Customer Reviews

Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I wasn't certain what to expect from this odd collaboration, but it is one of the Klezmatics' best works! They seem to have taken some poems on the topic of Chanukah that were written by Woody Guthrie, who was himself not Jewish but whose wife was Jewish. They've composed music around the poetry and recorded it here.

The music is terrific -- our family loves it. The two kids play this CD over and over, yet the two parents still like it (!), which by itself makes the disc an extaordinary find. But the most notable thing is that the lyrics and music sound of one piece, which is a real art given that I think the whole thing was done posthumously.

Also -- I believe that there were other non-holiday poems also written by Guthrie, so they ended up making two CDs -- the other is called Wonder Wheel, though I don't own that one yet. I'll get it though, since this project was so perfectly executed.

In recent years, the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives have been opening up their collection to musicians who would like to write (and then record) melodies for the many dozens of unscored lyrics left by Woody Guthrie in his declining years. Billy Bragg initially created 2 wonderful albums (and a DVD movie) doing that, followed by other artists such as the delightful Jonatha Brooke. One of the best, surprisingly enough, was the Klezmatics' 2006 album "Wonder Wheel", full of rich musical textures that offset the profound Guthrie lyrics perfectly.

I was interested to see whether this "Happy Joyous Hanukka" album would be a continuation or just what. Well, yes and no.

To be quite clear about what this album is, tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 11 are indeed Guthrie lyrics set to new tunes by the Klezmatics. Secondly, tracks 7 and 12 are written entirely by Woody Guthrie, basically amounting to Klezmatics covers of 2 very obscure Guthrie songs, and the Klezmatics do cover those songs quite well. Thirdly, tracks 3, 5, 8 and 10 are instrumental klezmer dance tracks written entirely by the Klezmatics, with no discernible Woody content. I really don't have much history with that type of music, but I suppose these are all very decent klezmer performances, and they seem to contain lots of original post-modern cleverness and spirit. Evidently, they were included in order to tie together the album with a feeling of Hanukkah festivity.

Of the 6 collaboration tracks, most of the tunes are emotionally powerful, diversely influenced and well conceived. Only track 2, an uptempo 3-chord piece of frivolity, seems to lack the substance of the other tunes. I'm aware that Woody Guthrie himself advocated simple accompaniments with as few chord changes as possible, so as not to distract from the words, but honestly this primitive approach is probably the aspect of his work that I least admire. So I'm not giving any extra points for simplistic musicality.

In contrast to the generally wonderful new musical settings, the Guthrie lyrics for these 6 songs are invariably inconsequential. They were apparently chosen for this album based on the unifying concept of having been written for children and written without much purpose except to cover the subject of Hanukkah. All the titles referencing Hanukkah signify songs that are ultimately about little else. If you want any of the depth of lyric writing for which Woody Guthrie was justly famous, track 7 "The Many and the Few" is about all there is on this album.

I'm giving this album 3 stars, for containing a little bit of first rate material, plus about 50% good solid collaborative composing, plus some other stuff that I personally don't have much use for. If I were someone who's "into" klezmer very much at all, I'd probably give it 4 stars. Incidentally, I haven't written a review of Wonder Wheel, mainly because I dislike hearing myself gushing with unflinching praise and then giving out 5 stars as if that's normal.

This is an unexpected pleasure. And it gives you what it says on the cover - happy joyous music.

Is there anything for pesach?

I think that Gutherie's "HAPPY JOYOUS HANUKKAH" CD is great, especially for children. The songs are surely joyous and wonderful to listen to. My only complaint were the addition of 4 pieces ("Gilad and Ziv's Sibra", "Latke Flip-Flop", "Groovy"s Freyekhs", and "Spin Dreydl Spin") that were not written by Gutherie and made no sense for this project.
Still, I would highly recommend this CD>

Woody Guthrie...for Hanukkah. A gift every joyous Jewish family will love. And Wonder Wheel by the Klezmatics was nominated for a Grammy... and may actually win it (Grammy's are next week). Woody may be gone, but the Klezmatics have made his fun, sweet spirit come to life... with a Jewish edge.

Great!

How could you not like something that is so sweet. We all love this cd. Shipping was fast.

This is a wonderful CD - loved by mom, who has fond memories of listening to Woody Guthrie's songs from way back and by 10 yr old daughter. We tried to wear it out during the 8 days of Chanukah, but it still plays!

Recall the scene in "Jaws" where Quint drags his fingernails across the chalkboard in order to grab everyone's attention in the room.

Now imagine this sound lasting for the length of a CD.

I did not find fault with Woody Guthrie's lyrics. If not for the singing and the music, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Very uninspiring. Lacks the "heart" of either Woody or Arlo.