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The Union Boys (also "Josh White and the Union Boys"
) was an American folk music group, formed impromptu in 1944, to record several songs on an album called ''Songs for Victory: Music for Political Action''. Its "all-star leftist"
members were Josh White,
''Songs of Victory'' fits with the Almanac Singers' album '' Dear Mr. President''.
In 1942, Army intelligence and the FBI determined that the Almanacs and their former anti-draft message were still a seditious threat to recruitment and the morale of the war effort among blacks and youth. and they were hounded by hostile reviews, exposure of their Communist ties and negative coverage in the New York press, like the headline "Commie Singers try to Infiltrate Radio." They disbanded in late 1942 or early 1943.
Woody Guthrie was not in New York City at the time and did not partake; the Union Boys sang one of his songs.
The Recorded Sound Archives of Florida Atlantic University lists:
# "Hold the Fort / We Shall Not Be Moved"
# " Hold On" (traditional, Union Boys led by Josh White)
# "UAW-CIO" (written by Butch Haws)
# "A Dollar Ain't a Dollar Any More" (written by Tom Glazer)
# "Sally Don't You Grieve" (written by Woody Guthrie)
# "Jim Crow" (written by Josh White, sung by Josh White)
The book ''Josh White: Society Blues'' by Elijah Wald lists:
* " Hold On" (traditional, led by Josh White)
* "Little Man on a Fence" (written and sung by Josh White)
* "Move into Germany" (sung by Josh White and Brownie McGhee)
* "Jim Crow" (written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes, Union Boys led by Josh White)
The album may have been reproduced at least once as ''Song for Political Action'' by the Union Boys.
"Hold On," itself a rewrite of a Gospel song "
''Big Red Songbook'' shows the following lineup:
*
Labor Arts - Lyrics to "UAE-CIO"
Archive.org: Songs for Victory - Music for Political Action (1944)
{{Authority control American folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1944 Musical groups disestablished in 1944 Musical collectives Political music groups American folk songs
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...
, Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, Tom Glazer (and Woody Guthrie by contributing a song).
History
Background
''Songs of Victory'' fits with the Almanac Singers' album '' Dear Mr. President''.
In 1942, Army intelligence and the FBI determined that the Almanacs and their former anti-draft message were still a seditious threat to recruitment and the morale of the war effort among blacks and youth. and they were hounded by hostile reviews, exposure of their Communist ties and negative coverage in the New York press, like the headline "Commie Singers try to Infiltrate Radio." They disbanded in late 1942 or early 1943.
Recording session
On March 11, 1944,Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
assembled the group for an impromptu recording at the Asch Recording Studio in New York City.
The album represents a change from the anti-war
An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
, anti-racism, and pro- union philosophies of most of its members but a continuation of their anti- Nazi, anti-Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
philosophies in the form for support for the US and the Allies (which included the USSR).
The Union Boys turned out to be a one-time, one session "group": Moe Asch gave them the name.
Afterwards
A few months later, White and Glazer recorded another album with a similar title, Songs of CitizenCIO
CIO may refer to:
Organizations
* Central Imagery Office, a predecessor of the American National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
* Central Intelligence Office, the national intelligence agency of the former Republic of Vietnam
* Central Intellige ...
. ''Songs for Victory'' also began White's association with recording engineer Moe Asch, who released White's next two albums on his Asch Records label.
Track listing
Woody Guthrie was not in New York City at the time and did not partake; the Union Boys sang one of his songs.
The Recorded Sound Archives of Florida Atlantic University lists:
# "Hold the Fort / We Shall Not Be Moved"
# " Hold On" (traditional, Union Boys led by Josh White)
# "UAW-CIO" (written by Butch Haws)
# "A Dollar Ain't a Dollar Any More" (written by Tom Glazer)
# "Sally Don't You Grieve" (written by Woody Guthrie)
# "Jim Crow" (written by Josh White, sung by Josh White)
The book ''Josh White: Society Blues'' by Elijah Wald lists:
* " Hold On" (traditional, led by Josh White)
* "Little Man on a Fence" (written and sung by Josh White)
* "Move into Germany" (sung by Josh White and Brownie McGhee)
* "Jim Crow" (written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes, Union Boys led by Josh White)
The album may have been reproduced at least once as ''Song for Political Action'' by the Union Boys.
Hold On (Keep Your Hand On That Gun)
"Hold On," itself a rewrite of a Gospel song "Gospel Plow
"Gospel Plow" (also known as "Hold On" and "Keep Your Hand on the Plow") is a traditional African American spiritual. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index, number 10075. The title is biblical, based on Lukebr>9:62. Recordings
* Duke Ellin ...
," received a pro-war rewrite for this album, including the refrain: Hold on – Franklin D. / Hold on – Winston C. / Hold on –The song appeared on White's posthumous album ''Free and Equal Blues'' (1998).Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 .../ Hold on – Joseph Stalin / Keep your hands on that gun / And hold on.
A celebration of the Alllies' united front, the song is an entertaining reminder of what strange bedfellows politics can make, as the singers belt out the names of their heroic leaders: Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek, and Joseph Stalin.Later, Josh White recorded the old folk tune as a new song, "Keep Your Hand on that Vote" that called "united Negroes" to voting booths. (The folk song saw renewed resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s as " Keep Your Eyes on the Prize." )
Personnel
''Big Red Songbook'' shows the following lineup:
* Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
- producer (vocals on "Hold On")
* Tom Glazer - guitar
* Burl Ives - guitar
* Brownie McGhee - <->
* Pete Seeger - banjo
* Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...
- harmonica
* Josh White - guitar
See also
* "Gospel Plow
"Gospel Plow" (also known as "Hold On" and "Keep Your Hand on the Plow") is a traditional African American spiritual. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index, number 10075. The title is biblical, based on Lukebr>9:62. Recordings
* Duke Ellin ...
"
* " Keep Your Eyes on the Prize"
* Almanac Singers
* The Weavers
References
External links
Labor Arts - Lyrics to "UAE-CIO"
Archive.org: Songs for Victory - Music for Political Action (1944)
{{Authority control American folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1944 Musical groups disestablished in 1944 Musical collectives Political music groups American folk songs