{"id":424,"date":"2015-03-02T23:56:12","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T05:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=424"},"modified":"2015-03-09T22:13:24","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T03:13:24","slug":"romanticizing-the-struggle-of-the-common-man-in-folk-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2015\/03\/02\/romanticizing-the-struggle-of-the-common-man-in-folk-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Romanticizing the Struggle of the Common Man in Folk Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

For black Americans in the 1930s and 40s, Jim Crow laws made it impossible to forget the color of their skin, even for celebrated musicians performing in upscale venues. \u00a0Lead Belly, discovered in a penitentiary, was no stranger to these racial prejudices. \u00a0In a trip to Washington DC in 1937 requested by Alan Lomax, Lead Belly wrote the song \u201cBourgeois Blues\u201d<\/a> in response to the unfair treatment he received.<\/p>\n

Me and my wife went all over town<\/em>
\nAnd everywhere we went people turned us down<\/em>
\nLord, in a bourgeois town<\/em>
\nIt’s a bourgeois town<\/em>
\nI got the bourgeois blues<\/em>
\nGonna spread the news all around \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

I tell all the colored folks to listen to me<\/em>
\nDon’t try to find you no home in Washington, DC<\/em>
\n‘Cause it’s a bourgeois town<\/em>
\nUhm, the bourgeois town<\/em>
\nI got the bourgeois blues<\/em>
\nGonna spread the news all around<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Prison<\/a>

Prison compound in Louisiana, Lead Belly in front.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although his life contained many of the hardships described in blues and folk songs, Lead Belly was never quite portrayed as a poor folksperson. \u00a0Instead, to gain the respect due his talent, he adopted a more professional persona, working extremely hard and finding passion in every aspect of life. \u00a0In an interview with PBS, Alan Lomax said that \u201che simply felt that he triumphed over everything\u201d \u00a0(PBS<\/a>). \u00a0In this, he left his early life in the penitentiary far behind.<\/p>\n

\"00660r\"<\/a>

Huddie Ledbetter and Martha Promise Ledbetter. Wilton, Conn., Feb. 1935.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Woody Guthrie, on the other hand, tried to embody the folky image, but never achieved it fully. \u00a0He became a spokesperson for the hardships of ordinary Americans but due to his popularity was never a common man himself. \u00a0And, as a white American, his persona never needed the sort of professionalism that Huddie Ledbetter needed to adopt.<\/p>\n

\"Woody<\/a>

Woody with his guitar.<\/p><\/div>\n

Alan Lomax, a champion of folk music and a believer in its romanticism, spent years recording both Ledbetter and Guthrie\u00a0and championing their cause as remnants of true American voices. \u00a0Many Americans who listened to folk music idealized the singers as tortured souls moaning out their troubles. \u00a0But while Lead Belly and Guthrie experienced the sorrows of racial prejudice, the Great Depression, and dustbowl-era America, neither one completely represented the hardworking common man so heavily lauded in the work of the Lomaxes. \u00a0Their fame and status as alternative folk heroes lifted them way beyond the label of common man. \u00a0Instead the common man remains in his dusty home, toiling his hours away and singing folk songs to bring up his spirits.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

Lomax, Alan. \u00a0[Prison compound no. 1, Angola, Louisiana. Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter) in the foreground]. \u00a0Photograph. \u00a0Louisiana, 1934. \u00a0From Library of Congress:\u00a0The Lomax Collection<\/em>. \u00a0http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/collection\/lomax\/item\/2007660073\/<\/p>\n

Lomax, Alan. \u00a0Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) and Martha Promise Ledbetter, Wilton, Conn. \u00a0Photograph. \u00a0Connecticut, 1935. \u00a0From Library of Congress:\u00a0The Lomax Collection<\/em>. \u00a0http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/collection\/lomax\/item\/2007660385\/<\/p>\n

Aumuller, Al. \u00a0[Woody Guthrie, half-length portrait, facing slightly left, holding guitar]. \u00a01943. \u00a0From Library of Congress:\u00a0Prints and Photographs Division. \u00a0<\/em>http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/item\/95503348<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For black Americans in the 1930s and 40s, Jim Crow laws made it impossible to forget the color of their skin, even for celebrated musicians performing in upscale venues. \u00a0Lead Belly, discovered in a penitentiary, was no stranger to these … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":773,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[119,121,115,120,122,52,32,55],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alan-lomax","tag-dustbowl","tag-folk","tag-great-depression","tag-huddie-ledbetter","tag-lead-belly","tag-library-of-congress","tag-woody-guthrie"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jEhR-6Q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/773"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":450,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}