"The Ghost of Tom Joad" . . . Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen

[OneBlueSky]

I dunno . . . maybe it's just me . . . but when I listen to this Seeger/Springsteen version of “Tom Joad,” it almost seems like a prayer . . . and the way things are going, what with the pandemic and the resulting job losses and all, it also seems we may be entering “Grapes of Wrath” territory . . .

When I ran into Pete at a CLEARWATER festival sometime in the early 90s, after not having seen him for some years, I was surprised when he said to me “Ya know, Mike, my voice is about 80% gone” . . . it was an exaggeration, of course; he continued singing for many more years . . . but by the time he and Bruce did this recording, his singing voice was indeed pretty well gone . . . so Pete's contribution here is a spoken word recital of the lyrics; Bruce accompanies on guitar and harmonica, takes the second verse, and joins Pete at the end of the song where he quotes from the novel:

Tom says . . .
“Wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy,
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries,
Wherever there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air,
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there.

Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand,
Or a decent job, or a helpin' hand,
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free,
Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me.”

Like I said, it sounds to me like something of a prayer, almost hypnotic in its power . . . I hope this country doesn't see the kinds of poverty and disruption that occurred during the “Grapes of Wrath” period, but it looks like that's where Donald is trying to send us . . . assuming Joe wins, he'll have a massive job cleaning up Trump's mess, defeating the pandemic, and getting millions of Americans back to work . . . I wish him the best as he takes on a monumental task . . .

Hope y'all enjoy this . . .

Peace . . .

[Walleye]

1. Beautiful recording. Thanks.

I got to see Springsteen in an all acoustic concert in a small venue in Philadelphia and he performed that song. I think it was right after 911 or at the beginning of the Iraq war but at that time it seemed like a prayer as well. One of those tunes that gets stuck in my head.

[wiggs]

2. Really nice. But I like the anger and energy of the Bruce/Tom Morello live

performances, of which I was lucky enough to see one in LA. Mind blowing!

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. Wow. Sprinsteen is just amazing.

[Delarage]

4. Saw this rendition

at Hershey Park a few years ago. I was skeptical that Morello's style would fit with Bruce, but, of course I was wrong. It kicked butt

[OverBurn]

5. Morello is a Amazing Guitarist! That's from the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Show

[OneBlueSky]

8. yeah, I love the Tom Morello version as well . . .

equally powerful, though in a very different way . . . I think I actually posted the same video a few weeks ago in response to something or other . . . and Bruce certainly has taken a liking to Tom; added him to the E Street touring band for the last couple of tours . . . I don't know if E Street will ever tour again, but if they do, I'll bet Tom Morello will be right there with them . . ..

thanks for posting , , , always good to see great performances . . .

[marie999]

6. If you haven't already read the book, read it. If you have, read it again.

Henry Fonda is great in the movie. Heck, read all of John Steinbeck's books. When I was stationed at The Presidio of Monterey, The Defense Language Institute, I read all his books. Maybe I should have studied my Russian more.

[Deuxcents]

7. Whoa

I never get tired of watching this. Was lucky to see two concerts but that was years ago. Now, I’ll check out the book n watch Bruce n Tom make fantastic music about it.