Title: Bound for Glory
Author: Woody Guthrie
Publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
Publication Year: 1968
Rating: A+
For years, I’ve been a Bob Dylan fan and fascinated by Dylan’s biggest inspiration, Woody Guthrie. Dylan biographers, and Dylan himself, often reference Guthrie’s autobiography Bound for Glory. With great pleasure I realized my local library had a copy.
I didn’t know what I was embarking on. The jacket of the book has a quote from the Springfield Republican that reads, “Reading Bound for Glory is an emotional experience far more stirring for some readers at least, than even the penetrating Grapes of Wrath.” Guthrie’s being compared to Steinbeck? Isn’t that sacrilegious? When I usually read obscure books like this, my expectations are low. Boy was I surprised – not only because this is a fantastic work, but also because it’s shocking this work is not more well known or celebrated among literary circles, music circles, or historical circles.
Guthrie’s vivid descriptions transplant the reader back to a time when poverty, grit, hard work and traveling were the norm in this country. He makes the gruff, rough underbelly of America during the early 20th century human and real. Along the way, the reader also becomes endeared to Guthrie, through his experiences and his mild manner. Guthrie walks the reader through the early years of his life, when his father started losing money, his mother started losing her mind, and the whole family lost his sister Claire in a kitchen fire. For most of the book, Guthrie focuses on the people of the times, the characters that make up our country's history and its greatness. It isn’t until later in the story that he talks about his love of music, and its ability to heal and reach people.
Two of my favorite scenes surrounding his music occur in California, the first in Los Angeles, the other in Redding, Calif. Woody Guthrie and his buddy Cisco are playing for a bar full of sailors in LA when one of the patrons starts acting up, ranting about wanting to kill Japanese. The man gets kicked out of the bar, but everyone hears a ruckus outside soon after. The man and his gang had broken the windows of the establishment next door, owned by Japanese. They were ready to tear the place apart, until Woody, Cisco and the rest of their group blocked the way in front of the bar. They began singing until a crowd formed and the mob was blocked; they eventually ran off.
Another scene takes place in the outskirts of Redding. Thousands of people – families, vagrants, all kinds – were waiting for work on a dam. They set up a community they called “the jungle” outside of town. Guthrie describes a scene when two little girls are singing in the camp, and how the music floated through the whole camp, calming everyone and putting them at ease. Everyone’s minds were resting because of the songs, the voices of the girls and the guitars. (That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?)
This story transcends time: the struggle, the camaraderie, the human kindness, and the universal joy of music that makes this country great. It’s a part of our history worth remembering.
