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Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (/ˈɡʌθri/; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and musician whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This machine kills fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land". Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Jay Farrar, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, Bob Childers and Tom Paxton have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence.
Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression when he traveled with displaced farmers from Oklahoma to California and learned their traditional folk and blues songs, earning him the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour". Throughout his life Guthrie was associated with United States Communist groups, though he was seemingly not a member of any.
"Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," is a 20th-century American folk standard, written in 3/4 time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1933.
The lyrics tell of the singer's troubled past with his love, Irene, and express his sadness and frustration. Several verses make explicit references to suicidal fantasies, most famously in the line "sometimes I take a great notion to jump in the river and drown," which was the inspiration for the 1964 Ken Kesey novel Sometimes a Great Notion and a song of the same name from John Mellencamp's 1989 album, Big Daddy, itself strongly informed by traditional American folk music.
The specific origins of "Irene" are unclear. Lead Belly was singing a version of the song from as early as 1908, which he claimed to have learned from his uncles Terell and Bob. An 1892 song by Gussie L. Davis has several lyrical and structural similarities to the latter song; a copy of the sheet music is available from the Library of Congress. Some evidence suggests the 1892 song was itself based on an even earlier song which has not survived. Regardless of where he first heard it, by the 1930s Lead Belly had made the song his own, modifying the rhythm and rewriting most of the verses.
The Balham Alligators were a band from London that mixed rock 'n' roll, cajun, country and R&B. The band centred on singer and instrumentalist Geraint Watkins.
The band came together by chance at a London pub in 1983. The original line-up consisted of Geraint Watkins, Robin McKidd, Kieran O'Connor, Arthur Kitchener, and Gary Rickard. The Alligators played a hybrid blend of musical styles, including Rock 'n' Roll', Blues, R&B, Celtic Folk, Swamp-Pop, Country, Swing, Cajun & Zydeco.
The Balham Alligators performed in venues around Europe. Early albums included The Balham Alligators and Life In A Bus Lane. The pressure of constant touring began to take its toll with the continued ill-health and eventual death of Kieran O'Connor (d. 1991), the departure of Kitchener and Ron Kavana, and despite the recruitment of Pete Dennis to replace Kitchener convinced the remaining members it was time to call it a day.
The following years were spent pursuing individual projects with Watkins and Rickard working with Charlie Hart as, Rickard, Watkins & Hart, with Watkins eventually leading his own outfit, The Wobblers, in 1992. Robin McKidd formed The Companions of The Rosy Hours a western-swing band. Despite the four years since the original band's demise, McKidd was still receiving offers of work for the Alligators, persuading Watkins and Rickard to try out a few gigs with The Wobblers as a backing band, it became apparent that the Alligators were still a viable concern. Bolstered with morale and momentum they recruited session musician, Bobby Irwin on drums and ex-Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers' bass guitarist Paul Riley and by the latter half of 1995 they recorded Gateway To The South (1996) and followed by Cajun Dance Party (1997).
'Long about nineteen thirty-one,
My field boiled up in the boiling sun.
'Long about nineteen thirty-two,
Dust did rise and the dust it blew.
'Long about nineteen thirty-three,
Livin' in the dust was a killin' me.
'Long about nineteen thirty-four,
Dangburn dust it blew some more.
'Long about nineteen thirty-five,
Blowed my crops about nine miles high.
'Long about nineteen thirty-six,
Me and my wife in a devil of a fix.
'Long about nineteen thirty-nine
We fanned our tails for that Orgegon line.
We got a hold of a piece of land,
Thirteen miles from the Coulee dam.
Coulee dam is a sight to see,
Makes this e-lec-a-tric-i-tee
'Lectric lights is mighty fine,
If you're hooked on to the power line
There just ain't no country extra fine.
If you're just a mile from the end o' the line.
Milk my cows and turn my stone,
Till them Grand Coullee boys come along.
My eyes are crossed, my back's in a cramp,
Tryin' to read my bible by my coal-oil lamp.
No, there ain't no country worth a dime,