Music as Storytelling

Song titled "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad," performed by Gussie Ward Stone at Arvin FSA Camp. 

A transcription of a performance of "I'm Going Down this Road Feeling Bad," similar to the performance above, although varying slightly. This song, due to its popularity, was performed by many individuals. This transcription was done at Boomtown California.

The title of this is song is "I'm Leaving you This Lonesome Song," performed by Nathan Judd, Lois Judd, and Lure Judd at the Arvin FSA Camp, on July 8, 1940.Note the use of only one guitar, and two different singers, to portray the solitude of the migrant experience. 

This gospel song is called "Firebrands for Jesus," and is performed by Mr. Trueman, Mrs. Trueman, and Texas Gospel Singers. Gospels were popular among the older generation of migrants. 

And now the group was welded to one thing, one unit, so that in the dark the eyes of the people were inward, and their minds played in other times, and their sadness was like rest, like sleep. He sang the “McAlester Blues” and then, to make up for it to the older people, he sang “Jesus Calls Me to His Side.”

. . .

            And after a while the man with the guitar stood up and yawned. Good night, folks, he said.

            And they murmured, Good night to you.

            And each wished he could pick a guitar, because it is a gracious thing.

                              —John Stein beck, The Grapes of Wrath  

            For the Okies, music played an important role not only as entertainment, but also as a medium for telling stories highlighting the immigrant experience. It is a hot afternoon in the Arvin Migratory Labor Camp, the first Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp which opened in 1937 near Arvin, California. Charles Todd unpacks his large recording machine, equipped with a microphone, and tells the female performer that once he signals she may begin. Her name is Gussie Ward Ston, and the song she is about to perform is called “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad,” it depicts the movement of migrants across the many roads leading to, and across California. Her performance is somber and describes, with a painful, yet melodic tone, the Okie immigrant experience. In a similar method, Steinbeck depicts how people gather around a guitar player, as he recounts the unjust exploitation his community must endure: “And perhaps a man brought out a guitar to the front of his tent. And he sat on a box to play, and everyone in the camp moved slowly in towards him . . . There you have something—the deep chords beating, beating, while the melody runs on the strings like little footsteps. . . then he sang ‘Ten Cent Cotton and Forty-Cent Meat’” (199). Okie music touched on a verity of themes spanning from social critique to gospel music. Music was often played while individuals were not working, or during celebrations (Robin Fanslow, Voices From the Dust Bowl).

            The majority of the music played by the families migrating from the Southwest was derived from the Anglo-Celtic ballad tradition. However, other sources exist such as gospel and popular music, the mistral stage, early country music, and cow boy music. Also, the works of the Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers, and Gene Autry were popular among the migrants. Square dance calls were also widely played during community gatherings accompanying a square dance. New music was also created by the migrants detailing their experience. These songs included songs speaking of hardship, disappointment, and a deeply cherished wish to return to their home. (Robin Fanslow, Voices From the Dust Bowl)