Occupy Wall Street - The Unwelcome guest

OK - so we can't avoid this anywhere anymore.   Occcupy Wall Street.   It's a healthy reminder that we live in a free country!   Note - my political views are irrelevant here, as this blog is about the music.

This hooply reminds me of my first protest back at UB (University of Buffalo) during the dark days of September 71 - remeber the Attica Riots.   A lot of people marched around campus.   We had better villians back then - Rocky, Tricky Dick, and J Edgar.......    But then UB was a pretty radical place, and had been through the student uprising just a year earlier so it was easy to get swept up in the movment.  But the music - oh we had one hell of a soundtrack to it all - who can forget Country Joe ....but that's for another blog.

What has all this got to do with music?    Well it has a lot.   There is no soundtrack this time.   The movements are calling out for songs and songwriters and musicans to inspire and activate.   

So where have you gone Woody Guthrie?  No one to take your place.  Woody would be down there in the park holdin that guitar with the "this machine forces fascits to surrender" painted on it, writing and singin songs to inspire. 

Woody wrote some great stuff for a lot of good causes and does have a song that sure fits Occupy Wall Street - and has been playing in my head for a few weeks now - "The Unwelcome Guest"   He  never sang it though - he wrote it and it sat in a drawer for 40 years, till Norah Guthrie invited Billy Bragg to go through Woodys unfinished songs and have at it.  Billy grabbed Jeff Tweedy and Wilco and  they took the writings and put music to them togther put out a great CD "Mermaid Ave"  where you can find the song - or you can check it out right here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEnSO2apfG8