UNDERAPPRECIATED MUSIC: UTAH PHILLIPS

Bruce Duncan Phillips (1935-2008), otherwise known as Utah Phillips, was a folksinger, labor activist, pacifist, occasional train hopper, poet, anarchist, storyteller, sometime dishwasher and warehouse worker, and radio host.  Beginning in 1961, he released thirteen solo albums and seven albums with other performers.  He was known as "The Golden Voice of the Great Southwest."

I heard Phillips only once in person, at the 1975 Bicentennial Celebration in Concord, Massachusetts.  It was at the "People's Bicentennial" -- the one taking place across "that rude bridge," not the "official" one on the other side featuring then-President Gerald Ford.  He was much more comfortable on his side of the bridge.

Let's buck the system with just a few of his songs and stories.


"Hallelujah, I'm a Bum":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9c1vSIpHA0

"There Is Power in the Union"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O93YpTYCWRk

"The Most Dangerous Woman" (with Ani DiFranco):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME3n8rAHM70

"I Remember Loving You" (with Priscilla Herdman):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgqt38CtqEo

"We Have You All a Thousand Years":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWTXyO2MOlQ

"Starlight on the Rails":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KJ2GFCM4Q8

"Phoebe Snow":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-lgbcpFvjs


"The Preacher and the Slave (Pie in the Sky)":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8qoB1XwtHM

"Enola Gay':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp3Yp8g4YDU

Here's the story of "Moose Turd Pie":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zb1qsVqjwg

"Joe Hill":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRRYctD_jMk

"Queen of the Rails":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EpEmLRWIzs

"Bread and Roses":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8nvHJiPKZ4

"Natural Resources" (with Ani DiFranco):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuegVoHM4tY

"The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEKt78yPHmQ

"Soup":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI84APGsMh0

"I've Got to Know":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHk_MEiR4Sk

"Old Buddy Goodnight"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SwPu7IgSAI

"Dump the Bosses off Our Bak":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTOC4zej_S4

"Oatmeal":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1sTpmDD-f4