|
|
| Utah Phillips: rugged life story in new CDStarlight on the Rails: A Songbookby U. Utah Phillips, AK Press, Daemon Records, 2005, four disc set, $40 Reviewed by Michael G. Matejka It’s not often that one gets an opportunity to encapsulate a life into a handy little package -- particularly if it’s a complex life. For those who have want to travel the long and sometimes meandering road that singer-songwriter-union activist and folklorist “U Utah” Phillips has walked, that package is now available in a four disc compilation, “Starlight on the Rails.” Phillips defies easy packaging. He’s long refused music agents, record contracts or the other usual success formulas, though Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Flatt & Scruggs and Joan Baez are amongst the talent that have sung his songs. A strong union activist, Phillips belongs to the century-old Industrial Workers of the World, a union with a gut message of worker unity, but now more an historic relic than powerful force. “Singer” or “Songwriter” or other labels will never do this man justice. Phillips is the real thing and he’ll stare you in the face, as his music does, to insure you are the real thing too. There’s no violin overlay, just a man with a story to tell and an incredible way to tell it. Phillips sings about riding freight trains, soup kitchens, the down and out and union solidarity, all packaged with a genuinely rebellious kick-ass mentality. Phillips has wrestled with his share of demons. He returned from the Korean War disillusioned and angry, went off on an endless train ride. Even then, he was listening, learning, soaking up the stories of tramps, living the real life experiences of society’s discarded. Ammon Henancy is a name that Phillips repeats frequently in this compilation. Henancy ran “Joe Hill House,” a Catholic Worker House on the train yard’s edge in Salt Lake City. He straightened out and politicized this angry young man. Since then Phillips became a living repository, an archivist who doesn’t collect old books and papers, but rather one who collects the human story, particularly the tales of society’s discarded. The four disc collection’s richness is that Phillips introduces each song, sharing a little story about each com-position’s inspiration. The first two disc are mostly songs about tramps, freight trains and western lore. Certain songs are very moving, very personal tales, where you’ll meet characters like “Hood River Blackie” and other knights of the rails. “Larrimer Street” is a protest song about Denver demolishing its skid row, while “Phoebe Snow” is a genuine hobo’s lament. “Daddy What’s a Train?” is one of Phillips’ better known songs; your reviewer must exercise full disclosure and note that he is mentioned in the intro to this fun little anthem about searching for childhood’s lost markers, trying to share them with a new generation. Disc three features a variety of artists performing Phillips’ compositions, although he still introduces each song. Rosalie Sorrels, Mark Ross, Kate Wolf, Kate Brislin and Jody Strecher and others all join in the act. The final disc might be the most explicitly political, with Phillips reflecting on his Catholic Worker experiences, the Korean War, and his own brand of personal responsibility, anarchism and active pacifism. There was a time when a radical labor culture was deeply embedded in this country, brutal times when workers faced billy clubs and shotguns for expressing their rights. A time when workers rode freight trains not for a thrill, but to find a town with a paying job. When people were discarded once their working energy was “All Used Up,” as one song puts it. Phillips has collected those confrontational stories from the bottom up, the lived experience of those who stood firm for their rights and weren’t afraid to say they were from the working class. This isn’t a crooner’s smooth singing -- Phillips’ voice is a baritone that reflects some ragged times, but sung with an enticing directness and sincerity. It’s hard whiskey that comes on strong but leaves a warm glow -- the glow of connecting with real life and deeply felt experiences, a connection with humanity that’s all embracing -- holding tight those too often invisible to others. If you would like to buy “Starlight on the Rails,” the best way to acquire it is directly from the musician. That way Phillips gets the fullest financial reward for his efforts. Or, as he looks to put it, "I’m a white haired old man with a firm grip and even teeth, and it’s how I make a living." The four disc set is $40 plus $4 shipping from No Guff Records P.O. Box 1235 Nevada City, CA 95959 (Checks payable to No Guff records). You can order by phone at (530) 265-2476 or visit www.utahphillips.org. The only thing you’d be missing if you only ordered “Starlight” is Phillips’ other great talent: storytelling. No one weaves a western tall tale nor transmits a lonely boxcar ride like Phillips. For the full U. Utah Phillips experience, also consider two story-telling CDs, “Loafer’s Glory” and/or “The Moscow Hold,” at $15 each. Plus he has numerous other albums available, themed around union struggles, railroads and western lore, including some unique pieces with Ani DiFranco. It’s all good -- “No Guff.” |