Woody Guthrie: a Life
Mike Carson
Joe Klein, could you open it up and look in there for a quote of Woody's
taken from a letter he sent to "Sing Out!" (I think) about the song
"Magic Ballot." He says that he didn't like the song and that he was
upset with "Sing Out!" for publishing a song like that.
If you could send me an email with the quote, I would be very happy.
Thanks,
Mike
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John Doe Newsletter
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Ada M. Prill
> Hi, if you happen to have the book entitled, "Woody Guthrie: A Life" by
> Joe Klein, could you open it up and look in there for a quote of Woody's
> taken from a letter he sent to "Sing Out!" (I think) about the song
> "Magic Ballot." He says that he didn't like the song and that he was
> upset with "Sing Out!" for publishing a song like that.
> If you could send me an email with the quote, I would be very happy.
> Thanks,
> Mike
Actually it was People's Songs.
The incident took place during the Wallace campaign of 1948. In Joe
Klein's book, on page 359, I found the following:
"...and even Alan Lomax was moved to descend from his lofty plateau of
virtuosity and compose (with E.Y. "Yip" Harburg) a truly dreadful number
called "I've Got a Ballot," to the tune of "I've Got Sixpence."...Later
[Woody] would write a letter to People's Songs criticizing the generally
sappy level of work during the campaign: 'How a man with such a long road
of sensible travels behind him, Alan Lomax, could expect such a shallow
jingly and insincere number as "I've Got a Ballot" to touch the
heartstrings and conscience of the hard-hit masses, is a problem beyond
me. I never did hear a living human being call his vote a "magic little
ballot." People I have seen call their vote a number of things, none of
which are nearly as cutiepie, as highly polite, as flippant, as sissy nor
effeminate as this song.'"