Extraordinary news today that a lost Woady Guthrie and Rab Dylan duet has been discovered lurking in the archives of the Jonesonian Institute and has been given to renowned musician and producer Seth Tweedy to bring back to life and the public domain. Archivist Rufus Treadlightly explains, “I was going through some sound archives and came upon this dust-covered box marked Clenchforth Sanitorum, which intrigued me as I had a vague notion that Woady spent his last few years there as he wrestled with the fallout from a botched hemorrhoidectomy. I believe there was a lot of ….fallout….excuse me. Anyhoo, I pulled out the box, and it was full of reel-to-reel tapes, which, of course, no one listens to today, but we still have a working one in the department. I took the tape and loaded it up. I’ll confess my fingers were shaking a bit, y’know, and as I turned it on, there they were. Woady and Rab, singing together. It was magical. I did get a bit of a semi …..please don’t publish that. Well then, I knew who to contact as I’m a huge fan of Seth Tweedy and his band Bilko. I loved the series too, but the band is better. Eventually, his people got back to me, saying Seth was very excited, and we sent him the tapes over. A few days later, they asked if they could borrow the tape player, so we sent that as well. And the rest is history.”
Tweedy restored the tapes in his famous Waft Studios, and the release date was April 1st. However, there is a catch. In a not-so-surprising move, the tapes are only being released on, you guessed it, reel-to-reel tape.
Tweedy explains: “This is a significant historical find, and in order that the importance of these recordings is not diminished by digital reproduction, we, along with the Jonesonian, have made the decision to keep it analog and pure. You can hear the cracks and pops as Woady’s catheter taps against the guitar’s body or the brush of Rab’s beard against his harmonica. That would be lost in a digital format. You can even hear Woady’s nurse demanding silence after one particularly rowdy track, or it could have been the result of a particularly loud fart that happened at the end of the song. I think they’d consumed a lot of beer and cheese by then. It was obviously a magical evening. I wish I’d been there… I love cheese. “
Woady Guthrie’s backstory as a folk singer is well known in tight musical circles, but his influence has been immense, and the young Scottish balladeer Rab Dylan cites him as one of his major influences, particularly in the use of the nose flute in traditional song arrangements, but this is the first evidence that they not only met but made music together. As soon as the release date is available for any possible digital releases, we’ll bring you the news. In the meantime, here’s a track from Rab’s idol and surnamesake Bob Dylan
A wonderful laugh out load (sic) as I look out foolishly from my dylanidated shed!
Glad you enjoyed Graham sometimes amidst the madness we have to laugh!