Woody Guthrie wrote Vigilante Man and recorded it in 1940 as one of the tracks on his album, Dust Bowl Ballads. It was about hired vigilantes who would try to chase migrants from California who had made their way there from the Great Plains.
Then, Ry Cooder gave it a complete, bluesy, acoustic, slide-guitar makeover on his second album, Into The Purple Valley, and it’s his version that has become the “go to” for Vigilante Man.
I remember being introduced to Cooder by Mike Deutsch when we were still at school. When I heard Vigilante Man, I was spellbound by Cooder’s playing, with his vocal mimicking the slides as he explored a new way for the song, now converted into a bold blues.
Hooked on Cooder, I have followed his acoustic albums, some pop outings, the cultural breakthrough that was Buena Vista Social Club and his meditations with qawwali vocalist, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Somehow though, I always return to his first two albums.
This weekend, listen to a totally different Vigilante Man. It’s still Cooder, but backed by his family-and-others band, Corridos Famosos. It’s loud, it’s live, in your face, electrifying and powerful, an eight-minute exploratory romp, with Cooder showing skill and feel on electric slide.
He isn’t in the greatest voice, but give it a minute to settle and then hear how it rocks, it grooves and then lays back, leaving acres of “stop go” space for anticipation and for a whooping, excited audience. It’s a classic. Good weekend all!
I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. You’ll read it here on a Sunday. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on markgrosin@gmail.com.
Listen to Vigilante Man on Spotify here and on Apple Music here.
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