In honor of Labor Day, I’ve collected some rare and better known songs about the labor struggle. Today many of us take for granted the great strides made by the labor movement, improving the lives of all workers. We’ll hear music from Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Utah Philips, Maria Dunn and many more. A Celebration of Labor … on this week’s Sing Out! Radio Magazine.

LISTEN:

Artist / “Title” / CD / Label

Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer” (excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle /
              Smithsonian Folkways
Jody Kruskal & Luke Richardson / “Waiting for the Boatsman” / Waiting for the Boatsman / JKM
Merle Travis / “Sixteen Tons” / Folksongs of the Hills / Capitol
Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur / “Down on Penny’s Farm” / Penny’s Farm / Kingswood
Dan Schatz / “Gone Gonna Rise Again” / The Promise of Sowing / Folk Legacy
Pete Sutherland / “Coleman’s March-Shacks and Chalets” / Poor Man’s Dream / Epact

Pete Seeger and the Hooteneers / “All I Want is Union” / Sing Out! Hootenanny /
              Smithsonian Folkways
Utah Phillips et al / “Power to the Union” / IWW Rebel Voices / Flying Fish
Seattle Labor Chorus / “Hail-A-Union” / Songs of Working People / Self Produced
Jody Kruskal & Luke Richardson / “Cluck Old Hen” / Waiting for the Boatsman / JKM

Woody Guthrie / “!913 Massacre” / Protest! / Viper
Craig Johnson / “Piney Mountains” / Away Down the Road / 5-String
Cincinnati’s University Singers / “The Future America” / The Hand that Holds the Bread /
              New World

Uncle George Jones / “This What the Union Done” / Songs and Ballads of the
              Bituminous Miners / Rounder
John McCutcheon / “The Young Ones Don’t Remember” / Gonna Rise Again / Rounder
Maria Dunn / “Blue Lung” / Piece by Piece / Self Produced
Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer” (excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle /
              Smithsonian Folkways