Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads

by Nick Hayes

Using the sepia tones of the Dust Bowl as his pal­ette, author and artist Nick Hayes tells the story of world-famous folkie Woody Guthrie (1912–1967), starting in the 1920s when Guthrie was a teenager supporting himself in dried-up, post-boomtown Oklahoma. Picking up a harmonica and eventually a battered guitar, Guthrie finds solace in the ancient lineage of folksong. Hayes charts the musician’s course from Oklahoma and Texas towns ravaged by dust and the Depression to boxcars, factory farms, and the migrant camps of California, highlighting Guthrie’s dedication to singing American folk tunes and creating his own modern classics along the way. Hayes ends his portrait in 1940, at the pivotal time when Guthrie makes his way to New York and writes “This Land Is Your Land,” his iconic anthem tinged with both clear-eyed reality and optimism.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Music, Comics, Nonfiction, History, Historical

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 5, 2014

About the author

Nick Hayes is the author of The Rime of the Modern Mariner, an updating of Coleridge’s famous poem, and the visual biography Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads, both of which are among the most highly regarded of recent British long-form comics. He has also published two collections of his short comics, Lovely Grey Day and 11 Folk Songs. He is the founding editor of Meat magazine, a periodical showcasing new writing, comics and illustration and has won two Guardian Media awards.

Reviews

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m generally not all that much into folk music (where are the synthesizers?) and tend to avoid biographies (don’t trust ‘em), so it took an enthusiastic 5-star review by my good friend David Schaafsma for me to pick up Nick Hayes’ 272-page comic-book biography of American folk music icon Woody Guthrie. And as you can see from my rating, I couldn't be happier that I did (thanks, David!). Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads turned out to be both less and so much more than what I expected: While it thankfully makes no attempt to illuminate every aspect of Guthrie’s life, its loose, broad, poetic strokes add up to a wonderfully unorthodox, philosophical yet intimate exploration of the rather unglamorous roots of popular music, as well as to a potent critique of capitalism that couldn't be more relevant today. Highly recommended to fans of alternative comics!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway.

With its beautiful cover and stellar artwork, I immediately fell in love with Woody Guthrie and the Dustbowl Ballads. The illustrations, created in sepia tones, reflect the overall somber tone of this graphic novel. The writing was vividly descriptive, and I liked the use of the authentic vernacular.

Having known little of Guthrie's personal history, this fictionalized biography was an education. Hayes chronicles the formative years of Woody's childhood through 1940 when he writes the iconic anthem "This Land Is Your Land." Woody grew up in an Oklahoma oil boom town that eventually went bust. His home life was rather tumultuous due primarily to his mother's illness, a hereditary neurological condition. After his mother is sent to a mental hospital, Woody moves to a Texas flop house with his father. The book further documents historic events in American history including the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Guthrie journeys out West and experiences the hostility directed toward the migrants and witnesses their plight in California migrant camps. These experiences shape Woody's views on social and economic injustices, and he uses his music in the form of the rich cultural heritage known as the folk song to express himself.

Many thanks to ABRAMS Books!

Memorable quote:

These songs were secular prayers that steeled them through the hard times, shamanic spells that strengthened their number with empathy. These songs weren't written to sell or be sold, they didn't advertise miracle cures or get you a career in the musicals; they were eulogies to the men's existence, testimonies of their past and their present. And unlike the land beneath their feet, they couldn't be taken away.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nick Hayes’s Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads has to be one of the best graphic novels of the year. It’s on my list, for sure. Hayes calls it a fictionalized biography. It’s more a lyrical tribute than a biography, though as I am familiar with the story, and the history, that part of it is well done. I never think graphic biographies work very well; too much to tell, too much exposition, but this one works because of its lyricality. It doesn’t try to do too much. It doesn’t get bogged down in only facts.

The glaring problem with a graphic musical biography is that you have to go out of your way to listen to the music; you are reading about music and its relation to actual social events, but in a sense the swirling sepia tones—so right for the depression and the Dust Bowl—are musical. The art is really the greatest thing about this biographical novel. Just amazing. And you can, as I did, listen to Woody Guthrie as you read!

What is also amazing is that Hayes’s American biography follows what would seem to be a very different subject, his graphic novel based in part on Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” entitled Rime of the Modern Mariner, but the two are in fact a great pair for a critique of capitalism, as Mariner is a devastating story of our present environmental collapse, due to our consumerism and massive waste. In these two books we see some admirable social commitments set in gorgeous artistic frameworks.

I recommend this biography if you want to see what an arts-based critique of capitalism might be like (in Guthrie and Hayes) and you want an understanding of the principles of communism that drove a lot of people during one difficult period in American history (Two stanzas from “This Land is Your Land” are identifiably Communist, never heard in most classrooms).

Woody Guthrie singing his “This Land is Your Land”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMr...

Woody Guthrie singing his song “Do Re Mi”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46mO7...


Bob Dylan singing Woody Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yatHD...

[Murat Dural · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flaneur Yayınları'nın Yeldeğirmeni'ndeki seçkisi şahane kitapevine girince işler her seferinde çok değişik yerlere gidiyor. Şu ana kadar oradan ne aldıysam iyi çıktı diyeceğim ama bu hitap, tanımlama bile az kalacak. Nick Hayes'in "Woody Guthrie ve Toz Çanağı Baladları" (bakınız tüm olumsuz yargılarıma rağmen, iyi çıkmasını bekledim)'nı okumaya başlamam, o grimsi atmosferden, tozdan ağzımı, yüzümü kapattığım, korumaya çalıştığım bir efsaneye, İYİ Kİ OKUMUŞUM, BU ESERE RASTLAMIŞIM'a dönüştü. Bu nasıl bir atmosfer? Bu nasıl bir metin? Bunlar o yıllarda Amerika'da gerçekten yaşandı mı?? Artık, bu kitap sayesinde o döneme, coğrafyaya dair daha fazla şey biliyorum ve kederlenmekle birlikte fazlasıyla mutluyum. İyi, değişik çizimleriyle farklı bir anlatım arıyor ve tüm bunlar belli coğrafya, dönem içersin diyorsanız doğru kitaba bakmaktasınız. :)

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very good, possibly one of the best comic book biographies I've ever read. How is it that an Englishman (Hayes) is so perfectly able to capture 1930's Oklahoma and California anyway? The book tells the tale of Guthrie's boyhood up through about the time that "This Land Is Your Land" was written. The artwork has a woodcut look to it that works well with the material, and language is just poetic enough to be arresting without being corny about it. This is some amazing work, and I will most certainly be looking for more from Hayes in the future. One of the best books I've read all year ...

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was truly beautifully written and drawn graphic. novel about one of my favorite communists. Really, this is historical sociology, to a point. If you know anything about Guthrie then you know the story of him traveling the country endlessly (a la Kerouac before Kerouac was doing it) and the whole back story to This Land Is Your Land. That story is also here, but Hayes digs deeper and really gets to the heart of Guthrie's experience leading up to the point where he started working with Pete Seeger (I think?) in the Almanac Singers. Lots of stuff about the Dust Bowl and its effects on the people of OK and their story of migrating west. Mesmerizing and not just for music nerds.

[Dov Zeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is gorgeous and the subject matter something that interests me, but I simply couldn't appreciate or enter the world of the book. I almost gave it a one or a two, there was a certain misogyny in the opening that gave me the creeps, and, as I said, I couldn't delve into the world of it. But because the art is so wonderful I decided on a three.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's early days, but this is a strong contender for the best book I'll read this year. A dusty palette and lyrical text take us through the events and places that inspired Guthrie's songwriting, with beautiful portraits of America's landscape, history and people. Obviously it made me cry, because I always start crying when I think about Woody Guthrie too much.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I would not call this book flawless, I did appreciate this potentially biographical glimpse into part of Woody Guthrie's life.
But the over-all message,

the message, (!)

that is what we all need to hear.

[Les Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only graphic novel I have read, and this one is first class. Knowing my liking of Woody Guthrie as an artist my son kindly bought me this book for Christmas. So glad he did.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous art and masterful prose. This would have been a wonderful complementary read for my American history classes, regardless it was very enjoyable.

[strategygamer22 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really only have one complaint with this book, but it's a major one, so I'd rather talk about all the good stuff first before explaining the low rating. The book is dripping with atmosphere. The time period is captured perfectly in the writing, especially in the dialogue. The book is also surprisingly accurate in its history (at least as far as I could tell). While some might find the writing preachy at times, I found that it came off more as an explanation as to how Guthrie's views came to be. Overall, the writing is phenomenal, though it is inconsistent with its storytelling near the end (so many flashbacks). The way the author worked in song lyrics was seamless and, at times, beautiful.

So the "novel" portion of this graphic novel is great. It's the "graphic" part that drags this book down for me. Technically, the art is fantastic. The landscapes in particular are jaw-dropping. Unfortunately, this isn't a book focused on landscapes. It's focused on people. People who NEVER. OPEN. THEIR. EYES. There are virtually no expressions on these characters' faces! Or rather, I should say that there are only two: eyes closed, looking at rest (even if they are supposed to be working or partying) and squint-eyed, suspicious (even if it was two lovers looking at each other after getting married). Every now and then other expressions might crop up, but they almost never match what is going on. At one point I skipped the text for a page and tried to piece the story together from the artwork. Then I went back to read the text, and the art told not just a different story, but was entirely misleading. Near the end, Woody is returning to his home town (in a flashback), and one of the buildings is prominently advertising The Rime of the Modern Mariner. The author's previous work. It wasn't hidden away as an Easter egg; it was the main focus of the drawing. It was at this point I became convinced that this book would be better without the art.

This is a graphic novel that is hindered by being a graphic novel. The whole purpose of the format of a graphic novel is for the art and prose to support each other. Watchmen wouldn't be nearly as impactful without the art. The Sandman would make sense without the writing, but wouldn't be nearly as deep. This book should be read as an ordinary novel, skipping the art entirely. Putting it like that...what's the point?

[Starr Cliff]

I would really like to give this book a high star rating because the writing was wonderful but the font in this graphic novel was awful and incredibly difficult to read. Double lines and all caps - my 40+ eyes could barely discern it even with my readers on. Had to take multiple breaks and it made me angry. Ha.

[Gizem Akıncı · Rating 2 out of 5]

Türkçe çevirisi o kadar kötü ve anlaşılmaz ki, aşk olsun Flaneur.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Dylan once said that the life of Woody Guthrie could never be told. And he is probably right. Guthrie had an effect on too many people, wrote too many quality songs and lived a life of dustbowl storms, commercial success, riding trains with hobos and so much more. Thankfully, this book doesn't try to tell his life story and instead focuses on the one aspect that made him America's troubadour: his music. Using a lyrical prose to tell the story Nick Hayes shows Woody during his hard travels among the dispossessed caused by the great depression. This book is as much a history lesson as it is a biography and it perfectly captures its period setting. The boom towns, the dust storms, the treatment of the Okies are all depicted well here as Guthrie slowly finds the muse that gave him his unique voice. This genre fo historical/biographical graphic novel is a sub-genre in the world of comic books, but with books of this quality out there I can only hope that it won't remain that way.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

It is my firm belief everyone should be a fan or familiar with voice of the Great Depression and people’s troubadour, Woody Guthrie. If you only know him by his ballad This Land is Your Land, America’s unofficial national anthem, I implore you-discover his other works. A quick and easy way is Nick Hayes’ beautiful graphic novel. Dirty sepia colored illustrations will transport you to his Dust Bowl Ballads era and the poverty and human struggle during the great depression. It is hard not to admire Woody for his down to earth character and endless social justice seeking for the everyman. The muddy sepia illustrations will have you feel like you are in the gritty dust of Woody’s era. The graphic novel format makes it easy reading and poignant. -Lisanne E.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

graphic account of Guthrie's life (with some artistic liberties) leading up to his writing the Dust Bowl ballads, along with quite a bit of history. I liked the sepia-toned illustrations (even though I had trouble figuring out which panel to read next?) and am a fan of Guthrie's music and his hoboing back-story, but found some of the history bits and dream sequences a little too rambly for a graphic novel.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this fictionalized biography, but I wish it came with a CD of Woody Guthrie music.

[Maya Jagger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical, illustrated work in words and pictures that captures the essence and lead up to This Land is Your Land. Told in sepia, it gives back the soul of TLIYL and a little more, that was coldly cut with the censorship of the time. That soul Pete Seeger tried to restore, without context.

“These days, the criminals were not the outlaws in the hills, but the suits in their offices. You could rob someone by taking it from his pockets, but it was more efficient to not pay him in the first place.”

It takes a certain skill to be able to retell a story and give it so much life, in the way that Nick Hayes does here. The story fits well into his personal canon. If I had read this straight after the Book of Trespass, I could have only appreciated it more. Yet, this is told through the eyes of Woody, not Nick, as he retold the story of the Kinder Trespass the other book. It showed insight, it went inside his mind and provided much needed background into his upbringing.

Woody is fascinating, a wanderer. A right character, a rascal, a radical. Imperfect by all means, his heart is in the right place. This is a journey of finding his voice with as many ups and downs as the ruts and dunes in the background. He was angered by the abandonment of his people, and instead of just trying to scrape by, he decided to write about it as well. And when he started to make a profit, he felt guilty and gave back to the migrant camps and Hoovervilles.

I say that I regret not reading this sooner, but I started this up at the right time. I recently moved to London from Leeds, my hometown, I briefly moved back to after a spell of living abroad over lockdown. Once you move away from your home for the first time, you can never quite be settled ever again. I feel strangely rootless and lost, despite moving to London with a purpose: work.

On the road, I read nearly half the thing on a 3 1/2 hour coach journey back from Leeds to London. I had dived into it, sat on the wall of Leeds Minister while waiting for my actual ride that never arrived. I mused over the fact that in London, these things aren’t allowed to happen, and companies only get away with treating their customers like this because they are working class. You might argue that on a Flixbus you get what you pay for. But it’s not the price of the ticket - it’s the principle. It’s the treatment. It’s the lack of respect. It’s the knowing that they can get away with it, because these people rely on their service and have no other way of mobility. An added layer of irony, I was back in Leeds to pass my theory test - which I passed by the way!

It not only makes me want to read more of Nick’s work, but to seek out any biographical work on Woody, and learn more about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. We can learn from history and the more I read from this period the more I see how we still resonate with it.

[J.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read in that it's a work of "historical fiction" rather than a straight biography. I wasn't there, so I can't say for sure, but I believe the author got the spirit of Guthrie's life right. The primary focus is on the climate in America during the dust bowl days, specifically for the working class and those living on the fringes of society (mostly train-hoppers and the unemployed living in hobo camps).

The writing was good (although it took me a bit to get into it since it's a little too poetically written for my taste) and obviously a LOT of work went into making the book. There were a few pages that I really liked, aesthetically, but overall I didn't love the artist's character design. That's truly a personal personal opinion though, as judging from other reviews, I'm in the minority. Given the atmosphere of the book, the clean line work wasn't exactly fitting. It could've used some grit. I also found the overly decorative fonts used for narration and dialogue distracting. I did like the color palette of monochromatic siennas to give a sense of time, and the amount of work put into drawing every individual in the many crowd scenes was impressive.

Lastly, I should note that the production on this book is fantastic. Hardcover with gold edged pages and a built in ribbon bookmark!

If you're a fan of Woody Guthrie, this is worth checking out. It's made me go on a Guthrie listening binge.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars!

With this being set largely in the 30s dustbowl of America, there are many similarities to be found with “The Grapes of Wrath”. This can make for fairly grim reading as we see the hardship and heartache that so many Americans had to endure for so long, even though they were being told that they were living in the land of the free and the greatest country in the world etc. It shows the reality for most, struggling to get by day to day, enduring some horrendous poverty, whilst big business employed thugs to beat up people merely demanding a fair wage, as well as holding back tons of food, letting it rot in order to squeeze maximum profit.

Hayes has a very distinctive drawing style and it’s one I didn’t particularly like, though I can appreciate that he is talented. I also struggled to like the font of the lettering, I found it too ornate and distracting after a while. Too often this had the feel of a sepia toned advert for Jack Daniels or Southern Comfort, but it does give an authentic, if not over done view point on the land that Guthrie must have been exposed to. I did learn a few interesting things from this book and although I wasn’t a huge fan of the art work, I would say that it’s still worth a read.

[Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't judge this book by it's cover--every other image of Woody in the book is a sharply angled caricature. The color scheme was set to match the dust I'm sure, but it made everything monochromatic (aka, gloomy and difficult to distinguish).

So Woody is kindof a jerk. I didn't know this, just associated his most famous song with past protests and caring about human rights. But even upon getting signed by a radical employer he keeps himself distanced "left-wing, right-wing, chicken-wing, it's all the same to me...I sing my songs wherever I can sing ‘em." He isn't a reliable husband/father, yet the narration sympathizes with him.

Formatting:
-There are no page numbers, usually something I don't need/notice. However, the layout repeatedly switched between reading "left to right and down" each individual page and reading a spread of 2 pages as one larger image. In other graphic media they sometimes signal this change by having "individual" pages numbered, and spreads blank.

-The song lyrics/captions also don't follow established graphic novel expectations. I thought it was creative during a dancing/ballroom/performance scene but it kept happening and was disorienting.

[Enis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amerikan'ın topraklarından çıkmış önemli bir müzisyen Woody Guthrie ve bir müzisyeni grafik romanın olanaklarıyla okura aktarmak öyle kolay değil. Her bölüm üzerinde titizlikle çalışılmış, türkçe çevirisi harika, şarkı sözleri Ingilizce olarak bırakılmış ki bence doğru bir tercih, sayfaları çevirirken açın bir Woody Guthrie parçası ve takılın sayfalarda, çölün boşluğunda altın arayın, kurak topraklarda hayatta kalmaya çalışın ama en önemlisi gitar sırtınızda tren vagonlarında Amerika'yı toza dumana katarken bir mızıka çıkarın, eski bir halk şarkısını mırıldanın, bir kızılderiliyle karşılaşın ve sorun ona tozun nelere sahip olduğunu, size çok eskilerde kalmış bir müzisyenin melodileriyle cevap verecektir.
Bazen bir şarkı sözünü tamamlayabilmek için çok fazla acı çekmeyi göze almak gerekebilir. Çok fazla hem de...

[Mary Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. The illustrations are overall great and the sepia tones really capture the mood of the Dirty '30s. Nick Hayes takes some artistic liberties with Guthrie's biographical details which is fine; this is a graphic novel not THE definitive work on Guthrie's life. My main complaint is that for being a modern work, where the author is comfortable interpreting Depression Era situations and attitudes for his audience, there are a gagging number of majorly outdated and disrespectful references to "gypsies" and "Indians." His portrayal of Indigenous Americans that Guthrie supposedly met in person is very stereotypical in appearance and behavior. Surely there was a better way to handle these aspects of his story.....

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in American history, the depression and dust bowl, Woody Guthrie, Simply a wonderful graphic volume that truly marries subject and style, I recommend this book. Exhilarating art and design and the deeply felt and beautifully written narrative tell a human story, an American story, and a story about a man who made lasting art out of hard times. And make sure you listen to woody guthrie’s – – perhaps even as you read the book.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOODY GUTHRIE & THE DUST BOWL BALLADS
Fantastic original graphic book! The colour, tone, style of the illustrations, and the rhythm of the flowing words that constitute the story telling are as good as anything Bob Dylan could have created. A stunning achievement. *****

“.. and they were trapped, like fish in a puddle, unable to head home, and prohibited to stay where they were.”
“.. homeless in their homeland.”
….

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, add this into the collection of graphic novels that tell some realistic history and a great tale all in one. This doesn't tell all of Woody's life (Joe Klein's _Woody Guthrie_ is about as good and as comprehensive as you get for that), but the elements of his life were well chosen and the images bring it into view. Very well done for all ages middle school and up, for sure.

[Mark Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not usually a reader of graphic novels, but man oh man, this one is a dazzling work of art. Yes, this has been my Woody Guthrie summer. Fascinated with his life story, this novel I think would appeal to many.
It ends with the writing of This land is your Land and avoids the years of tragic decline.

[Scott Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story...interesting tale about Woody Guthrie. Art work was interesting. Brown coloring to match the Dust Bowl theme. I was hoping to read more about his family life but I have to admit.....the subtitle of the book does tell the reader what the focus is. A fun read for this fan of Guthrie Family music.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Hayes is an excellent cartoonist and his highly stylized work here reminds me a bit of Peter Bagge (oddly enough). This is a generally well-done book and obviously a labor of love, but there are a few annoying aspects: the lettering is difficult to read sometimes and the page/panel flow is occasionally hard to follow.