UTAH PHILLIPS: Good Though

Utah Phillips

Good Though

© 1974 Utah Phillips (011671100425)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

These songs (and the story "Moose Turd Pie"), homemade and traditional, tell about the tramping I did on the western freight trains over the years.

notes

Utah Phillips has crafted a fascinating show out of his life. In the course of seventy years he has labored as a dishwasher, archivist, printer, and warehouseman; soldiered in the Korean War; lived as a tramp (he is still a Grand Duke of Hoboes), and for the past 36 years made his way telling stories and singing songs. He has the wit, humor, bite, and intelligence of a Mark Twain or a Will Rogers, and behind his "Everyman" appearance is a consummate artist. Peppered with one-liners and offhand philosophical commentary, Utah's revealing stories, about such spirited American characters as Charley Goodnight, Mother Jones, and Idaho Blackie, tell our true history and connect us to American traditions that are genuinely ours.
Utah Phillips is described as "a national treasure, a writer of haunting songs, a storyteller of hilarious presence and subtle depth, a union organizer, historian and scholar, a Celtic-Yiddish bard, a Pleistocene bon vivant, a post-modern ne'er-do-well, and a heck of an engineer." A 40-year member of the Industrial Workers of the World, he is the most entertaining labor troubadour of our time, leading his audience on an emotional rollercoaster with side-splitting storytelling and fire-breathing working class songs. According to one reviewer, "Phillips exemplifies some of the traits which Americans most value: an open and inquisitive mind, a daring heart, and a sharp but humorous tongue." The Boston Globe said, "Phillips above all is a consummate showman, a master of the theater...Phillips has a genius for making people laugh and care at the same time." He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the North American Folk Alliance, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Western Labor Heritage Foundation, and the Joe Hill Award from the Labor Heritage Foundation-AFL-CIO, among many others.

reviews

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  • Good Though!
    author: Brett Bydairk

    I have loved this album since first I heard Bruce sing these songs at Caffe Lena in the early 70's, and I am so glad to finally get a CD version.

  • Good album, one unbelievably great story, funniest I ever heard.
    author: alan platt

    True folk music about riding the rails during the depression. Train sound effects between cuts seemed to not be recorded well, but ok. Funny opener, but the highlight of the album by far is Moose Turd Pie. This cut alone makes the album worth buying. (Believe it or not, I first heard it on KFAT back in the late 70's, and I bought the album just to hear it again! Thank you, Utah.)

  • there's nothing like Utah's stories
    author: Shannon

    Utah is an remarkable storyteller! I have grown up on the Moose Turd Pie story on this cd and the references to things being "good though." It was time for my Dad to own it on cd instead of some dubbed tape version.

  • Magical
    author: Sonya McKinery

    As a railrosd buff, this is the CD to get for anyone who says they love trains. They cannot state this claim without humming these tunes while either working on their model railroad or watching a real train go by.

  • A legend cames alive
    author: Hobsoteve

    Inclused all my favourites (Qeen of the rail, Old buddy good night, Cannonball and Moose turd pie). True the heir or Woody Guthrie. A fine or sometimes rough sence of humor, engaged in the still esisting and growing social problems of America. A true and one of a kind bard. Hope to sse him live next year in Denver.

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