Woody, Cisco, and Me: Seamen Three in the Merchant Marine (Music in American Life) [Hardcover]

Jim Longhi (Author)

Book Description

Series: Music in American Life | Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Attorney and playwright Longhi recalls his three voyages as a merchant marine during World War II in the company of folk music legends Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston. Despite some occasionally stilted dialog, Longhi's fast-paced memoir reads like a novel as the "seamen three" survive rough storms, crooked gamblers, and two torpedo attacks. Of the vivid cast of characters, the irrepressible Guthrie is the most compelling, though he sometimes drifts to the background as Longhi relates his own often hilarious exploits as ship's baker and chairman of the crew's union. (For a solid Guthrie biography, see Joe Klein's Woody Guthrie, LJ 10/15/80, still available in paperback.) Still, Guthrie's folksy persona looms above all others. With Guthrie and Houston long since dead, it is left to Longhi to tell stories that have only been hinted at in previous Guthrie biographies. Highly recommended.?Lloyd Jansen, Stockton- San Joaquin Cty. P.L

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Attorney and playwright Longhi recalls his three voyages as a merchant marine during World War II in the company of folk music legends Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston. Despite some occasionally stilted dialog, Longhi's fast-paced memoir reads like a novel as the "seamen three" survive rough storms, crooked gamblers, and two torpedo attacks. Of the vivid cast of characters, the irrepressible Guthrie is the most compelling, though he sometimes drifts to the background as Longhi relates his own often hilarious exploits as ship's baker and chairman of the crew's union. (For a solid Guthrie biography, see Joe Klein's Woody Guthrie, LJ 10/15/80, still available in paperback.) Still, Guthrie's folksy persona looms above all others. With Guthrie and Houston long since dead, it is left to Longhi to tell stories that have only been hinted at in previous Guthrie biographies. Highly recommended.?Lloyd Jansen, Stockton- San Joaquin Cty. P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Attorney and reluctant sailor Longhi relates the World War II experiences of a couple of his shipmates, folksingers Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston. Committed champions of the underdog and social justice, Woody and Cisco wanted to fight fascism, but the army would take neither--Cisco because of poor eyesight and Woody for a panoply of reasons. The merchant marine, however, badly needed to man its "hastily welded ships . . . fighting their way across the North Atlantic" to supply the Allied war effort. Like many others, Longhi had a fussin' and fightin' time of it with Woody, whose ability to attract trouble and create bizarre situations ensured Cisco and Longhi rousing adventure in spite of the boredom of shipboard routine. Somewhat lacking in the womanizing and hard drinking one has come to expect in any Guthrie bio, complete or episodic, Longhi's chronicle of Woody's service years is far more fleshed out than any previous accounts of the period and very enjoyable. Mike Tribby

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252022769
• ISBN-13: 978-0252022760
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, July 2, 1998

By 

Jazzluver (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Woody, Cisco, and Me: Seamen Three in the Merchant Marine (Music in American Life) (Hardcover)

This is a terrific tale of friendship, heroism and the power of a magnetic personality. While there have been numerous attempts to paint the definitive portrait of Woody, none have shown this particular picture. To the list of scalliwag, drunkard, genius, writer, singer, guitarist, vagabond and saint, we now must add "war hero."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable addition to Guthrie lore, and WWII as well..., November 15, 2001

By 

William E. Adams (Lovington, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woody, Cisco, and Me: Seamen Three in the Merchant Marine (Music in American Life) (Hardcover)

Most fans of Woody and Cisco know they made a few trips as merchant seamen during the War, and were torpedoed once and were on another that hit a mine. This wonderful book makes that period REAL, in excellent detail, because Jim Longhi was present. His depiction of Woody reveals a man who had been somewhat famous for three years, and who was still ten years away from being disabled by Huntington's Chorea. The Woody here is almost totally admirable...a bit nutty, but in a brave, sweet way. The book also represents perhaps the closest thing we'll get to a real biography of Cisco Houston, Woody's long-time best friend and arguably still the best singer of Guthrie songs. Meeting Jim Longhi, whose existence I was unaware of despite years of researching Woody and Cisco, was quite a pleasure. He's a fine writer, and obviously a good man, who can poke fun at himself, looking 50 years back at the zealotry of his youth. The book has just about everything...war, music, humor, exotic places, danger, hints of love and sex, fantastic coincidences, political debates---it would make a great movie in skilled hands. The character of Courtroom Kelly, introduced briefly in the mid-section of the memoir, is unforgettably hilarious. In l968, I spent more than 30 days as an Army private sailing to Vietnam on a troopship, so Jim's portrait of shipboard life heading to a war zone for troops and crew alike resonates with me. He and Woody and Cisco were usually mess attendants, but on one trip Jim was a cook and baker. He does a fine job proving how important such workers are to the men they feed. The most touching segment is how Woody insisted on singing to troops down in the hold during submarine attacks on the convoy, competing with the noise from depth charges, and sickness-causing storms, and even racist military policies keeping black and white soldiers from enjoying the same concert at the same time. One comes away even more a fan of Woody and Cisco than before, and with a new friend, Jim, whose singing career didn't survive the voyages, but who lived to tell us an interesting and important tale. Get the book and see for yourself.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced, hilarious, touching and a lot of fun!, June 2, 2002

By 

Mark Eastman (Chapel Hill) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woody, Cisco, and Me: Seamen Three in the Merchant Marine (Music in American Life) (Hardcover)

The main reason I bought this book, and (unfortunately) it wasn't too easy to find, was to learn more about Cisco Houston. There hasn't been much written about him except a few pages of reference here and there in his contempories biographies and stories. In that regard, this novel didn't disappoint. Many sides of Cisco are shown - strong and solid, brilliant, an athlete, a quiet war hero looked up to by men from all walks of life, a fair and honest man with a strong sense of justice, a man among men who also liked his women, his booze, his gambling, and who would not mince words. Also, someone with a tender heart of gold. Woody is portrayed as the icon he is, at times almost a "wizard" able to snatch victory out of the clutches of defeat, able to rally huge groups of men and children from all cultures and walks of life with his singing. And the author, Jimmy Longhi, manages to bare his soul throughout much of this rollicking, constantly funny and often touching story which, for the most part, takes place during a less than two year period - the final two years of WWII - during the three times that Woody, Cisco and Jimmy shipped out with the Merchant Marines.
The style of this book is so entertaining, so fluid, so descriptive that it's amazing that Longhi's main walk of life is that of lawyer, not author (although he is also a playwrite). The story is filled with memorable characters - Davey Bananas, Nino Sala, Courtroom Kelly, Newington, Frank Strahele, the evil Jojo, Mando - to name a few. I really had trouble putting it down. Parts made me laugh out loud while others brought a tear to my eye. As a bonus, this story draws you into the realities of WWII. The extreme patriotism among men from all walks of life regardless of race (although archaic prejudicial customs are brought to light) or political conviction (the far left or "reds" were as much behind beating Hitler as the far right), the thoughts and fears of the soldiers before the Normandy invasion, the abject poverty of Sicily, northern Africa and Belfast. This is a great read and highly recommended.