Starlight on the Rails: A Songbook

Artist: Utah Phillips
Label: Daemon Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Box set
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 4

UPC: 767691904726
EAN: 0767691904726
ASIN: B00080Z67E

Release Date: 2005-05-10

Related Categories:

General

| Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk

| Folk | Styles | Music

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters

| Pop | Styles | Music

Folk

| Box Sets | Stores | Music

Listmania:

Outsight Radio Hours 2005 Top 15
05- Memory & Education in a  Box

Tracks:

Songbook Introduction
Utah on "The Telling Takes Me Home"
The Telling Takes Me Home
Utah on "Yuba City"
Yuba City
Utah on "All Used Up"
All Used Up
Utah on "Frisco Road"
Frisco Road
Utah on "Queen of the Rails"
Queen of the Rails
Utah on "Wabash Cannonball/Tolono"
Wabash Cannonball/Tolono
Utah on "Weepy Doesn't Know"
Weepy Doesn't Know
Utah on "Funeral Train"
Funeral Train
Utah on "Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia"
Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia
Utah on "Pheobe Snow"
Pheobe Snow
Utah on "He Comes Like Rain"
He Comes Like Rain
Utah on "The Soldier's Return"
The Soldier's Return
Utah on "Touch Me"
Touch Me
Utah on "If I Could Be the Rain"
If I Could Be the Rain

Tracks:

Utah on "Starlight on the Rails"
Starlight on the Rails
Utah on "Talking N.P.R."
Talking N.P.R.
Utah on "John D. Lee"
John D. Lee
Utah on "Dancers"
Dancers
Utah on "Dog Canyon"
Dog Canyon
Utah on "Look for Me in Butte"
Look for Me in Butte
Utah on "Goodnight Loving Trail"
Goodnight Loving Trail
Utah on "Daddy, What's a Train?"
Daddy, What's a Train?
Utah on "Fly Away"
Fly Away
Utah on "Kid's Liberation"
Kid's Liberation
Utah on "Sing in the Spring"
Sing in the Spring
Utah on "Eddy's Song"
Eddy's Song
Utah on "Shadow Maker"
Shadow Maker
Utah on "She'll Never Be Mine"
She'll Never Be Mine
Utah on "Hood River, Roll On"
Hood River, Roll On
Utah on "Stupid's Song"
Stupid's Song
Utah on "Nevada Jane"
Nevada Jane

Tracks:

Utah on Disc 3
Utah on "Orphan Train"
Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher- Orphan Train
Utah on "Golden Mansions"
Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher- Golden Mansions
Utah on "A Ragged Old Man"
Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher- A Ragged Old Man
Utah on "Collie Wilkins"
Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher- Collie Wilkins
Utah on "Miner's Lullabye"
Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher- Miner's Lullabye
Utah on "Wolverine 14 Talking Blues"
Rosalie Sorrels- Wolverine 14 Talking Blues
Utah on "I Think of You"
Rosalie Sorrels- I Think of You
Utah on "A Clearing in the Forest"
Rosalie Sorrels- A Clearing in the Forest
Utah on "Rock Salt and Nails"
Rosalie Sorrels- Rock Salt and Nails
Utah on "Twist and a Pound"
Mark Ross- Twist and a Pound
Utah on "Scott's Creek Bluff"
Kuddie- Scott's Creek Bluff
Utah on "Ashes on the Sea"
Kendall Morse- Ashes on the Sea
Utah on "The Faded Roses of December"
Finest Kind- The Faded Roses of December
Utah on "Aces, Straights and Flushes"
Kate Wolf- Aces, Straights and Flushes

Tracks:

Utah on "Going Away"
Going Away
Utah on "Old Buddy, Goodnight"
Old Buddy, Goodnight
Utah on "Jesse's Corrido"
Jesse's Corrido
Utah on "Pig Hollow"
Pig Hollow
Utah on "Enola Gay"
Enola Gay
Utah on "Larimer Street"
Larimer Street
Utah on "Walking Through Your Town in the Snow"
Walking Through Your Town in the Snow
Utah on "Room for the Poor"
Room for the Poor
Utah on "Trooper's Lament"
Trooper's Lament
Utah on "I Will Not Obey"
I Will Not Obey
Utah on "Ain't it Fine"
Ain't it Fine
Utah on "Killing Ground"
Killing Ground
Utah on "Judas Ram"
Judas Ram
Utah on "Yellow Ribbon"
Yellow Ribbon
Utah on "Rice and Beans"
Rice and Beans
Utah on "Hymn Song"
Hymn Song

Similar Items:

Good Though
Fellow Workers
Past Didn't Go Anywhere
Rebel Voices: Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World
My Last Go Round

Customer Reviews:

A People's Troubadour.......2006-01-31

The political consciousness developed in my youth coincided with an expansion of my musical tastes under the influence of the great blues and folk revivals of the 1960's. Unfortunately my exposure to the blues greats was mainly on records as many of them had been forgotten, retired or were dead. Not so with the folk revival which was created mainly by those who were close contemporaries. Alas, they too are now mainly forgotten, retired or dead. It therefore is with special pleasure that I review Utah Phillips Songbook while he is very much alive.

Many of the folksingers of the 1960's attempted to use their music to become troubadours for social change. The most famous example, the early Bob Dylan, can be fairly described as the voice of his generation at that time. However, he fairly quickly moved on to other concepts of himself and his music. Bob Dylan's work became more informed by the influences of Rimbaud and Verlaine and the French Symbolists of the late 1800's and thus moved away to a more urban, sophisticated vision. From the start and consistently throughout his long career Utah has acted as a medium giving voice to the troubles of ordinary people and the simpler ethos of a more rural, Western-oriented gone by day in the American experience. He evokes in song the spirit of the people Walt Whitman paid homage to in poetic form and John Dos Passos and John Steinbeck gave in prose. He sits conformably in very fast company. Therefore, Utah Phillips can justly claim the title of a people's troubadour.

A word about politics. Generally, one rates music without reference to politics. However, Utah has introduced the political element by the way he structured the Songbook. Each song is introduced by him as to its significance heavily weighted to his political experiences, observations and vision. Thus, political comment is fairly in play here. Utah is a long time anarchist and unrepentant supporter of the Wobblies (International Workers of the World, hereafter IWW). Every militant cherishes the memory of the class battles led by the IWW like the famous Lawrence strike of 1912 and honors the heroes of those battles like Big Bill Haywood and Vincent St. John and the militants they recruited to the cause of the working class in the first part of the 20th century. They paved the way for the later successful organization drives of the 1930's.

Nevertheless, while Utah and I would both most definitely agree that some old-fashioned class struggle by working people in today's one-sided class war would be a very good thing we as definitely differ on the way to insure a permanent victory for working people in order to create a decent society. In short, Utah's prescriptions of good moral character, increased self-knowledge and the creation of small intentional communities are not enough. Under modern conditions it is necessary to take and safeguard political power against those who would quite consciously deny that victory. History has been cruel in some of the bitter lessons working people have had to endure for not dealing with the question of taking state power to protect their interests. But, enough said. I am more than willing to forgive the old curmudgeon his anarchist sins if he'll sing `I Remember Loving You' the next time he tours the Boston area.

Icon of Folk Songs & Storytelling.......2005-08-19

This is a great box set by a true master of folk songs and stories. I've been to many a Utah concert.

Yet I can't give it 5 Stars. How can a 4 CD compilation omit two of his classics? :

Hallelujah I'm A Bum, and Moose Turd Pie.

Overdue Compilation from a Master.......2005-05-24

In this day of proliferation of boxed sets from even marginal figures, we are fortunate to finally have a collection of Utah's work from the early '70s through the '90s, mostly recorded in live performance from a variety of sources, together with one disc containing performances of his songs by others. Utah's studio albums are still availiable, so this is no "greatest hits" repackaging of available material, but consists in the main previouly unavailable work. The exceptions are 5 cuts from "Loafer's Glory," and one from Legends of Folk. Similarly, a few of the covers are from an albumn by Kate Brislin and Jody Steicher.

Liner documentation could be better, as there is no information on the other performers on the cuts where Utah is not solo, although recording dates and locations are given. My only real beef, however, is the absence of a version of what I believe is his greatest song, "I Remember Loving You," either by Utah, or by others who have covered this such as Priscilla Herdman. But I'm most thankful for the live performances of all of his other great train, polictical and love songs. The spoken intros. to each cut are great to have, particularly for those who have not heard Utah in concert. Utah, I ran into you a couple of years ago near Union Station in Chicago; thanks again for this and I hope you keep writing and performing.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Save Yourself A Lifetime ~ Burns Out Bright

Sinister Slaughter ~ Macabre

Harley Davidson Road Songs, Vol. 2 ~ Various Artists

Unita:Le Best of Indochine ~ Indochine

Mujer

Gipsy Dance ~ Los Fernandos

Celtic Soul: The Magic of Ireland, Vol. 1-2 ~ Various Artists

Flor Amorosa ~ Grupo Chapeu De Palha

La Luz Prodigiosa ~ Ennio Morricone

Jackson C. Frank ~ Jackson C. Frank