WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson

Subject: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 29 Nov 10 - 05:12 PM

I came across a Jstor article called Woody Guthrie's Lost Song to Lincoln Vet Steve Nelson but the short piece of the article which you can read for free does not name the song. Does anyone know the title or even better the lyrics ?

This is the Steve Nelson referred to

HERE on Wikipedia

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 29 Nov 10 - 09:52 PM

It appears the song was written in 1953 and is called Antyfascist Steve and the lyrics exist in the Woody Guthrie Archives. Most likely there is no music to go with the words - click here to see an article from the Woody Guthrie website (written in 2001 by his daughter Nora) that has a little info about the song as well as the opening verse.

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 11:22 AM

Hi BrooklynJay that is a great result thanks. I have emailed Nora Guthrie at the Archive and asked her if she can give us any more information and the verses which follow on from the one which she put up on her site. I also asked if I could copy and paste her information here.

It was a double result for me because Nora gives a fascinating connection between Woody and Joe Strummer whose Clash song Spanish Bombs features in a Mudcat Perma thread which I am running to collect Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War HERE

Thanks

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 12:19 AM

After doing a little more digging, I found a link to an article that has more backstory and the entire lyrics to the song.

It's contained in a 35-page document in PDF format, and you will want to go to page 22. (Actually page 350 if you use the pagination within the document.)

Click here for the article.

If Adobe Acrobat Reader doesn't open automatically (like mine doesn't), you can right-click the link, save the target by downloading and then open it manually. Hopefully.

But the lyrics are there, seemingly in their entirety. No music, alas.

Jay

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 12:34 AM

I didn't realize - until just a few moments ago - that the article I linked to in my previous post is the exact same article Jstor printed the opening page from.

No matter. At least the full article and lyrics are available at the link provided above.

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 05:24 PM

Thank you BrooklynJay,
Using your link I went to the site but it comes up as a pay-to-view site like Jstor but more expensive. Fortunately,I have now been able to read the article which, as you say, contains all the lyrics but not the tune for Antyfascist Steve. I have had a reply from to my letter to Nora Guthrie - but from Tiffany Colannino, the Archivist at the Woody Guthrie Archives.I quote from her reply which unfortunately does not give me permission to post the lyrics here as you will see

"You are correct in noting that Woody Guthrie wrote a song about Steve Nelson; entitled "Antyfascist Steve," which is held in the Woody Guthrie Archives (Songs-1, Box-1, Folder-1). Guthrie wrote this lyric on September 18th, 1953 while living in Topanga Canyon in California. This lyric is housed in our collection of loose leaf songs, and does not contain any musical notation (as is the case with the majority of songs in the collection.)

Unfortunately, I am not able to send you a manuscript of this lyric for reproduction, as it remains unpublished. Any requests to reprint the lyric must be approved by the publisher, Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. I would; however, be able to provide you with a reference copy of the lyric for your personal research use only, provided you adhere to our Reference Agreement. Copies are only $1 per page, plus a $15 flat processing fee. Please let me know if you would like to request a reference copy of this document, and I will prepare the necessary Reference Agreements and other documents. I see that you have posted on mudcat a link to an article in which the lyric is reprinted; so perhaps the issue at this point is moot; however, I was unable to access the PDF to determine whether this lyric was complete, so I can not compare the data... "

I shall quote the relevent parts of Nora's Page later when I have time.

Thanks BrooklynJay

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 05:52 PM

The following is an extract about Woody Guthrie's song Antyfascist Steve from Nora's Page of the Official Woody Guthrie Website dated May 2001 and is reproduced with the permission of The Woody Guthrie Foundation. The full text of Nora Guthrie's web posting can be read at the link given above by Brooklyn Steve.

Peter Glazer's production "Pasiones-Songs of the Spanish Civil War"
followed the speakers. Jamie O'Reilly, Michael Smith and Katrina O'Reilly
once again moved me to tears. Peter also produced the show "Woody Guthrie, American Balladeer" which has been touring the country and Europe on and off now for over 15 years. Well, it had me wondering if Woody had ever written a song about the Spanish Civil War?

The next day, I found a song in the archives called "Antyfascist Steve" which was written September 18th, 1953 while in Topanga Canyon, CA. It begins:

"I guess tears run to my eyes
Day I kissed you that goodbye
Headin over t' Spain t' fight
On my New Yorky ship that nite.
I says if I can stop Franco now
Maybe I'll mess Hitler up somehow
My hundred comrades on my shipsdeck
Gonna let Wall Street know we tried."

Following six more verses it's signed, "to my friend Stevey".


Thanks to Tiffany Colannino,the Archivist at the Woody Guthrie Archives.

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 01:19 AM

Sorry for the problems with that site - I found the original link by doing a Google search for the phrases "Woody Guthrie" and "Antyfascist Steve," then right-clicking the link that came up in the search results. My Adobe Acrobat Reader doesn't function as a default reader (for some unknown reason) so I have to download PDF's then open them from the Adobe program. I had no problem doing this, and never knew the site in question was a pay site.

But just now, when I tried to do a test download from the link I posted above, it wouldn't work. Perhaps I made an error with the URL... I don't know.

Sorry for all the mix-up.

Subject: RE: WGuthrie song about BrigaderSteve Nelson
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 01:34 AM

Now, this is really strange - I tried to download it again after repeating my original Google search. But now, I get that other homepage that says I don't have access to the article and have to pay for it.

This is quite odd. When I first did the search, the link wouldn't open and my computer treated it like a PDF file. In other words, I could download the material, but I couldn't open it by "deafult." Now, I can't even do that.

Guess I just got lucky the other day.

Computers are definitely strange. At least, mine certainly is...