When died in 1967, he left behind an enormous cache of unpublished lyrics and prose, which has resulted in an exceptionally rich posthumous career. , who should know, has written of Guthrie: "He was so poetic and tough and rhythmic. There was so much intensity, and his voice was like a stiletto." Though I probably shouldn't admit it, I rarely listen to Woody Guthrie for pleasure. I'd rather hear Dylan sing Guthrie's songs — or, as it turns out, a lot of other people.
Note of Hope: A Celebration of Woody Guthrie is the culmination of a 13-year dream for bassist and Woody's daughter, Nora Guthrie. If you don't recall a Woody song called "Wild Card in the Hole," that's because jazz singer wrote the music for a lyric Nora chose for her. Note of Hope is the sixth album based entirely on writing that came to light after Guthrie's death, including two by & , two by and one by .
These posthumous collaborations have no parallel in my experience. For more than a decade, they've been where I've gone when I felt like communing with the spirit of Woody Guthrie. I still play every one, and now Rob Wasserman has given me another. Wasserman is more than comfortable backing 's sprechgesang, 's rapping, and three spoken-word prose tracks by , and the late Studs Terkel.
Most of Note of Hope's guests are left-identified, but the texts they interpret aren't very ideological — Guthrie's playfulness, sexuality and inquisitive mind are front and center. And, though rhythm does predominate, 's 15-minute finale is an unrelentingly strophic meditation on the night he met his wife Marjorie. Some may call it overlong. I'm not even a Jackson Browne fan, but I must say it is hypnotic.
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