Hard travelin'; Bad men of the Depression

It. Brings you a series dedicated to the American people as a symbol of the spirit that organized the dunes and the beauties of this era. So it's a picture of his music and his hard drive. In the spring of 1940 Alan Lomax recorded a series of conversations with

Woody talking about what his childhood his music his travels and drawing a general picture of the Dust Bowl and the depression. One of the talks turned to Pretty Boy Floyd according to Woody the banks for some strange reason kept going broke in the 30s. If one were to walk in the wrong door or sneeze out the wrong window the bank would go broke. The government stepped in and told the banks to ease off when the going broke business. What he said that at that point the banks decided that if they couldn't go broke they would be robbed. Reports came in from all over the state of bank robberies all committed by Pretty Boy Floyd banks three and four hundred miles apart were robbed at the same time by the same man. ON THE MAN Pretty Boy Floyd it became a standing joke in the countryside what he thought of or Floyd was a sort of natured man the way I hear it sort of smiling easy going man but then he did have something in his system of thought back. And but that very seldom

come out is generally pretty good natured and it was a nice looking man. He weighed about one hundred eighty five or 90 pounds and was built up nice and so I just got called inverted going up nicely because he was a sissy or anything like Advil just got their big name on account of his looks and his actions and the story that I heard was that his outlaw career started in the little town the Shawnee Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon when he come into town and it is horses at the hitching rack it had his laugh this I do all the spraying seat of the buckboard wagon and they had made a new rule in some sport a boy had been in the town the week before about time your horses and their automobiles get bored if they get down there and so. It was a dead to sure come out and proceeded to vote for the boy for time his team up there and

his language wasn't quite suited to the occasion and their sort of boy's temper just got away with in their own Urd in the presence of his wife. That's one thing that Oklahoma and Texas all that govern a country is pretty strict about is the language you use in the presence of the women unless the person really are friendly or someone gets there when it comes to the certain tone of voice. You better smile or duck so they have to said it and he didn't smile and he didn't. And pretty boy grabbed low chain out of the wagon and he was in there but he went first gun at the same time. They had quite a fist fight but Aufidius and David lost. That was Joan Baez singing Pretty Boy Floyd while traveling with his

friend will gear when he found himself in Indiana when a graveyard buried out there. Graveyard Forest Lawn or something like that and it's true. There's a great big here at the cemetery on top of the hill and the baker's at the bottom here where the path is wide and straight to the grave. But pretty boy. Well I lived in those are the red ones and what is life however were more than often all too real. Here is will again reading from some of what he's writing. Followed by Woody. I got a few little jobs helping a lot our whale drill air hole and figs irrigate and strawberries in the sandy land lay in roofs hustlin sign jobs with a painter I pilot they all oil towns and found myself as far west as Hobbs New Mexico. I learned how to play guitar a few of the easy Corrigan was making saloons like a preacher changing from street corner to street corner.

I hit Tampa in the panhandle of Texas and stuck there a while and the Death Star began blowing blacker and meaner and the rain was getting lashed in the dust more and more. I made up a little song that went thirty seven was a dusty year and I said Woman I'm leavin here and on one darkened Desta day I pulled out down the road it led to California a citizens groups deputies mean harness bulls and vigilantes. Have you. Been in here. Here is

where I live it. Down in the engine and out in the rain was stormy and warm. Come along and we give him a little.

Work in. Man you man. Oh. Brother and sister.

From the time I heard that. It was an underground life in the hard dark one it was riding freight trains in all weathers with all kinds of people. It was the cruelty of the railroad poles and the occasional thoughtfulness of a fellow hobo. In our next program. We'll take a look at the songs what he wrote on the stack of bands that he case. You have been listening too hard travelling series devoted to the life

and music of Woody Guthrie written and directed by Judith Adams. Produced by Joe de walked May 4th communications center the University of Texas at Austin. This says ne You are the national educational radio network.