A friend writes about the late Utah Phillips

Saturday, May 24, 2008

A rumination on the passing of U. Utah Phillips, anarchist, wobbly,hobo, railroader, folksinger, activist, great iconoclast, husband, father and and all around amazing human being.

By Ken Sanders, a friend.

The golden voice of the great southwest, U. Utah Phillips, will sing and story tell no more. Bruce Phillips passed away at his Nevada City, California home, last evening, May 23rd, 2008 from heart failure, at age 73. After a lifetime spent on the road and speaking and singing out against injustice wherever he found it, one of America's great iconoclasts is dead. After a lifetime spent helping others, Utah
Phillips had little of wordly goods left over for himself. Eschewing monetary wealth his entire life, he made a conscious choice not to seek out a heart transplant that might have prolonged his life; not simply because he couldn't afford it and had no health insurance, but in part because of quality of life issues.

U. Utah Phillips was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 15th, 1935 during the great depression and later served his country during the Korean War in the 1950s, where his political views and anti-establishment stance were formed. Musically influenced by Woody Guthrie and the emerging folk protest movements of the 1930s & 40s, he styled his moniker, U. Utah Phillips, after his musical hero, T. Texas Tyler. He grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and spent many years of his life here and always
had a love/hate affair with his adopted state. It was in Salt Lake that he met Ammon Hennacy, a Catholic anarchist and fellow wobbly, who founded the Joe Hill House, which Phillips and Hennacy ran for many years. A card carrying member of the IWW for most of his life, Utah Phillips spent his life defending the rights of the working man, the homeless and the indigent and also had a lifelong passion for trains
and hobos.

Around this time he first met fellow singer songwriter folksinger Rosalie Sorrels, who was the first to popularize and record songs by Phillips. Sorrels and Phillips became lifelong friends and performed dozens of concerts together over the decades. He ran for the U.S. Senate from Utah in 1968 on the Peace and Freedom Ticket, garnering over 2,000 votes in a defeat to long term U.S. Senator, Wallace F. Bennett. father of current long term Utah Republican senator, Robert F. Bennett. His first recorded album was Good Though, followed by We Have Fed You For a Thousand Years, and he gained a whole new audience through his joint album with Ani DiFranco, Fellow Workers. Many other musicians (Tom Waits, Emmylou Harris, Ian Tyson, Rosalie Sorrels, Ani DiFranco & many others) have recorded Utah Phillips songs over the
years, including such classics as "Moose Turd Pie," "Rock Salt & Nails," "Green Rolling Hills," " Daddy, What's A Train," and "Goodnight-Loving Train."

For many years Utah Phillips hosted his own radio show in Nevada City called "Loafer's Glory: The Hobo Jungle of the Mind" and was a well known community activist there. His story telling abilities were legendary and any Utah Phillips performance was likely at least three quarters stories with a few tunes thrown in. He was an ardent student of history and had a lifelong passion for trains and hoboes His passing has rent a huge whole in the fabric of the universe which can't
be mended. He will be missed. Rave On Utah Phillips! RAVE ON!


POSTSCRIPT
I first became aware of Utah Phillips as a youth in the 60s in Salt Lake through the old Cosmic Aeroplane, back when he was running for the U. S. Senate. I believe Bruce was also involved in the then campaign to get the national anthem changed to Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." Through the Cosmic Aeroplane in the 1970s , I had the honor and privilege of getting to know Bruce as a friend and was involved in
several concerts back in that day, including an environmental fundraiser concert with Phillips and the late Edward Abbey, who although they had never previously met, became friendly after that concert. Abbey tried to track Utah down the next day to get Bruce to show Ed the exact spot in the old prison grounds where they shot Joe Hill. Later we sponsored a concert with Phillips and Rosalie Sorrels at East High through the Cosmic Aeroplane. Bruce hadn't been back to Utah in a few years, and
prior to the concert, the police dusted off an old outstanding warrant for his arrest and threw him in jail. We had to bail him out of jail in order for the concert to proceed that evening. Several years ago, after losing track of him over the years, our paths crossed at the Gold Rush Book Fair in Nevada City California where he was the guest of honor and we renewed our decades old friendship. I last saw Bruce and his wife Joanne exactly a year ago, at the same Gold Rush Book Fair, where Utah regaled my daughter Melissa with stories throughout that evening.
Rock salt and nails, amigo, rock salt and nails.

Ken Sanders
Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA
http://www.kensandersbooks.com
ken@dreamgarden.co

Postscript from Duncan Phillips at 11:14pm
Hello,
This may be late news for some but for rest i must tell you that shortly before midnight, in his sleep wife his loving wife Joanna by his side my father Bruce "Utah "Phillips passed away.

It should be of great comfort that dad was able to spend his last months at home with friends, family and a community that he deeply loved.

There have been no arrangements made as of yet and as i can I will keep you posted.

I feel a deep loss not just for myself and my family but for the global community as a whole. Dad meant and represented something different to each of us.
Not much more I can say at this point.
Thank You All
Duncan