Labour's Online Bookstore

Music Books

Voice of Southern Labor: Radio Music and Textile Strikes 1929-1934 by Vincent J Roscigno. The 1934 strike of southern textile workers, involving nearly 400,000 mill hands, remains perhaps the largest collective mobilization of workers in U.S. history. How these workers came together in the face of the powerful and coercive opposition of management and the state is the remarkable story at the center of this book. The Voice of Southern Labor chronicles the lives and experiences of southern textile workers and provides a unique perspective on the social, cultural, and historical forces that came into play when the group struck, first in 1929, and then on a massive scale in 1934. The workers' grievances, solidarity, and native radicalism of the time were often reflected in the music they listened to and sang, and Vincent J. Roscigno and William F. Danaher offer an in-depth context for understanding this intersection of labor, politics, and culture. The authors show how the message of the southern mill hands spread throughout the region with the advent of radio and the rise of ex-mill worker musicians, and how their sense of opportunity was further bolstered by Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio speeches and policies.

Strike Songs of the Depression by Timothy P. Lynch. Labour communications includes labour music -- a message we're spreading through Radio LabourStart and books like this one.

American Labor Songs of the Nineteenth Century by Philip S. Foner. Hardcover, Used. To hear some of these songs, tune in to Radio LabourStart.

This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie by Elizabeth Partridge. Before Springsteen and before Dylan, there was Woody Guthrie. With "This Machine Kills Fascists," scrawled across his guitar in big black letters, Woody Guthrie brilliantly captured in song the experience of twentieth-century America. Whether he sang about union organizers, migrant workers, or war, Woody took his inspiration from the plights of the people around him as well as from his own tragic childhood. From the late 1920s to the 1950s, Guthrie wrote the words to more than three thousand songs-including "This Land is Your Land," a song many call America's unofficial national anthem. With a remarkable ability to turn any experience into a song almost instantaneously, Woody Guthrie spoke out for people of all colors and races, setting an example for generations of musicians to come. But Woody didn't have the chance to find everything he was looking for. He was ravaged by Huntington's disease, just like his mother, and died in a mental institution at the age of fifty-five.

Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People by Bonnie Christensen. Woody Guthrie spent his life putting into words and music what the rest of America was thinking. He roamed from coast to coast and captured the despair of those displaced by the Great Depression and the dust bowl, eulogized workers, and celebrated the great natural beauty of America. This is an introductory biography presented as a picture book with a brief lyrical text and powerful, hand-tinted, woodcut-like illustrations. It includes the complete lyrics to "This Land Is Your Land" and excerpts from his other songs. A book for all ages, it makes this talented and tragic man accessible to young children and will please his older folksinging fans with its stunning art.

Woody Guthrie: America's Folksinger by Karen Muelle Coombs. With hit songs like "This Land is Your Land, " folksinger and composer Woody Guthrie touched the lives of countless people. Although his incredible talent and genius were not fully acknowledged during his lifetime, he never stopped writing the songs inspired by the beauty of America's landscapes and the lives of America's people.

Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie. The autobiography.

Joe Hill by Wallace Stegner. A novelization of the life of the great labour singer and songwriter -- one which is not entirely sympathetic to its subject. Tomorrow and throughout this week, we will feature additional material about Joe Hill, so stay tuned.

Joe Hill by Gibbs M. Smith. The definitive study of Joe Hill, American labor martyr, proletarian folk hero, and song writer.

Case of Joe Hill by Philip S. Foner. A defense of Joe Hill in response to arguments made by Wallace Stegner and others that he may have actually been guilty of the murder for which he was tried, convicted and executed. Available used.

Shoot the Singer!: Music Censorship Today with CD (Audio) by Marie Korpe. Half price! From gangsta rap to narcocorrigos and beyond, this unique book is the first worldwide presentation of contemporary cases of music censorship. With an accompanying CD of banned music from around the world, the book also includes a discussion of the causes, methods and logic behind contemporary attempts by governments, commercial corporations, and religious authorities to prevent people from hearing certain kinds of music and, in particular, the content of particular songs. Cases come from a surprisingly wide range of countries, including Israel, Turkey, North Korea, Mauritania, Mexico, France, South Africa, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Cuba, and the United States, and more. In addition to presenting a large number of specific instances, this volume also explores the logic behind these concerns--including two instances where censors explain, in their own words, what they were doing--and the implications of a digital world for music censorship in the future. Many of these songs are today playing on Radio LabourStart.



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