PRETTY BOY FLOYD
Pretty Boy Floyd (born Charles Arthur Floyd; February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934) was an American bank robber. He operated in the Midwest and West South Central States, and his criminal exploits gained widespread press coverage in the 1930s. Floyd has continued to be a familiar figure in American popular culture, sometimes seen as notorious, but also at other times viewed as a tragic figure, partly a victim of the hard times of the Great Depression in the United States. (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.
“Pretty Boy Floyd” also highlighted the outlaw’s generosity, which was attributed to Bonnie and Clyde as well in the Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway movie.
(March 2015)
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Ugly Kid Joe, America’s Least Wanted – Allmusic describes Ugly Kid Joe as a “fun-loving hard rock/funk/alt-metal group from Southern California”. To find the fun, you don’t have to go any further than the band name (a takeoff on “Pretty Boy Floyd” – actually a band by that name, Pretty Boy Floyd, not the Depression-era outlaw) or their album names that have similar word play, such as this one plus Menace to Sobriety, Motel California, and Stairway to Hell (with the latter album released just two years ago).
(December 2015)
