In a week that brought big news from Wilco about their forthcoming studio album's Nonesuch release, there's now more good news from the band: They're offering fans a new recording of Woody Guthrie's Depression Era song "Jolly Banker," on their site, with 100% of the suggested donation going to support the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives. Jeff Tweedy tells American Public Media's Marketplace how Guthrie's words, even seven decades later, still resonate, and how the band got to see an all-too-rare side of America while on the tour documented in their new concert film, Ashes of American Flags.
In a week that brought big news from Wilco about their forthcoming studio album's Nonesuch release—the announcement of its title (Wilco (the album)), track list, and release date (June 30)—there's now more good news from the band: They're offering fans a new recording of Woody Guthrie's Depression Era song "Jolly Banker," available through the band's site, wilcoworld.net, with 100% of the suggested donation ($2 for the common man, considerably more for the rare, still-thriving investment bankers among us) going directly to support the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives.
It was Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter and the head of the Archives, who asked Wilco to record the song, Jeff Tweedy tells American Public Media's Kai Ryssdal. In an interview for the show Marketplace, Jeff explains how Guthrie's words, even seven decades later, still resonate.
Wilco experienced some of what Guthrie did in his extensive travels, performing across the country all those years ago, on their 2008 tour, documented in the new concert film Ashes of American Flags, out this week on DVD. Tweedy says that he and the band saw, and hoped to document with the film, a side of America that has become all too rare, as seen in the treasured venues that have been able to maintain their unique, community-oriented character, in the face of an increasingly homogenized world.
You can listen to the interview and to both Guthrie and Wilco's recording of "Jolly Banker" at marketplace.publicradio.org. Download Wilco's version at wilcoworld.net.
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