Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)

History

The genesis of the song reportedly occurred when Guthrie was struck by the fact that radio and newspaper coverage of the Los Gatos plane crash did not give the victims' names, but instead referred to them merely as "deportees." For example, none of the deportees' names were printed in the January 29, 1948, New York Times report, only those of the flight crew and the security guard. However, The Fresno Bee covered the tragedy extensively and listed all of the known names of the deportees. Guthrie, whose image was that of a train-hopping folk singer, actually lived in New York City at the time. Not knowing about the extensive local coverage of the disaster, Guthrie responded with a poem, which, when it was first written, featured only rudimentary musical accompaniment, with Guthrie chanting the song rather than singing it. In the poem, Guthrie assigned symbolic names to the dead: "Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita; adiós, mis amigos, Jesús y María..." A decade later, Guthrie's poem was set to music and given a haunting melody by a schoolteacher named Martin Hoffman. Shortly after, folk singer and friend of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, began performing the song at concerts and it was Seeger's rendition that popularized the song during this time.

It has been suggested by the Three Rocks Research website that, in fact, "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" betrays Woody Guthrie's lack of understanding regarding the Bracero Program. (Though arguably this is addressed in the lines "Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted, Our work contract's out and we have to move on.") The program was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements created by the U.S. Congress in 1942, that permitted Mexican farm laborers (or braceros) to work in the United States due to the severe labor shortages caused by World War II. Under the terms of the program, the labor contractors were expected to provide transportation to and from the Mexican border, with the U.S. Immigration Service being required to repatriate the Mexican citizens if the contractor defaulted. As such, the "deportation" of braceros in this fashion was simply a way of meeting the obligations of the program—although some newspapers, e.g., the New York Times, did refer to the braceros as "deportees". However, it could be argued that Guthrie's song is less about the Bracero Program itself and more a comment on the attitude of American society and the media towards the Mexican farm laborers.

In addition to being a lament for the braceros killed in the crash, the opening lines of "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)":

"The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning, The oranges piled in their creosote dumps."

are another protest by Guthrie. At the time, government policies paid farmers to destroy their crops in order to keep farm production and prices high. Guthrie felt that it was wrong to render food inedible by poisoning it in a world where hungry people lived.

"Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" has been described by journalist Joe Klein as "the last great song he [Guthrie] would write, a memorial to the nameless migrants "all scattered like dry leaves" in Los Gatos Canyon." The song has been covered many times, often under a variety of other titles, including "Deportees", "Ballad of the Deportees", "Deportee Song", "Plane Crash at Los Gatos" and "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)".

Recordings

The song has been recorded by many artists, including:

Dave Guard and the Whiskey Hill Singers (featuring Judy Henske) on Dave Guard and the Whiskey Hill Singers (1962).

The Kingston Trio on Time To Think (1963).

Cisco Houston on Cisco Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie (1963).

Judy Collins on Judy Collins #3 (1964), and the live album A Tribute to Woody Guthrie (1972).

Odetta on album Odetta Sings of Many Things (1964).

Julie Felix on her first album Julie Felix (1964).

The Brothers Four on Sing of Our Times (1964)

The Byrds on the Ballad of Easy Rider (1969).

Joan Baez on Blessed Are... (1971) and live on Bowery Songs (2004).

The Bergerfolk on The Bergerfolk Sing For Joy, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (1973).

Barbara Dane on I Hate the Capitalist System (1973).

Arlo Guthrie on Arlo Guthrie (1974) and with Pete Seeger on Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger: Together in Concert (1975).

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez during the 2nd Part of the Rolling Thunder Revue (1976).

David Carradine on Bound for Glory (motion picture soundtrack) (1976).

Max Boyce on The Road and the Miles (1977).

Dolly Parton on 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980).

Sweet Honey in the Rock on The Other Side (1985).

Christy Moore on, The Spirit of Freedom (1985).

The Highwaymen, with Johnny Rodriguez, on Highwayman (1985).

Christina Lindberg on Stanna stanna (1985), in as "Flyktingarna" ("The Refugees") with lyrics by Martin Hoffman.

Hoyt Axton on Hard Travelin' (1986).

Rory McLeod on Woody Lives!' (1987).

Gene Clark on So Rebellious a Lover (1987), with Carla Olson.

Peter, Paul and Mary on Lifelines (1995) and Lifelines Live (1996).

Concrete Blonde on Concrete Blonde y Los Illegals (1997).

Nanci Griffith with an ensemble including Lucinda Williams, Tish Hinojosa, Odetta, Steve Earle, and John Stewart on Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful) (1998).

Los Super Seven on Los Super Seven (1998).

Svante Karlsson on American Songs as "Deportees (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos/Goodbye Juan)" (1999).

Bruce Springsteen on 'Til We Outnumber 'Em (2000).

Ox on Dust Bowl Revival (2003).

Paddy Reilly on The Very Best Of Paddy Reilly: 30 of His Finest Performances (2003).

Derek Warfield and the Wolfe Tones on 50 Great Irish Rebel Songs and Ballads (2005).

Joe Jencks Rise As One (2005)

The Battlefield Band on The Road of Tears (2006).

Billy Bragg on Talking with the Taxman about Poetry extended edition (2006).

Roy Brown Ramírez, Tito Auger, and Tao Rodríguez-Seeger on Que Vaya Bien (2006; in Spanish).

Richard Shindell on, South of Delia (2007).

Old Crow Medicine Show on Song of America (2007).

Joel Rafael on "Joel Rafael The Songs of Woody Guthrie Vol. 1 & 2" (2008).

John Stewart "Illegals/Deportee Medley" on Secret Tapes 1984-87 (2009).

Tim Broadbent on "Crisis" (2011)

Dan Bern on Live in New York (2011).

Outernational and Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman on Todos Somos Ilegales (2011)

KT Tunstall as part of ONE's agit8 campaign (2013).

Tim Z. Hernandez with Lance Canales & the Flood as a single (2013).

The Last Internationale on "This Bootleg Kills... Vol. 1" (2015)

Lance Canales on The Blessing And The Curse (2015)

Deacon Blue on "The Rest" (2012).