Like Big Man Ned Kelly
Australian, Irish, English, Scottish & American folk songs. Celebrating the lives and exploits of popular & legendary heroes has long been a preoccupation in culture & song everywhere. While cleric-anointed, state sanctioned national idols abound (and nobody is more celebrated than Saint George in England) it's the common folk heroes who oft best caught the imagination of the masses - those who stood up in the face of oppression while looking after their own. Often seen as champions & poor people's defenders, these icons belong to the commoners and everyday folks have long been sympathetic to them as is also evident in the popularity of outlaw movies & literature.
Ever since domineering minority 'elites' seized control of grain surpluses (ie. 8-10K years ago) and set us off on this journey that we call 'civilization' entrenched military/security apparatus has been paramount in order to protect those elites' surpluses & the status quo. Whenever commodity procurement becomes seen as excessive or unjust, however, in times of social stress, folk heroes emerge. From Wat Tyler and Robin Hood to Jesse James, Dick Turpin and Australia's Ned Kelly, then on to modern icons or martyrs like James Connolly, Che Guervara, Patrice Lumumba, Julian Assange.& more recently the Filton 4, just to name a few. The global south has, if fact, seen so many such figures from struggles against colonialism, neo colonialism & extremism. Such characters, while sometimes flawed and ever controversial, are still widely celebrated by many as emblems of popular empowerment & freedom.
^^stream & download^^ TAP PLAY ONCE THEN TWICE to play here or tap building icon to enter the internet archives page & stream or d/l^^
Ned Kelly is the best known outlaw in the Australian bushranger tradition. From a large Irish immigrant family of humble means, his father, who had been transported to the continent, died in 1866 leaving Ned as the eldest male in the family. Kelly had served two jail sentences by 1874 but emerged to freedom determined to straighten out and worked peacefully for a time. The calm didn't last long before the Kellys reported renewed persecution and rebelled again, resisting encroachment by wealthy town-based pastoralist-investors or 'squatters' (I know, ha). Ned's mother was sent to prison on trumped up charges and a three year sentence, stoking further resentment and lawlessness. A spate of robberies & hold-ups of banks and local wealth led to Ned's crew having to hide out in the bush with support from the local communities. The police rangers eventually hunted them down, leading to a shootout during which two police were killed. Ned was then labelled a murderer and the manhunt was stepped up. The final showdown saw the heavily outnumbered gang sling it out famously wearing ploughshare sourced iron armour. Gravely injured, Kelly alone survived the gunfight and was duly hung in Melbourne in 1880. He is celebrated to this day by the lower classes, the sons of convicts, Scottish, Irish and other immigrants even while he's described to this day on Wikipedia as a police murderer and gangster. Like the American Jesse James, Kelly is portrayed by some as a social bandit. He was an early proponent of Australian republicism and espoused the idea of a People's Republic of Northeastern Victoria. Was this a genuine social rebellion or just plain banditry. We'll let you make up your own minds on that one...
Dick Gaughan opens with his thoughtful ode to the downtrodden socialist songwriter tradition Outlaws and Dreamers. Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson & Mick Jagger tell the tale of Ned Kelly in the 1970 movie soundtrack of the same name. Klaus Badelt also did a Ned Kelly soundtrack/incidental music album. Gillian Welch features heavily again. Her songs aren't exactly bang on-topic but their vibes fit perfectly, as do tracks by the Dirt Band & friends. Peggy Seeger & Evan MacColl spent decades singing for equality & freedom and advocating socialism. We hear them here individually and together with songs from Seeger's 2008 Bring Me Home LP and their 1959 Chorus from the Gallows. Seeger does a cut of Newlyn Town (Roving Blade) as do The Johnsons. The late Slim Dusty, an Australian country player, sings two Kelly Ballads. Two bushranger-folk-rock-country bands; The Bushwackers and The Sundowners bush rock classics from the 1970's. Irish Outlaw balladeer Christy Moore comes with a solo cut of the fantastic Rambling Robin as well tracks with his bands Planxty and the Moving Hearts., including the highly appropriate Faithful Departed. Irish-American rockers Flogging Molly sing a couple more laments while The Pogues have a proper raucous Irish-Australian knees up. Much more besides ENJOY...
^^download via the above streaming links^^
Comments
Post a Comment