LOAFER'S GLORY:
Hobo Jungle of the Mind

Utah has been broadcasting a radio show from KVMR, his local community radio station. These broadcasts, which are syndicated over the Pacifica Radio Network and heard around the country, are collages of rants, poetry, tales, and reminiscences mixed in with little known music and talk from over 1,000 tapes of everything under the sun. A few shows are jungle stews cooked up for his own satisfaction, but most are thematic: from tramping and labor (historic and contemporary) to baseball and old friends ... and always music. Each show is one hour long and is available compact disc.

Loafers Glory can still be heard on Public and Community radio stations around the country. If you can't find Loafers Glory in your area contact the program manager of your local Public radio station and tell them you want them to get the CD sets and play them!

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Friends:
For nearly 30 years I've traveled the U. S. and Canada telling stories and singing songs in every kind of situation imaginable. My performances have been patchworks of tall tales, labor songs and stories, tramping and railroad lore, and a general and often comic assessment of the passing parade. At the same time, by delving into my surroundings and the lives of the people I've encountered out there, I harvested an abundance of their tales, songs, poems and mixed blather.

Now for medical reasons I'm no longer able to travel as much as I used to, but I can travel through the airwaves and these satellite things which I don't rightly understand. Hence, I have created a syndicated radio show, through which I can pass along the songs, lore and wit I've accumulated over the years. I hope you'll listen to this show and let me know what you think.

Yours in Tesla's name, Utah Phillips

Loafer's Glory shows. CD's available from No Guff.

Series 1:

LG 1-1 Introduction: An introduction to the idea of "Loafer's Glory": a jungle stew sampling -- songs, poems, tales, politics (mine), and strange, unknown music.

LG 1-2 The West: Songs and stories about the non-Hollywood West.

LG 1-3 Busking: Making an honest living working the streets.

LG 1-4. Holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice songs, stories, poems, and polemics.

LG 1-5 Whimsical Stew: What the Hartz Mountain canaries and "The Rose of No Man's Land" have in common...

LG 1-6 Tramping: Life on the open road with the true and trembling tramp.

LG 1-7 Politics: Ammon Hennacy to Aunt Molly Jackson defines folk music forever.

LG 1-8 Titanic: Jack Johnson and the Titanic collide with the Detroit newspaper strike.

LG 1-9 Radio: The story of radio from crystal set to "Sandman, The Midnight D.J."

LG 1-10 Hard Times: Yip Harburg, Earl Robinson, Woody, Aunt Molly, and Whitman live on an 1890s cylinder.

LG 1-11 Radicalism: From Korea to the trains to Joe Hill House to radio and right into your shell-like ear.

LG 1- 12 Musical Stew: Music of no particular relevance (whew!): Polish bagpipes, jaw-harp, Spike Jones, and Alpin-horns.

LG 1-13 Black History Month: Malcolm X, Mumia from prison, Delta blues, Billie Holiday, and the story of "Strange Fruit."

LG 1-14 Cowboys: Cowboy songs and stories seldom heard from places too fierce to mention.

LG 1- 15 More Stew: Unitarians, Bugs Bunny, Gaelic poetry, John McCormack, and German opera (Joseph Schmidt).

LG 1-16 Labor Songs: Old-time labor songs and stories from 1790 through the black list.

LG 1-17 New Strike Music: It ain't over till it's over. New labor songs still rolling off the picket line.

LG 1-18 Baseball: The original 1927 "Casey at the Bat;" the voices of Babe, Jackie, Low and Casey Stengle before Congress; songs; poems; and a damn good rant.

LG 1-19 Utah: Songs and tales about my home state from one who climbed over the wall and escaped.

LG 1-20 War & Peace: What it means to be a pacifist. Songs, stories, and ideas about war and peace.

LG 1-21 Mark Ross: A singing and talking interview with Mark Ross, aka "Smoke Stack," the country's greatest singing tramp.

LG 1-22 Spoken Word: The music of language spoken with humor, pathos, and dignity. Myron Cohen to Vachal Lindsay.

LG 1-23 More Tramping: Tramp show #2, picking up where we left off some time ago.

LG 1-24 Rosalie Sorrels: Singing and talking interview with my old friend Rosalie Sorrels via phone from Grimes Creek, Idaho.

LG 1-25 Jungle Stew: Everything I love to hear that I couldn't squeeze in before: Malvina Reynolds, sacred harp, "Peat Bog Soldiers" ...on and on...

Series 2:

LG 2-26 A Magical Welcome Back: Songs and tales of magic, the open road, suspenders, and the Rose Tattoo.

LG 2-27 Kids: Kids on strike, the word song, Poems, and stories about kids' liberation.

LG 2-28 Memories of WWII: Recordings of Eisenhower, MacArthur, odd songs and reflections on a boys experience of WWII.

LG 2-29 Animals: Dark, mysterious, or sometimes funny tales about animals from Old Shags to the Great Silky to Chickens for Peace.

LG 2-30 Tramp Songs: Once again we take to the rails with old and new tramp songs, plus tales of the Joe Hill House.

LG 2-31 Labors Untold Story: I sing a lot of this one alive. Labor's story, including the secret story of the birth of the AFL.

LG 2-32 Out Loud and Suitably Outlandish: More singing and spouting out loud mainly about the West, anarchy, and rainforest jerky.

LG 2-33 Satire: Satire is more than just poking fun. It uses the paring knife of wit to peel the husk off pretentious blather. This program is pure satire.

LG 2-34 The Progressive Movement, Part I: One of three programs about the Progressive Movement from the sit-downs to Henry Wallace.

LG 2-35 The Progressive Movement, Part II: The second of this series is all Paul Robeson, from his 1924 "Sweet Bye-and-Bye" to the legendary Peace Arch Concert.

LG 2-36 The Progressive Movement, Part III: The third episode is Franklin Roosevelt from 11 cent cotton, 40 cent meat to the 30-minute recording of "The Unforgotten Man" from the National Guardian.

LG 2-37 More Tramp Songs: A collection of songs and tales from the skids, alleys, and missions. Rare tramp songs from Sophie Tucker and Al Jolson.

LG 2-38 Labor Songs: Labor songs, from the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire to the Great Ohio Fast Food Strike.

LG 2-39 Peace: Speaking and singing out for peace. Pete Seeger, Victor Jara, "Smoke-Jumpers," and chickens for Peace.

LG 2-40 Off the Cuff: This program is just me, a mike, and a guitar. about kids' liberation. Tales with songs to match.

LG 2-41 Utah Arcana: Here's a collection of home made songs I seldom get around to singing.

LG 2-42 Spoken Word: Spoken word, poetry, including "Upon the Wooded Hill" by my wife, Joanna Robinson, and "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," recited by Lord Buckley.

LG 2-43 Live Concert: A recording of a live concert I did in Ithaca, New York, which became the groundwork for my collaboration with Ani DiFranco on The Past Didn't Go Anywhere."

LG 2-44 Bodie Wagner: A singing interview with busker, carpenter, hobo, song-crafter, and longtime friend, Bodie Wagner.

LG 2-45 More Spoken Word: The sound of words well spoken: Gamble Rogers, Judi Bari, Norman Thomas, and Lord Buckley (as Mahatma Gandhi).

LG 2-46 Tragicomedy: Two long tales: John Sayle's "The Anarchist Convention" and Jay O'Callahan's "Politics."

LG 2-47 Meet Me at the Fair: Live from the Nevada County, California, Fair. Interviews with Poultry breeders, a French tourist, and the Hog Queen, all rolled together with the music of Micky Katz.

LG 2-48 Radicals: Will Rogers, direct action, Joe Hill, and small c communist music.

LG 2-49 Labor Day: Sacco and Vanzetti to the bank job in Kuglesburg.

LG 2-50 Christian Music: This is all Christian music intended to restore my faith that this oft benighted faith might yet attain a useful social role.

LG 2-51 My West: Personal reflection and songs about wandering the West, including the amazing but true tale of the dreaded Moscow Hold.

LG 2-52 Labor Today: Walmart, the boycott at Dunn's Department Store, and my first experience of job action.

Series 3:

LG 3-53 The Elegant Hobo: The wanderer's mail service, Feather Ben, and new songs about tramping.

LG 3-54 The Events That Shaped the 20th Century: World War I songs, stories, poems, and rants, mostly from original sources.

LG 3-55 Down Under: A collection of old songs from Australia: drovers, drunks, Anzacs, and the first people.

LG 3-56 Dealer's Choice: Behan singing Behan, Robert Service reciting his own work, and songs of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.

LG 3-57 Labor Gazette: Songs ranging from the railroad strike of 1887 to the Battle of Seattle.

LG 3-58 Another Dealer's choice: I'll take you from Reverend Gary Davis to throwing the TV out the window.

LG 3-59 California: From the Spanish conquest to the Farmworkers' picket line, from Julia Butterfly to the Suburban Shaman, songs to explain some kind of real California.

LG 3-60 Poetry: Ferlinghetti, Lenny Bruce , Robert Service, Gill Scott Heron, and great poets you have likely never heard of.

LG 3-61 Mulligan Stew: Off again with old and new: hobo songs, poems, and lore, including Nat Wills, Josh White, and Rube Waddell (who captures the madness).

LG 3-62 New and Old Friends: Here's a collection of songs and stories from some of my oldest friends, including "A Poem in Early Spring" by my wife Joanna Robinson.

LG 3-63 Folk Songs: What are they? How do they grow and change? I define this once and for all!

LG 3-64 Me Being Weird: My first trumpet recital and a field recording from the jungles of Columbia. This one makes no sense.

LG 3-65 Sad Old Songs: "The Drunkard's Son," "Old Shep," and more.

LG 3-66 Maine: Songs, stories, and poems collected while traveling through Maine several months ago.

LG 3-67 "The Wild Dogs of Kitwanga": More new tramp songs from Mark Ross, Kuddie, Luther the Jett, Larry Penn, and Al Grierson.

LG 3-68 The Fading of the Old West: A winding trail from "An Empty Cot in the Bunkhouse Tonight" to Walking Jim Stolz's "The Spirit is Still on the Run."

LG 3-70 Annual Labor Day Program: From red baiting to downsizing, the labor movement continues to grow and sing.

LG 3-71 Now I Really Like This One: Something of everything. My very own "NPR Talking Blues" rolling on to Studs Terkel reciting "The Scab's Lament."

LG 3-72 Good Company: Songs and stories of political prisoners to nurture the spirit of civil disobedience.

LG 3-73 Tell Me a Story: Some ideas on why stories work, how they're hung together. From the roar of Johnny Handle's Jordy sermon to the quiet of Kathryn Windham.

LG 3-74 United Front: The American Communist Party and the death of Gus Hall. My own way of looking at it.

Series 4 - November 2001 - Here's a whole new batch of programs in the continuing saga of Loafer's Glory: A Hobo Jungle of the Mind. As I courageously plow through miles of tapes, mountains of CDs, LPs and old 78s, I offer music known and unknown and years of sheer recollection delicately hammered together into a one-hour weekly radio show. Songs and stories from Mickey Katz to Mongolian horsemen, war and peace, tramping ... all or most of it proving once again that no matter how long I vacuum, the bag is never full.

LG 4-75 The Street Takes You In Ruminations, perturbations, and rants about homelessness, including Terminal Neon by the great John Trudell.

LG 4-76 Broke Toe A mix of labor, civil rights, and oddball cowboy songs. Don't miss the rare paean from Broke Toe Rezo himself.

LG 4-77 Mysteries of a Hobo's Life How the hobo, boomer life blended in with labor as a migratory movement.

LG 4-78 What Is It About John McCormack? Here are concert singers John McCormack, Jan Pierce, and Paul Robeson, plus rare old pieces from Peter Dawson and Clifford Jackson.

LG 4-79 Utie and the Blowhards This one's a live concert of the Rose Tattoo, a conclave of me and some old friends of the road singing and yarning about life on the trains.

LG 4-80 Palm Trees & Politics What I know about Hawaiian music. Also an interview with the prime minister of the reinstated government of Hawaii.

LG 4-81 Berryman Not on the Lone Prairie From Lake George to Timbuctu, a protracted dither including Judi Bari's scathing rant on Francis Bacon.

LG 4-82 "No American Music" Here you get Mickey Katz and Yiddish parody, kids on strike, and Dan Bern's extremely moving ballad about the school shootings in Colorado.

LG 4-83 Thunder, Lightning & Rainbows Tramp songs and lore with an edge. The life of the "jolly hobo"-oh, yeah.

LG 4-84 Anybody's Guess Musical saw, Pompelli's cave, Talkin' Ma Naturewho knows where the human mind will take you?

LG 4-85 Andrew Carnegie's Library includes one of the best songs I ever heard, "Cry of the Morning." This program goes out to young people who need to know what the boss has in store for them.

LG 4-86 Tickle Up the Trout Everything from Simon and Garfunkle in Hebrew to George Gebel's "You Are My Sunshine." Also Baby Gramps will show you how to go wash an elephant.

LG 4-87 White Pine Shorty: Songtales about the West-my West. Diamond Mountain to Old Nebrasky..oh, and some of the unknown places.

LG 4-88 Pete Seeger & People's Songs: An interview with Pete Seeger, cofounder of the 1946 People's Song move ment, which became the seedbed for the folk music revival.

LG 4-89 Talking NPR: Ever heard "Bush-Speak" by John McCutcheon? You will here. Also "The Night the Chinese Cafe Burned Down."

LG 4-90 Carl Sandburg's Boll Weevil The only farm show I've done so far. Songs of harvest, hardship, and the old duck ranch.

LG 4-91 Earth First! "Garbage," "For ever Wild," "Black Water": a program of songs and poems about our war against nature.

LG 4-92 Railroad Rag This program is about trains, but mainly how they sound played by Duke Ellington, Honeggar, and the Campbell Brothers.

LG 4-93 Peace Rant As we once again plunge into the idiocy of war, here's some ideas on pacifism and the search for peace.

LG 4-94 Songs Heard on the Road Running horses from Mongolia, early California music on Edison cylinders, and the "Ballad of 10-Ton Molly"-figure this one out!

LG 4-95 Dignity Village Why people leave home and what happens when you hit the street. Includes the stunning, unknown songs of Patrick Dodd.

LG 4-96 U.U.P. & Rosalie Alive Great found music from my visit to Santa Cruz, California, and excerpts from my concert there with Rosalie Sorrels.

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