In the program for the recently passed Progressive LA Conference, while every other speaker had titles a mile long after their name, Ross Altman's simply said "Folksinger." Of course, he is a folksinger, it wasn't meant to be a derogatory term, but the simple term just doesn't seem to capture all that Altman is. Altman left a career as a college professor, but his love of teaching didn't stop. Now, instead of teaching pupils who learn conformity by sitting in rows in identical desks, Altman teaches the non-conformists. At rallies, marches, and conferences, his students now include unionists, socialists, and activists who simply want a better world.
With his ninth album, Tales From the Lincoln Bedroom, released on his own label, Grey Goose Music, Altman continues the tradition of folk singers. Mixing humor with politics, and sometimes we are left wondering which might be which, and a touch of the personal, Altman leads us through a journey as funny and poignant as his concerts.
The liner notes say that James Baldwin once remarked that all true artists find themselves in opposition to their government. The opening song, "Disturbing the Peace" is Altman's tribute to his fellow rabble-rousers, to the artists who were willing to accept public persecution for their craft. From Stravinsky having food thrown at him on stage to Oscar Wilde's fall from grace, Altman reminds us that oftentimes artists, much like prophets, are not appreciated in their homelands. "And who despised among us, a hundred years from now, will be the one the world will wish to keep?" Indeed, who will it be?
Folk singers, by their very nature, must also be historians. And in "That Dallas Morning," Altman does what so few historians can do, he makes history part of the personal. In recalling the assassination of JFK, he doesn't try to embellish it by coming up with a fanciful conspiracy story. He mentions he doesn't care whether it was one or two gunmen, Kennedy's life ended nonetheless. Instead, we see someone who captures vignettes of Kennedy's life and death. From the flame at Arlington Cemetery that burns eternally for the dead president, or the image of John-John saying goodbye to a man we simply knew as Jack, but who he knew as daddy, Altman sees past the "CIA, the Mafia, .the Cuban connection" and sees a man who was just that, a man, who had to die because of something that was larger than he was.
There are three songs on the album which show what we have always been saying, that politics can be fun. And as long as it is the other side, politics can be downright hilarious. The first is the title of the album. As can be imagined, Altman takes shots at Clinton for having so many friends, rich ones at that, who all need a place to rest their head for a night or two. The liner notes sarcastically say "Lincoln never slept there, but it appears that everyone else has. Oh for the days when only American money could buy American elections." Oh yes indeed. But then the left has never had much money so we haven't bought too many elections, but it's always nice to be able to see the price tag so we know how much to save up.
In "A Tale of Two Sinners," Altman takes the military to task for being a bit old-fashioned when it comes to sexuality. Of course, they are only old-fashioned when it comes to women, for as Altman sings "For east is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet. The double standard still protects our men when they're in heat." After my stint in the military, I can assure you that this is true. I have fond memories of my commanding officer telling us that "us guys just have needs" as the box of free condoms was passed around. The opening lines, taken directly from the Marine song, adds a touch of frivolity that I'm sure the Generals at the Pentagon appreciate.
Though it's been six years now since the 500th anniversary of Columbus' intrusion into the "new world," and all the protest that surrounded it, Altman still has a point when he sings "Did Columbus have a green card when he sailed the ocean blue? Was he beaten like an immigrant in 1492?" Altman says he was inspired by the beating of immigrants by the Riverside Sheriff's Department. I still recall watching in horror as helpless people were beaten, not too far from where I live, simply because they wanted a better life for their families. Of course, the real horror occurred the next day in class when a fellow student said that they deserved the beating and that, if she was there, she would have done it herself. As Altman says "Give us your tired, your poor huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, and we'll whop them upside the head."
"Left-wing guitar" and "Something's Missing" are the two most personal songs on the album. The first deals with Altman coming to terms with the loss of his father. But what makes his father a little different than others' fathers is that Altman's dad was a Communist who was hounded by HUAC and the FBI. Altman isn't bitter when he sings "And he didn't leave me much but this old left-wing guitar. He taught me to play, to pay my way, and to hold their feet to the fire." If nothing else, we should be thankful that Altman got his guitar, because he's carrying on the work of his father.
The second song, "Something's Missing," I mention because it reminds me of a simple poem. It's hard to listen to it and not feel the fear that someday the one we have chosen to spend our life with will not be there to share the morning coffee with us. This is the song that Altman chooses to end the album with. He takes us from laughing at Marv Albert's obsession with leaving teeth marks on the backs of young women, to making us angry that such a great man like Martin Luther King Jr. could be shot dead. But his final message is to remind us to enjoy the moments we spend with our loves ones, for one day they will have to leave us, and only then will we realize that something's missing.
Twelve songs that will move you if you let them. Folk might not be the music you tell your friends you listen to, but it's the music that has always spoken for the causes we believe in.
You can order Tales From the Lincoln Bedroom for $12 (postage
included) from Grey Goose Music, 134 So. La Brea Ave. #4, Los Angeles,
CA, 90036.