As I sit at my desk looking at the inner sleeve of this record, I can't help but think that Emmylou Harris is one of the most beautiful women to ever attach her voice to a song. There she sits, in front of the standard issue photographer's backdrop, wearing jeans and a Danskin and looking as breathtaking as any woman ever photographed. Fast forward to 2009, as she turns 62 years old this coming April 2nd, and you'll see not much has changed over the past 30 years: she remains as stunningly [...]
Utah Phillips : Daddy, What's a Train? [ purchase ] I wasn't expecting to get to post the transitional tune this week, but here it is. I am 43 years older than my son, (now 5). So I grew up on another planet. This was a world where TV signals came through the air, and were caught by something called an antenna. After a storm or a windy day, my father would go up on the roof, and turn the antenna back to its optimal position. A computer was [...]
Folk singer Bruce "Utah" Phillips identified himself as an anarchist, but that didn't stop him from making a 1968 bid for the U.S. Senate in Utah. He lost, but he got plenty of his ideas across through his music, fed by his years as a rail rider, soldier in the Korean War and unflinching supporter and member of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union (aka "the Wobblies"). Phillips died last year before he could hear the finished product of a compilation that was released recently, Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute to Utah Phillips [...]
To properly represent the career of Utah Phillips, I feel that I should present a train song, a story, and a political or union song. The last two are here. For train song, follow the link later in this post. Utah Phillips : Moose Turd Pie [ purchase ] Utah Phillips : There is Power in the Union [ purchase ] I never met Utah Phillips, or even saw him [...]
Utah Phillips : Intro to Phoebe Snow Utah Phillips : Phoebe Snow [ purchase ] I kind of cheated in posting this for this week's theme; not a single flake of snow appears in this song, and it even seems likely that the action occurs in summer. But, before you totally panic, I did not use a song by an artist with snow in her name, and the word does appear in the song title. In fact both the song [...]
I discovered Utah Phillips through Ani Difranco. She made an album of his stories, and I carried it around with me everywhere, playing it for people, giving it to friends, recounting them to strangers. While his music never stayed with me, the vibrancy of his personality, and his stories, always did. He died last month, but I just found out today . Here's one of my favorite quotes from Utah, and a couple of my favorite stories from The Past Didn't Go Anywhere. "Get the [...]
One of the last great union-organizing singer-songwriters, Utah Phillips walked the walk, spending a hobo's life on the road spreading the word on behalf of his blue collar brethren, always championing others over himself, always honest about his work as a folksinger and crafter of song. Others have said it earlier and more thoroughly , several asking whether there are any like him left; many have shared the obvious originals in the wake of his passage. But it's never too late to say goodbye. Here's a [...]
Bruce "U. Utah" Phillips, the Grammy-nominated folk singer known for his bushy white beard, tireless tour schedule and equally tireless work for social justice, died of congestive heart failure Friday at his home in Nevada City. He was 73 and had been having health problems in recent years. In a letter to friends nine days before he died, he wrote: "I spent a long time finding my way—couches, floors, big towns, small towns, marginal pay (folk wages). But I found that people seemed to like what I was doing. The folk music family took me in, carried me [...]
This email today from my friend Marvin Granger, former GM of Yellowstone Public Radio: It is with more than a little sadness that I report the death of Bruce 'Utah' Phillips. He died in his sleep at 11:30 last night following a long battle with heart disease. Over the past 25 years ...
A special edition of Monday Morning Blues today with BOS first guest post as our friend The Duke from The Late Greats takes the wheel. Enjoy. Talking Late Greats Blues Tom helped me out a few week's ago with a Songs That Got Me Thru High School post, so I thought I could return the favor by doing a Monday Morning Blues Bash for Bag of Songs. Truth be told, The Duke doesn't have much of a singing voice, which deepens my love [...]
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FREENESS: Robot Orchestra – Beat The Odds (Germany)
