Occupy SXSW: Tommy the Commie Morello carries Woody Guthrie torch

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | March 17, 2012 | Thomas Conner

[Chi-townChief]

AUSTIN, Texas -- During his keynote speech at this year's South by Southwest music conference, Bruce Springsteen referred to folksinger Woody Guthrie as "a ghost in the machine." In the centennial year of his birth, Guthrie has certainly haunted SXSW 2012. Springsteen and many others have sung his songs. "Woody at 100," a panel session featuring his children, Nora and Arlo Guthrie, considered his legacy.

Then Friday night, Chicago-area native Tom Morello capped off his showcase in the middle of the street, leading a throng of Occupy Austin demonstrators in a sing-along of "This Land Is Your Land."

"I am the Nightwatchman and this is a one man revolution!" said Morello (who performs solo under the moniker The Nightwatchman) at the beginning of his SXSW showcase, scheduled inside the Swan Dive bar near Sixth Street and Red River in downtown Austin.

But days earlier, Morello began reorganizing what the festival had programmed for him. His showcase, he declared, would become Occupy SXSW -- all 99 percenters welcome. "SXSW has a lot of specialty shows - record companies, vodka companies, promoters and things like that," he told Rolling Stone on Tuesday. "I thought it was important that at a music gathering of that size, to have a place where the rebels, revolutionaries, rockers, rappers and the 99 percent could gather and have a mighty SXSW throw down."

Via social media and online networks, Occupy Austin spread the word and gathered Friday at the state capitol three hours before Morello's midnight showcase. The group of nearly 100 began marching toward the downtown streets already crowded with SXSW registrants and hopeful music fans.

How do you get a mob to move through a mob? By dancing. The benevolent Occupiers rolled a sound system with them, blaring mostly disco and dance tunes but also raising a ruckus with "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine, Morello's former hard rock band. About every block, they'd stop and dance, as well as wave some signs and hand out fliers. At Sixth and Brazos, the assembly inadvertently blocked traffic, which laid on the horns. The honking, however, simply raised more cheers and whoops.

Slowly, the demonstrators made their way down Sixth Street toward Morello's venue. One large banner reading "F--- the Police" was its own crowd control issue, because gawking passers-by insisted the bearers stop -- so they could take their picture with it. Irony of ironies: Midway down the street the group had to detour slightly after being blocked by a drum circle.

Morello started his official showcase about half an hour late, playing a few songs by himself before bringing on his latest band, the Freedom Fighter Orchestra -- and, later, special guest Wayne Kramer from Detroit punk legend the MC5 -- to tear through typically fiery Nightwatchman songs, including "Save the Hammer for the Man" and "Union Town," as well as Rage's "Bulls on Parade." The previous night, Morello had joined Springsteen on stage during his SXSW concert; Friday, Morello played Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad," dedicating it to "the only Boss worth listening to."

As his official timeslot ended, Morello told the crowd -- primarily SXSW badge-holders inside -- to follow him outside. There, the largely uncredentialed Occupy crowd had been watching the showcase on a video projected on the wall. Morello proceeded to start a second showcase in the middle of the street, which he called "the people's venue" -- carrying his acoustic guitar, which has "Whatever It Takes" scrawled on it (Guthrie's guitar famously sported the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists") -- and leading the crowd in a rollicking sing-along of "This Land."

Lack of a PA didn't stop him -- not when you have the "human microphone."

"Mic check!" Morello called, and the crowd began repeating him. In a very Obama-like delivery, he went on: "They can turn off the PA, but they can't shut this party down!"

He told a tale about guitar factory workers in South Korea who were fired because they formed a union. Using the human mic, he taught the crowd the chorus to his "World Wide Rebel Songs" and lead another sing-along.

He then ended the event with yet another Guthrie quip: "Take it easy," he shouted, "but take it!"

Catch Morello when he leads a Woody Guthrie tribute concert May 19 at Chicago's Metro, featuring Holly Near, the Klezmatics, Jon Langford, Bucky Halker and more.

[Chi-townChief]

Looks like some strange days are ahead of us ...

[Lurking Libertarian]

Morello is politically clueless but an awesome guitarist.

[marstegreg]

Does anyone else think this plays into the Executive order he issued friday? If they cause enough trouble, he has given himself the authority to take over...just sayin’.

[re_nortex]

Woody Guthrie's father was a DemonRAT and Klansman. Sorry that I repeated myself.

Fascists, eh? Well, what about their Communist kin, Woody? Nazism and Marxism are merely facets of the same totalitarian political root system. That's why it was so easy for Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin to form that alliance.

As a an avowed leftist, Woody Guthrie associated with known Communists and embraced their evil in his songs. Fortunately, the Oklahoma of Guthrie's birth has corrected its course over the years and has become one of the the most Conservative Christian places in these United States.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Woody at 100

Us guys should be so lucky.

[rarestia]

Morello’s morals were affected by Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against The Machine. He’s one of the best guitar players of this rock area up there with Dave Matthews and Mark Tremonti, but that’s all he does.

I doubt, however, that he’ll “come around” politically.

[CIBvet]

Just more POoP Culture crap... Hey, let's worship the ding-bat guitar player... this from someone who started playing 'This Land Is Your Land' back in 1964 ...17yrs professionally.

I never once suspected Woody's songs supporting the 'Working Man' would turn into a siren call for Marxist-Communist Union tyranny, and an effort to defeat the freedom-hungry human spirit.

I think Woody would be REAL pissed.

[jagusafr]

A town fulla tools. And it’s worse during SXSW.

[Lurking Libertarian]

I never once suspected Woody's songs supporting the 'Working Man' would turn into a siren call for Marxist-Communist Union tyranny, and an effort to defeat the freedom-hungry human spirit.

Later in his life, Guthrie wrote a column called "Woody Sez" for the Communist Party newspaper, The Daily Worker.

[re_nortex]

A town fulla tools. And it’s worse during SXSW.

Austin hasn't been Texas for decades. The high tech industry brought wave after wave of Californians to Travis and Williamson counties. They left the west coast but brought their liberalism and new age atheism along with them.

Even before that, the University of Texas at Austin has been liberal. Professor Robert Montgomery and the Department of Economics was radical left as far back as the 1930's. And to this day, the Austin campus (alma mater to the ultra-liberal Walter Cronkite) is home to the LBJ Library and Museum. Sure, Lyndon Baines Johnson may have been born in Texas but he never was a genuine Texan.

[jagusafr]

I graduated from the School of Communications (big rusty boxcar) in ‘78, and when Dan Rather and Bob Keeshan (Capt Kangaroo) were the media center’s Communicators of the Year (or some such hoohaa), it was pretty clear that the grownups weren’t in charge.

Lotsa good music, though!

[BereanBrain]

When i travel to business in Austin, if the meeting requires driving around before 10 AM, we play a game, similar to looking for out of state plates, VW Bugs, etc.

Except in Austin, you get 5 points for spotting someone passed out on the sidewalk, 10 points for a transvestite, or 15 points for a hippie driving a cushman 3-wheeler....extra points if he’s wearing birkenstocks and/or a robe.

[re_nortex]

I graduated from the School of Communications (big rusty boxcar) in ‘78, and when Dan Rather and Bob Keeshan (Capt Kangaroo) were the media center’s Communicators of the Year (or some such hoohaa), it was pretty clear that the grownups weren’t in charge.

But...but...but...Captain Kangaroo saved Lee Marvin's life at the Battle of Iwo Jima! And Mr. Rogers was a Navy Seal who only wore those sweaters to cover the wounds on his arms that he got in the service! And Obama is fully-qualified to be president!

/s <- really...was that needed? :-)

Lotsa good music, though!

Seriesly, that's right. The food is also pretty good down there, too.

[When do we get liberated?]

OK, so 99 percent of people are rebels? Doesn’t that mean they are the ordinary mainstream?

[Zionist Conspirator]

Woody Guthrie? Wasn't he the last good redneck? Maybe even the only good redneck?

Today's Left would reject him and force him to become a neo-Nazi. Poor Okies don't deserve to be considered "oppressed" anymore.

[CIBvet]

So happy to have lived & played in that town back during the Armadillo World Hqtrs Daaaze!!

Now I gotta go grab my 'coustic and jam a little ... "Northeast Tex-as women, and their cot-ton can-dy hair" ...

A big tip of the ol Stetson to Willis Alan Ramsey tonight... Thanks Brother for an earthshaking album of incredible Tx folklore.

[jagusafr]

Buckwheat Stevenson and Jerry Jeff! And my own band, On The Side (we’re small but mighty!)

[af_vet_rr]

Austin hasn't been Texas for decades. The high tech industry brought wave after wave of Californians to Travis and Williamson counties. They left the west coast but brought their liberalism and new age atheism along with them.

Too bad that's not confined to Austin. Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio joined Austin in going for Obama in 2008. Houston elected a lesbian mayor, Dallas a lesbian sheriff.

Texas ain't what it used to be. You'd have to look for a town of under 300,000 if you want to find a somewhat large conservative area.

Given that a lot of Hispanics are conservative when it comes to homosexuals, and given that they will pass up whites within the decade, I'm hoping that we don't see any more large cities elect homosexuals for mayors or anything of the nature. Too bad the Republicans haven't been able to figure out how to attract the Hispanics. The Democrats are drooling over Texas. It's already a minority-majority state and has been for a while, the Democrats have just been too incompetent to capitalize upon it.