JOHN DILLINGER
John Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster in the Depression-era United States. He operated with a group of men known as the Dillinger Gang or Terror Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations, among other activities. He courted publicity and the media of his time ran exaggerated accounts of his bravado and colorful personality, styling him as a Robin Hood figure. In response, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover developed a more sophisticated Bureau as a weapon against organized crime, using Dillinger and his gang as his campaign platform. (More from Wikipedia)
Another song on Dust Bowl Ballads, “Pretty Boy Floyd” has one of Woody Guthrie’s most famous lines. Like the outlaw couple depicted in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd was a bank robber during the Depression era. While he was elevated to “Public Enemy No. 1” by the FBI following the shooting of John Dillinger, many see Floyd as a tragic figure who was a victim of his times.
(March 2015)
