UTAH PHILLIPS 2-CD TRIBUTE SET A TREASURE TROVE
Yuri Gagarin, Oh Yuri Gagarin/ He rode into the sky/
On a pillar of fire/And he gave us his name/
In a story that will never die/ This young Russia pilot/
Who did what no man had done.
Can you imagine any US songwriter being brave enough to write and record a song like that as the States was just emerging from the dark shadow of McCarthyism? The 1950’s inquisition into perceived un-American activities that had driven such entertainment immortals as Paul Robeson and Charlie Chaplin from it’s shores.
Well, Utah Phillips, who left this world greatly bereft in his 73rd year, on May 23, 2008 did! Bruce, his given name, has been a music hero of mine since the day in the mid 1960’s I discovered his Prestige International lp with that song on it. A hero, not only for that song, but for all the beautifully poetic songs he composed, as well as courageous ones he continued to write, since that first album, right up until his death.
Somewhat as a balm for the grief of his passing, Canada Post left me a Righteous Babe Records treasure trove in our mail box the first week of January: a belated Christmas present arranged by my wife, Carol.
It’s a 2 CD Tribute To Utah Phillips entitled Singing Through The Hard Times that embodies 39 songs, 29 of them written by Utah. Of the other ten, one is a rare Robert Service gem,Michael,I’d never heard or even read before, three are traditional songs and six were written by singer/songwriters with close ties to Utah. This, to my ear, incomparable set is the best of the five nominees in the Best Traditional Folk Album category for a Grammy at the 2010 Awards being telecast by CBS on January 31.
The Prestige International disc Nobody Knows Me was recorded when he was calling himself U. Utah Phillips because as he told me once “Back in those days I was a country and western singer and there was this guy recording in Nashville, T. Texas Tyler, so I thought, since I was living in Salt Lake City again, after a three-year army hitch in Korea, I’d call myself U.Utah Phillips. Why not?”
Nobody Knows Me is an album of 16 songs so rare it’s not even listed in his Wikipedia bio. I have a copy autographed by Utah at our first meeting, a concert of his in Portland, Maine over 20 years ago.
I was with Kendall Morse, a gifted Maine folk singer and story-teller, at that concert. He, his wife Jacqui and Dan Schatz are the producers of this monumental 2-CD set. And those three are among the 38 fabled folk singers, instrumentalists and groups featured, one selection each, on the two CD set. Some like Kendall are among those that have come up to regular summer weekend folk gatherings in NB for three decades.
On this set Kendall sings one of the more poignantly beautiful songs Utah wrote, Phoebe Snow; his wife Jacqui The Miner’s Lullaby; Gordon Bok the classic Goodnight Loving Trail; Kat Logan, who beguiled breakfasters at an impromptu Kingston Farme
rs Market concert four Augusts ago, his exquisite Faded Roses of December; Will Brown, Cindy Kallet and Grey Larsen render Going Away; Ed Trickett (part of a trio with Ann Mayo Muir and Gordon Bok for 30 years) sings The Telling Takes Me Home; the beautiful voice of Lisa Null is heard on All About Preachers and Caroline Paton’s (she with husband Sandy founded Folk Legacy Records) interprets the song , Singing In The Country, that Utah’s family and friends sang as he was lowered into his Nevada City, California grave, May 29, 2008; Harry Tufts sings the haunting She’ll Never Be Mine.
Utah Phillips was a long time member of the Industrial Workers Of The World (IWW or Wobblies). A spiritual heir of Woody Guthrie and Joe Hill. He wrote, along with his much loved eloquent anthems and ballads, such incendiary broadsides as All Used Up sung on this tribute set by another of my favourites, John McCutcheon who, himself, wrote the unforgetable masterpiece Christmas In The Trenches. John’s oft-times touring companion, Si Kahn sings John Brill’s Dump The Bosses Off Our Backs.
The most incredible paring on this unbelievable set of recordings is Emmylou Harris, one of Nashville’s most honoured singers joining her voice with the Irish Republic’s most celebrated traditional and contemporary song interpreter Mary Black, in a ethereal rendition of Utah’s Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia. In Ireland, Black has been officially proclaimed one of the most important vocalists of her generation.
Saul Broudy sings Utah’s classic, oft recorded Starlight On The Rails; Larry Penn sings T-Bone Slim’s The Popular Wobbly; Utah’s Room For The Poor is sung by Cathy Fink (who with Canadian Duck Donald was once a headliner act on the international bluegrass circuit); a traditional ballad, Ruben’s Train, is sung by Kristin Morris, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker and East Rattler perform Utah’s Patty Come Back; Faith Petric, a wonderful oldtime songstress sings her friend Utah’s If I Could Be The Rain; Dan Schatz sings Utah’s oft recorded Queen Of The Rails; Judy Cook, his inspiring Kid’s Deliberation and Pete Seeger a song of his Utah was fond of, Or Else! (One Of These Days); a close friend of Utah’s for over 50 years Rosalie Sorrels, a prolific recording artist, sings his The Soldiers Return, a song inspired by seeing Panmonjan, Korea, in ruins.
Folk music icon Tom Paxton sings Utah’s very moving I Remember Loving You (Back When The World Was New); Elizabeth LaPrelle sings Jessie’s Corrido, a song Utah wrote with Sorrels; old-time folk legend Dakota Dave Hull sings Utah’s Old Buddy, Goodnight; Bruce Brackney Utah’s Hood River, Roll On; Mick Lane a traditional ballad, Halleleujah! I’m A Bum,; Ani DiFranco, who became a collaborator of Utah’s in the last decade and a half of his life (she’s appearing at The Playhouse in Fredericton next Wednesday) leads a quartet of musicians in The Internationale; Jay Peterson performs Utah’s Daddy What’s A Train?, Ottawa folk act The Finest Kind led by Ian Robb interprets He Comes Like The Rain; Mark Ross sings Utah’s Look For Me In Bute; Jean Ritchie sings Old George’s Square, a song Utah identified with: he was one of 19 in his Korean unit who received Dear John Letters; Emma’s Revolution sings Utah’s Hymn Song; and another whose records I treasure, Art Thieme, sings The Hobo’s Last Ride; Taylor Whiteside sings Rock, Salt and Nails. And just about everyone on the two disc set join in on the title song, Singing Through The Hard Times, it’s biggest production number,
The song that most intrigued me, however, is one I hadn’t heard before, Larimer Street, written by Utah, sung by Rik Palieri, just the right voice to interpret the sardonic humour of a wrecking ball clearing away the dwellings of the poor to create yet another parking lot and demolishing a betting parlour, so as to put up a stock market investment facility.
All profits from this 2-CD set, originally intended as a fund-raiser to help Utah with mounting medical bills will now go to his family. And, if you are a lover of real folk music this absolutely essential 2 CD set, A Tribute To Utah Phillips, is available by visiting www.rightousbabe.com
TWO MEETINGS WITH UTAH
The evening in Portland that I first met Utah, I’d arrived just at concert time so I was making my way to a washroom at intermission when I passed Utah in conversation with a fan. I heard him say “I’m looking for the words to a song Wilf Carter wrote “I Bought A Rock For A Rocky Mountain Girl”. I stopped and said, “Wilf didn’t write it, Red River Dave McInery did. He was a friend of Wilf’s in the 30’s in New York. Dave didn’t have a record contract at the time so he let Wilf record it.” On the way back they were still conversing and Utah said “Another song I’m looking for is The Hobo’s Lullabye that Wilf Carter wrote.” I stopped and said “No, Wilf didn’t write that one either, Gobel Reeves did.” Utah said, “Who the hell are you anyway?” I told him I was a record collector from New Brunswick.
Seven years later Utah was appearing at the Left Bank Cafe in Blue Hill, Maine, so Carol and I went down to hear him. He was sitting across the room from us, I noticed, with another couple, as we were being seated. We had just picked up our menus when Carol said, “He’s coming over.” I looked up as he stopped by our table, “You’re that record collector from New Brunswick, I was hoping I’d find you again someday,” he said. It was more of a statement than a question. What a memory he had for faces! In conversations with him then, at intermission and afterwards I agreed to put all of Wilf Carter’s and Gobel Reeves’ hobo songs on tape for him. I did and he sent me back two of his albums, Legends of Folk and The Moscow Hold I didn’t have.
Sometime toward the end of the past millennium I had a letter from Red House Records saying that one of their roster, Utah Phillips was appearing in concert at a college on the Maine coast, could I give it some publicity in NB? Well, I phoned the college intending to reserve tickets, as well as inquire about details, but they had no notice of such a concert. I phoned his home in California: “He’s on the east coast,” his wife said, “but I don’t know where all he has concerts booked.” I phoned Red House and was told, “He’s supposed to be there on such and such a date.” I phoned the college back and asked for someone in administration. “Oh, yes,” I was informed this time, “He’s here then but it isn’t a concert. He’s addressing our graduating class. Utah’s our convocation speaker. ”
So the opportunity to talk with Utah again, my last opportunity as it has turned out, went down the tubes. No one will ever hear that eloquent voice again…except on recordings, of course.
