Like rs, I was very surprised by this selection, and have to say "hats off" to Batlord for introducing me to someone I'd never heard of. Thanks.
Recorded in 1981, the album is just oozing with the feel of an earlier time; I loved the simple purity of it all, the guitar, the sing-a-long of the audience and Utah's clear singing voice.
I'm not always a fan of being taught a political lesson when I listen to music, but Utah's point of view is presented with plenty of humour, and I found it fascinating when he was mentioning people I've more or less heard of like Cesar Chavez and Joe Hill. In fact, on a song like
Bread and Roses, I enjoyed the historical-background intro as much as the song itself. Likewise, on
Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, the spoken interludes (often a bit of a low point in a song) were as entertaining as the sung verses.
As for the lyrics: good plain English used well is an excellent way to write, and I particularly liked this pair of lines:
"They went wild, they went wild over me
I'm referring to the bed-bug and the flea"
Finally, you also get a warm feeling from hearing how the crowd join in: having fun with
The Preacher and The Slave and declaring their creed with the moving anthem,
Solidarity Forever.
I have quoted this before on MB; it's carved over the door of a Victorian Museum of Art in London: "The excellence of every art must consist of the complete accomplishment of its purpose". On that basis, this album gets a solid
10/10 from me.