The Union Boys (also "Josh White and the Union Boys" ) was an American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

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 Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. White grew up in the Sout ...

, Sonny Terry,

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee was ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

Tom Glazer Thomas Zachariah Glazer (September 2, 1914 – February 21, 2003) was an American folk singer and songwriter known primarily as a composer of ballads, including: "Because All Men Are Brothers", recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and M ...

(and

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

by contributing a song).

History

Background

''Songs of Victory'' fits with the

Almanac Singers The Almanac Singers was an American New York City-based folk music group, active between 1940 and 1943, founded by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie. The group specialized in topical songs, mostly songs advocating an an ...

' album '' Dear Mr. President''. In 1942, Army intelligence and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

determined that the Almanacs and their former anti-draft message were still a

seditious Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

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 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,

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

, and pro-

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

philosophies of most of its members but a continuation of their anti-

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

, anti- Fascist 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 Citizen CIO. ''Songs for Victory'' also began White's association with recording engineer

Moe Asch Moe, MOE, MoE or m.o.e. may refer to: In arts and entertainment Characters * Moe Szyslak, from the animated television show ''The Simpsons'' * Moe, leader of The Three Stooges, played by Moe Howard * Moe Higurashi, supporting character in ''Yash ...

, 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 Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...

lists: # "Hold the Fort / We Shall Not Be Moved" # "

Hold On Hold On may refer to: Music Albums and EPs * ''Hold On!'' (album), by Herman's Hermits, 1966 * ''Hold On'' (Trapeze album), or the title song, 1978 * ''Hold On'' (High Inergy album), 1980 * ''Hold On'' (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album), 1987 * ...

" (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

) # "Jim Crow" (written by Josh White, sung by Josh White) The book ''Josh White: Society Blues'' by

Elijah Wald Elijah Wald (born 1959) is an American folk blues guitarist and music historian. He is a 2002 Grammy Award winner for his liner notes to ''The Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Box: The Journey of Chris Strachwitz''. Life Wald was born in 1959 ...

lists: * "

" (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)

Sonny Terry at the Nambassa 3 day Music & Alternatives festival, New Zealand 1981

"Hold On," itself a rewrite of a Gospel song " Gospel Plow," received a pro-war rewrite for this album, including the refrain:

Hold on – Franklin D. / Hold on – Winston C. / Hold on – Chiang Kai-shek / Hold on –
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
/ Keep your hands on that gun / And hold on.

The song appeared on White's posthumous album ''Free and Equal Blues'' (1998).

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 "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" is a folk song that became influential during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on the traditional song, " Gospel Plow," also known as "Hold On," "Keep Your Hand on the Plow," and ...

." )

Personnel

''Big Red Songbook'' shows the following lineup: * Alan Lomax - producer (vocals on "Hold On") *

- guitar *

- <-> *

- banjo * Sonny Terry - harmonica *

- guitar

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