William J. (monk) Hadley Sr.

Adeline Lucarell

By MARY THERESE BIEBEL
marytb@leader.net
 Sunday, January 26, 2003 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1E 





Kids sing it in school and around campfires: ``This land is your land.
This land is my land. From California to the New York island. From the Redwood
forest to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It sounds like a feel-good anthem, full of pretty pictures. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But that's not quite what songwriter Woody Guthrie intended. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``It's an angry, sarcastic little song,'' playwright Tom Flannery of
Peckville says, citing subsequent verses that complain about people waiting in
relief lines while ``no trespassing'' signs deny them access to something
better. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Really, the only person that sings those verses now is (Guthrie's) son
Arlo. Even Springsteen sings the sanitized version.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Eager to reveal the true Woody - a prolific folk musician and champion of
the disadvantaged who saw more than his share of personal hardship - Flannery
crafted ``God and the Ghost of Woody Guthrie.'' The two-man play debuts Friday
at the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock, where the protagonist can't help
sounding off now and then. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The tragedies that have befallen Woody and his family are almost
Shakespearian. You couldn't make this stuff up,'' Flannery said, explaining
that Guthrie's mother was institutionalized and that his sister and, later,
his 3-year-old daughter both died in fires. The songwriter himself spent the
last years of his life battling Huntington's disease. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``It's one of the most horrifying diseases I know of. It basically rots
your brain. He had to be pissed ... How could you not question it? How could
you not ask, `Why me?''' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But throughout his life, Guthrie asked broader questions about society and
greed and the lack of social justice. His lyrics pointed to people who
deserved a better deal - sharecroppers obligated to turn most of their
earnings over to a banker, mining families sickened by sewage in the streets,
migrant workers who died in a deportation plane crash. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?'' Guthrie wrote. ``Is
this the best way we can grow our good fruit?'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``He sang these songs that were unflinchingly honest,'' Flannery said. ``He
was around when labor and management were going at it tooth and nail. He was
at the front line all the time, this little guy 5-foot-7, 135 pounds. He'd go
wherever people wanted him, and he was absolutely fearless in the face of
oppression.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In addition to more than 1,000 songs, Guthrie wrote books and magazine
articles and appeared on radio shows. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``It was a staggering physical output,'' Flannery said. ``Basically every
thought that ever went through his head went down on paper.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Not content to simply describe his Oklahoma birthplace as rough-and-tumble
or downhome, for example, Guthrie once wrote that ``Okemah was one of the
singiest, square dancingest, drinkingest, yellingest, preachingest,
walkingest, talkingest, laughingest, cryingest, shootingest, first
fightingest, bleedingest, gamblingest, gun, club and razor carryingest of our
ranch towns and farm towns because it blossomed out into one of our first Oil
Boom Towns.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Flannery, 35, became interested in Guthrie when he started playing the
guitar in his early 20s. ``Like most people, I became familiar with Woody
through (Bob) Dylan. If there had been no Woody Guthrie, there would be no
Dylan. Take Dylan out of the picture, and the music scene we know today would
be unrecognizable. That makes Woody Guthrie one of the most influential
musicians of the 20th century.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A major difference between the two famous folk artists, Flannery says, is
that Dylan eventually made a fortune and ``became a commodity'' while ``Woody
didn't give a damn about money.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Need proof that Guthrie wasn't materialistic? Here's a bit of archival
evidence that he published in a song book: ``This song is copyrighted ... for
a period of 28 years and anybody caught singin' it without our permission will
be mighty good friends of ourn, 'cause we don't give a dern. Publish it. Write
it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it. That's all we wanted to do.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To portray Guthrie both as a young man in his prime and as a ghost,
Flannery chose Jack Evans and Dorrance Daniels, both of Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I handpicked them. I know that their work is quality,'' said Flannery,
who is pleased that both actors have ``become Woody disciples'' as they
prepared for the play. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I've been a country music (rather than folk) lover since I was a kid,''
Daniels said. ``But I've really fallen in love with Woody Guthrie. He's quite
the character, really a piece of Americana.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Evans, who had once been ``almost wholly unfamiliar'' with Guthrie's work,
now finds it inspirational. ``The more I listened to it, the more I found the
heart and soul of it. It really gets into you.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A performer who plays guitar and sings his own original material at area
coffeehouses, Evans said it's a challenge to sing and play from Guthrie's
perspective. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Guthrie's voice, in addition to having an Oklahoma accent, ``is a little
readier. I've been listening to some interviews that we got from the Library
of Congress, listening to him talk and talking along with it to get the rhythm
and timbre.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Throughout the play, Evans estimates, he sings eight Guthrie songs. And,
here at least, there won't be any censorship of ``This Land is Your Land.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The verses people miss are the ones we'll be singing.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If you go &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 What: ``God and the Ghost of Woody Guthrie'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Where: Dietrich Theatre, 60 E. Tioga St., Tunkhannock &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When: 7:30 p.m. Friday with an opening night wine-and-cheese reception.
Subsequent performances 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 and Feb. 6. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tickets: $10 before Friday, $12 at the door. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Info: 996-1500 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Woody Sounds Off Frankness Of Woody Guthrie Comes Across In New Play