Artist - Woody Guthrie

I totally forgot to post this last week! I hung out with the family last week and Carrie invited me along to sing with her class. When we were getting ready to record this, Carrie told them to sing nice and loud for the video, and boy did they!

Here is a bonus video of Lucy hating some apple sauce I made, but being very polite about it.

#260 - So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh

Song - Song Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh
Artist - Woody Guthrie

Another Woody song! This 3/4 rhythm was a real challenge for me today, not sure why!

#256 - Do Re Mi

Song - Do Re Mi
Artist - Woody Guthrie
Chord source - http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/w/woody_guthrie/do_re_mi_ver2_tab.htm

Happy late birthday Woody Guthrie!

Also, I feel like this song could easily be applied to Portland, ha!

#15 - Union Maid

Song - Union Maid
Artist - Woody Guthrie

I thought this might be an appropriate number, seeing as it's labor day and all. Yet another song that is just out of my range, so there are a few cracks in there which I find kind of amusing. This project has really made me realize the limitations in my range, but that's great because it will just make me work harder!

There was a verse for this song that was later written other members of the pro union group Guthrie was associated with (The Almanac Singers). I had never heard it before and though it might have been appropriate for the time, I thought it went against Guthrie's "go get em' girls!" attitude. Here is the final verse:

You gals who want to be free, just take a tip from me;
Get you a man who's a union man and join the ladies' auxiliary.
Married life ain't hard when you got a union card,
A union man has a happy life when he's got a union wife.

I don't know, I wasn't super into it, but to each their own!

Finally, this song really makes me think of my former employees of Dosha Salon and Spa that organized themselves and unionized. As far as I know, this is the first unionized spa in the nation. I am so proud to call these people friends and former co-workers. They are smart, strong and by standing up for what they believe are carving a new path for all people in the salon and spa industry. Thank you so much for your hard work and determination.

#5 - I'm Gonna Mail Myself to You

Song - I'm Gonna Mail Myself to You
Artist - Woody Gurthie

I spent last night with my folks out near the coast where it is SO much cooler than in Portland! My mom gave my dad and me a song book called Rise Up Singing, which lead to us playing music for about 3 hours. It was really wonderful and a great opportunity to "jam" with my dad who is so knowledgeable about music, instruments, and all things interesting about old songs.

We first learned this song (me on the auto-harp and I think my dad on the mandolin) when I was around 13 and we were a production called "A Tribute to Woody Guthrie". It was a lot of fun that we both remembered it and could play it on some new instruments.