I’m not usually a fan of “of all time” characterization.

But this is one of the greatest anti-war albums of all time (yes, including the future).

#UtahPhillips

I’ve Got To Know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYlO5PD9Ut4&list=OLAK5uy_n8SlUUEXitDLrDYM8Vz498ikhToCKtWV8

Today in Labor History December 1, 1914: The famous labor song, "Solidarity Forever," was written on this date by IWW songwriter and cofounder Ralph Chaplin. He wrote the song for a hunger march to be led by Lucy Parsons in Chicago (on January 17, 1915). The song has been translated into many other languages, including French, German, Polish, Spanish, Swahili and Yiddish. And it is still commonly sung at union gatherings in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The inspiration for the song came from the brutal 1912-1913 Paint Creek-Cabin Creek mining strike, in West Virginia, led by Mother Jones and others. Private cops and vigilantes murdered at least 50 miners and their family members during that strike. Impressed with the solidarity and resolve of the miners, Chaplin began work on the song.

You can enjoy a Utah Phillips cover of the song here: https://youtu.be/OsPOgCPEeKs

And read my biography of Lucy Parsons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #solidarity #folkmusic #song #music #utahphillips #ralphchaplin #lucyparsons #motherjones #BlackMastodon

Dusty The Kid & Two Runner | “Nevada City Serenade”

https://goldcountry.tube/w/8DoBy5fTDPK5TRKqborMP7

I could make the world so much better if I just bought a "Utah Phillips" CD for every teenager...

We all need appropriate role models! ❤️

#UtahPhillips

Dox them while you can! Especially #SummerHomes!

Senators Could Vote Imminently to Remove Their Homes, Travel Info From Internet

By Andrew Perez, July 31, 2025

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/senators-homes-travel-info-remove-internet-1235397818/

#WeKnowWhereYouLive #UtahPhillips #NoVacationsDuringDeportations

Today in Labor History July 6, 1911: IWW labor organizer Joe Hill's song "The Preacher & the Slave" first appeared in the IWW’s Little Red Song Book. The song is a parody of the hymn, “Sweet By and By,” often song by the Salvation Army (who the IWW called the Starvation Army), which would try to drown out the union’s street-corner labor organizing with their hymns. The Wobbly bard, Haywire Mac, is believed to be the first person to sing this song in public. Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Utah Phillips also covered the song.

You can read my bio of Haywire Mac here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/03/16/the-haywire-mac-story/

Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet

Chorus
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die

And the Starvation Army, they play,
And they sing and they clap and they pray,
Till they get all your coin on the drum,
Then they tell you when you're on the bum

(Chorus)

Workingmen of all countries, unite
Side by side we for freedom will fight
When the world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters we'll sing this refrain
Chorus

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #joehill #union #PreacherAndTheSlave #folkmusic #woodyguthrie #utahphillips

Today in Labor History May 23, 2008: Labor folk singer and IWW member U. Utah Phillips (1935-2008) died. Utah Phillips was not just a great folksinger, performer and union activist. He was also a great story teller, too. One of my favorites was his description of Lucy Parsons, one of the IWW founding members, when she was in her 80s, the image of everybody’s grandmother, prim and proper, face creased with age, tiny voice, hair tied back in a bun, telling a crowd in Chicago on May Day, “What I want is for every dirty, lousy tramp to arm himself with a revolver or knife on the steps of the palaces of the rich and stab or shoot their owners as they come out.”

I remember organizing several benefits for the IWW and Food Not Bombs, back in the 90s, in which Utah performed. I believe this one was in Santa Cruz, with Judy Bari performing, as well. And he told the story of a farmer friend, who had a one-legged pig, sitting in a rocking chair, with a beautiful, handmade blanket on its lap. He asked the friend about this strange and remarkable pig. “Oh,” the friend said. “This pig truly is remarkable. One night, while we were asleep, he came running into the house, grunting and squealing. Woke us up, of course. Just in time, too, for me to see that the barn was on fire, and in time to put it out before any of the other animals were hurt. And for that, I was so grateful that I build him that rocking chair you see him in.”

O.k., o.k., Utah said. But what about the rest?

“Well, another night he came running into the house, grunting and squealing, because there was a burglar in the house, who I was able to apprehend, thanks to this here pig. And for that, we were so grateful, that my wife knit him that blanket you see on his lap.”

O.k., o.k., Utah said. But what about his legs? C’mon, man. That’s the part I want to know!

“Well,” the farmer said, giving Utah a coy wink. “A remarkable pig like that? You just don’t eat him all at once.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ236CwhlPw&pp=ygUNdXRhaCBwaGlsbGlwcw%3D%3D

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #utahphillips #folkmusic