These Six Strings Neutralize The Tools Of Oppression
Folkways
Number 05351
Recorded
September and October 1976 in Charlotte, NC on the commission and instructions of
Moe Asch. Thirteen songs, words & music
by Gary Green.
Released
January 1977 in New York.
Instruments
and vocals by Gary Green; no overdubs. Steel string guitar is a Kay Jumbo
Western model circa 1970 with Black Diamond medium gauge (bluegrass) strings. Nylon string
guitar is a handmade Brazilian Giannini concert size with Albert Augustine SP
silver strings. Gary also plays a
Horner "E" harmonica on one cut and a kazoo on another. Gary had not
yet begun using special tunings, so all guitars are standard, though he liberally
used a Jim Dunlop capo on both instruments.
Tracks and descriptions follow. Sample sound files of each track
is available from the Smithsonian's web site. CLICK HERE>>
| Side one track one |
There Ain't No
Easy Way |
This
song was written after Gary hitchhiked to New York from Charlotte North
Carolina and
experienced the despair on the streets of the world's largest city. Gordon
Friesen called this the best of the New York City folk songs of the
1960s-70s folk era. (steel string & vocal) |
| Side one track two |
The Murder
of Ella May Wiggins |
The true story
of the unsung heroine of America's bloodiest textile strike, this song
helped force the AFL-CIO to erect a monument in Gastonia, NC to the leader
of the strike. (steel string & vocal) |
| Side one track three |
Down the Road
and Over The Hill |
A Guthrie-esque
song about frustration of NC textile workers wanting to escape the mill
floor. (steel string & vocal) |
| Side one track four |
Oven Fork Mining
Disaster-1976 |
Written in
outrage over a 1976 cave-in of a Kentucky coal mine in a 1930s-style
disaster, the song is an Ochs-like newspaper story put to traditional
music. (steel string & vocal) |
| Side one track five |
Little Mark
Dupree |
Another
newspaper story from 1976, about a racist
NC murder and an even more racist jury; but also about some backwards white
southern attitudes in general. (steel string & vocal) |
| Side one track six |
The CIA Song |
A ragtime assault
on the CIA's 1960s and 1970s illegal activities, inspired by CIA-drive
coup in Chile. This song became a
favorite of listeners to the nationally syndicated Great Atlantic Radio
Conspiracy program. (steel string, kazoo & vocal) |
| Side two track one |
The Cowboy |
One of the
finest Brooklyn cowboy laments ever, this song was written about 3am in a
Brooklyn NY commune and is about Gary's own displacement in the city.
(nylon string & vocal) |
| Side two track two |
You're Just As Guilty |
A lyrical
attack on apathy with a chilling finger-pointing; written in late 1969. (steel string &
vocal) |
| Side two track three |
I Wore His Gun |
One of Gary's
very few non-topical and non-political-protest songs of the era. This is a
western ballad, pure and simple. (nylon string & vocal) |
| Side two track four |
The Ballad of Broadside |
A much-ignored tribute to
Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen (who four months later would take Gary
into their home) and their struggle to keep political music heard by the
masses. Friends of the couple strongly disliked the song. (steel string & vocal) |
| Side two track five |
America's Child |
Another rare
non-topical song, this is a very "hippy on the road" angst poem about
being your than 21-years in a world where a young man could be
drafted and taught to kill at 18 but could not drink or vote until he was
21. There has been much debate over the years as to whether this song was
autobiographical or was written about Gary's brother Ron. It was still
popular on college campuses well into the 1990s. (steel string &
vocal) |
| Side two track six |
Dear Mister Kelly at the FBI |
Gary had been
working as a Police Reporter at a newspaper in Gastonia North Carolina
(the scene of the murder of Ella May Wiggins) when the local chief of
police told Gary that he knew the contents of mail Gary had received
from Cuba. The chief went on to give Gary a brief recap of political
rallies and demonstration the folksinger/journalist had participated in.
During the next few months Gary and the newspaper where he worked
attempted to exercise the Freedom of Information Act and obtain
copies of files which the chief said the FBI had given to him. During the
first three attempts the FBI refused to release documents, citing a danger
to national security if they did.
In response Gary wrote this song about FBI director Clarence Kelly. Gary
also mailed Kelly a copy of the song, Gary's Folkways Records contract,
and a bitter protest letter. Ten days later Kelly ordered the files
released...with dozens of cut-out words, names, dates, and locations
edited from each page like a prison censorship. Gary, of course, added
that to the song.
A very sing-song and not a particularly powerful song, these lyrics had
the impact of swaying the FBI director and propelling the song to
pop-airplay in Europe in 1977. It was, briefly, the number one pop hit in
Sweden in 1977. (steel string, harmonica, & vocal) |
| Side two track seven |
The Hammer |
This is one of the most powerful
labor anthems ever written. It praises organized labor and at the same
time defines the nature of wage-labor and threatens revolution. The song
was especially well-received by more 500,000 union workers in 1981 at the
Solidarity Day demonstration in Washington DC where Gary sand to his
largest audience ever. Not many performers have played for an audience
of a half-million. (steel string & vocal) |
