Something in their way of spelling out America in song, something in their nimble touch of fingers on guitar strings. The singing storytellers Gamble Rogers and Woody Guthrie have much in common, including deaths that came too soon.
Woody Guthrie was 55 when he died on October 3, 1967, and Gamble Rogers was 54 when he died on October 10, 1991. Both left treasure troves of song and story.
The resemblance is striking, in their singing as well as their guitar technique. And they both have a strong sense of place. Listening to Woody sing "Way down yonder in the Indian Nation," you won't imagine yourself anyplace but Oklahoma. Listening to Gamble play "The Orange Blossom Special," you won't imagine yourself anyplace but Florida.
Oklahoma and Florida in Their Veins
Their specialty is the story-song. Gamble Rogers' "Joe Turner Talking Blues," tells about people who lost everything in the 1892 flood, and about a man who helped all the poor people by coming at night and leaving the things they needed.
Woody Guthrie's "Mean Talking Blues" is a tongue-in-cheek opposite of Joe Turner. Just as Guthrie acknowledged that there are people and factions in society that are just plain mean, Rogers specialized in making light of meanness and waste.
"I am a trafficker in truth and a pusher of the categorical imperative," Gamble Rogers said of himself.
Both singers toured with groups in their early careers, Guthrie with the Almanac Singers and Rogers with the Serendipity Singers.
Inspiration of Famous Singers Who Followed in Their Shoes
Although Woody Guthrie died young of Huntington's Disease, he has inspired future generations of singers, including Pete Seeger, who has specialized in Guthrie ballads such as "Do Re Mi" and "Union Maid" for more than 70 years and made recordings with Woody's son, Arlo Guthrie.
Although Gamble Rogers died young while trying to save a Canadian tourist from one of Florida's deadly rip tides, he continues to inspire Florida singers and songwriters, including Jimmy Buffett, who was once Rogers' opening act in venues such as the Tradewinds in St. Augustine and the Gaslight in Athens, Georgia.
Buffett's Fruitcakes album (1994) is dedicated to Gamble Rogers. In the liner notes, Buffett recalled "watching him weave the magic with just a guitar and a story."
Just Like Gamble, Always Thinking of the Other Guy
Although Buffett was shocked and saddened to hear of his mentor and friend's drowning death at Flagler Beach (now the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area), he was not surprised to learn that Rogers gave his life trying to save a man who had been caught in the undertow.
Buffett summed up Rogers as "a troubadour and a friend who has gone over to the other side where the guardian angels dwell and has in all likelihood, become one."
Like Woody Guthrie, Gamble Rogers now belongs to the ages. He is memorialized each spring by the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival in his beloved St. Augustine, just as Guthrie's memory is kept alive by the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival each July in his hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma.
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