Of the folks songs Bruce recorded for his 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, “My Oklahoma Home” was one of the most contemporary–and yet somehow, the least familiar.
Agnes “Sis” Cunningham wrote it with her brother Bill. The Cunninghams were born and raised in rural Oklahoma, where Sis worked both as a labor organizer and musician. Among the groups she performed with was Pete Seeger’s troupe, The Almanac Singers, leading to a lifelong friendship and business partnership in Broadside Magazine, a publishing haven for aspiring socially conscious folk singers. Seeger published his work in Broadside, as did Bob Dylan, Janis Ian, and others.
Sis served as the magazine’s editor, and one of the songs published during her run was a song she and Bill wrote in 1961, just before the magazine started: “My Oklahoma Home.” A chronicle of the dust bowl experience, the song combined biting sarcasm with laugh-out-loud humor. Seeger recorded it pretty much on the spot.
But other than Seeger’s recording, “My Oklahoma Home” received very little attention from either the public or fellow recording artists.
That’s too bad, because there’s a wit on display in “My Oklahoma” home that makes us laugh even as we wince at its pointed social commentary. Cunningham got around to recording the song herself a few years later, and her version includes extra verses and some different phrasing.
As for Bruce’s version, he hews pretty closely to Seeger’s. In fact, lyrically the two versions are virtually identical. On an album where Bruce adapted, tweaked, or re-arranged almost every song (in the folk tradition), that makes “My Oklahoma Home” stand out.
It’s possible that Bruce’s literal translation had something to do with the fact that “My Oklahoma Home” was one of the very first songs recorded for the album, almost nine years before the album’s release.
Bruce’s arrangement rolls merrily along, carried by Charlie Giordano’s accordion, Mark Clifford’s banjo, and the band’s exuberant backing vocals. The effect is so buoyant that the listener notices only the humor in the moment–but a half-second after, we feel the bite.
Although Bruce performed “My Oklahoma Home” at four Asbury Park rehearsal shows before taking it on tour, he gave it a proper concert debut at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a show that immediately cemented itself among the best of Bruce’s career.
And even this early on, fans knew exactly what to do during the chorus, much to Bruce’s delight:
“My Oklahoma Home” was a set list staple throughout the Seeger Sessions Tour, a nightly highlight that maintained resonance with those still struggling to make ends meet in a challenging environment. One of its final live performances was captured for Bruce’s Live in Dublin home video release.
Although several Seeger Sessions songs have enjoyed post-Seeger outings, “My Oklahoma Home” remains a period piece. It did get one encore, however, in the spring of 2015 when the Sessions Band staged an impromptu mini-reunion at that year’s Kristen Ann Carr Fund event at the Tribeca Grill in New York City.
The Gotham Playboys (the core and inspiration of the Sessions Band) were the evening’s entertainment, and Bruce and Nils decided to join them for a few songs. Their last number for the evening: Bruce’s last performance to date of “My Oklahoma Home.”
My Oklahoma Home
Recorded: November 2, 1997
Released: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
First performed: April 20, 2006 (Asbury Park, NJ)
Last performed: May 16, 2015 (New York City, NY)
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