Don't Mourn - Organize!: Songs of Labor Songwriter Joe Hill

by VARIOUS ARTISTS

Overview

The inclusion of Joan Baez's version of "Joe Hill" on the Woodstock album has been single-handedly responsible for keeping Joe Hill in the public consciousness. Sad but true, for Joe Hill, poet, songwriter, and organizer, was the most popular intentionally proletarian artist in American culture. Not an easy feat, especially considering how many people have tried to be popular proletarian artists. This album, named after Joe Hill's famous last words before he was executed by the State of Utah, is a testament to Hill's power as a musical and cultural figure. It also attempts to secure his place in our memory; Baez won't last forever, of course. The album consists of two elements, Hill songs performed by important interpreters and songs about Hill, again in historically important performances. Among the former, number Harry McClintock singing "The Preacher and the Slave," Pete Seeger doing "Casey Jones (The Union Scab)," and Cisco Houston's version of "The Tramp." The latter category contains the more varied and more interesting contributions. Among these are poet Kenneth Patchen's spoken word piece "Joe Hill Listens to the Praying," Billy Bragg singing Phil Ochs' "Joe Hill," and both Paul Robeson and Earl Robinson performing the Robinson-penned number Baez made her own, "Joe Hill," with its classic line, "I never died said he." Excellent as an album and as a cultural document, hopefully this album will not let us forget the important legacy, a sense of purpose, Joe Hill bequeathed to our culture. ~ Brian Whitener

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/1992
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074002629
Rank:	75641

Tracks

1. Joe Hill  - Billy Bragg  - Phil Ochs
2. Joe Hill's Last Will  - Joe Hill  - Utah Phillips
3. Joe Hill's Ashes  - Mark Levy
4. The Preacher and the Slave  - Joe Hill  - Mac McClintock
5. Joe Hill  - Anthony Hayes  - Paul Robeson  - Earl Robinson
6. Paper Heart  - Charlotte Brody  - Si Kahn
7. Casey Jones  - Joe Hill  - Pete Seeger  -  Song Swappers
8. Mr. Block  - Joe Hill  - Mats Paulson
9. Joe Hill Listens to the Praying  - Joe Glazer  - Kenneth Patchen
10. The Tramp  - Joe Hill  - Cisco Houston
11. Joe Hill  - Anthony Hayes  - Earl Robinson
12. The White Slave  - Alfred Esteban Cortez  - Joe Hill
13. Narrative  - Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
14. The Rebel Girl  - Hazel Dickens  - Joe Hill
15. There Is Power in a Union  - Billy Bragg  - Joe Hill

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mac McClintock   Primary Artist
Paul Robeson   Primary Artist,Vocals
Si Kahn   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Alfred Esteban Cortez   Primary Artist,Vocals
Utah Phillips   Primary Artist,Vocals
Hazel Dickens   Primary Artist,Vocals
Billy Bragg   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Cisco Houston   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Earl Robinson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Mark Levy   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Pete Seeger   Primary Artist,Banjo,Vocals
Joe Glazer   Primary Artist
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn   Primary Artist
The Song Swappers   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mats Paulson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Debbie Hand   Vocals
Bruce Brackney   Vocals
Nancy Kurz   Vocals
Dave Sear   Vocals
Kathy Taylor   Vocals
Marion Wade   Vocals
Jeff Cahill   Vocals
Zoe Collimore   Vocals
Simon Kahn   Guitar,Vocals
Robin Oye   Vocals,Mandolin
Eric Glatz   Vocals
Chris Thomson   5-string Banjo
Chris Thompson   Banjo
Mary Travers   Vocals
Alan Booth   Piano
Tom Adams   Banjo
Bob Bovee   Guitar,Vocals
Faith Petric   Vocals
Dudley Connell   Guitar
Mark Ross   Banjo,Vocals
Wiggy   Guitar,Slide Guitar,Guitar (Steel)
David McLaughlin   Fiddle,Mandolin
Fred Holstein   Vocals
J.B. Freeman   Vocals
Marshall Wilborn   Bass
Kate Taylor   Vocals
Harry McClintock   Vocals

Technical Credits

Gunnar Bergstrom   Producer
Sam Eskin   Interviewer
Charlotte Brody   Composer
Charleston Folk   Producer
Daphne Shuttleworth   Design
Anthony Hayes   Composer
Bart Saylor   Producer
The Song Swappers   Performer
Step Parikian   Engineer
Mike Rivers   Engineer
Mats Paulson   Performer
Laura Parenteau   Producer
Carlos Cortez   Engineer
Paul Robeson   Performer
Si Kahn   Composer,Performer
Kenneth Patchen   Composer
Billy Bragg   Composer,Performer
Alfred Esteban Cortez   Performer
Utah Phillips   Narrator,Performer
Phil Ochs   Composer
Gunnar Bergsten   Producer
Hazel Dickens   Arranger,Performer
Grant Showbiz   Producer
Joe Glazer   Narrator,Performer
Cisco Houston   Performer
Earl Robinson   Composer,Performer
Mark Levy   Composer,Performer
Pete Seeger   Performer
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn   Narrator,Performer
Joe Hill   Composer
Rich Warren   Engineer
Lori Elaine Taylor   Producer
Edmund Robinson   Producer