Utah Phillips

Monday, June 2, 2008

Hello,
Thank you all for the letters and phone calls. I have just returned to our home in Salt Lake. I will update the blog over the next few days. Dad would want me to describe the service and memorial for his many friends that could not attend, it was beautiful.
Duncan

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: Thanks Duncan; Please don't make yourself scarce!Your words mean a lot to us folks out here. Thank you!!! Keith Bednar; June 3, 2008 at 5:12 AM
tbk said...: Just want to say how much I appreciated and loved your dad. Been listening to my albums (yes, round plastic things that turn) at home and "Good Though" CD in the car and people driving by probably think I'm nuts cause I can't help laughing every single time about the plastic surgeons who worked for months putting together that mule's ass and that man's hat -- was he referring to Nixon? Hm. Nothing's changed.
Anyway, just wanted to add my two cents. I just wrote a travel blog about a steam engine that rolled into San Diego on Sunday. At the end, I dedicated it to good ol' U Utah Phillips.
Here's the link: http://matadortravel.com/travel-blog/united-states/tinakafka/the-shiny-black-engine-that-could-and-did

Thanks,
Tina Kafka; June 3, 2008 at 10:03 AM
greentangle said...: I'm a couple weeks late learning this sad news. I'll always remember a great chat I had with Utah in Harvard Square years ago. His stories and songs were wonderful, but his caring made him even better. A whole lot of people will never forget him.; June 7, 2008 at 7:04 PM
Other Adam said...: I just wanted to pass along my condolences for your loss.

Your father was always able to make me laugh and cry. I was introduced to his albums through my sister (we bonded over his work actually) and instantly fell in love with the stories and songs.

I saw him at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago as I finished my first year of college and it is night that I will always vividly remember. Alternating between tearing up, uproariously laughing, and chanting along with the songs (when told), the evening will always hold a special place in my heart. I found out about your father's passing while looking to see if he would be in Chicago again anytime soon.

Your father was a wonderful infleuence in my life. My best wishes to your family.

Adam; June 7, 2008 at 9:53 PM
Brad Riesau said...: I played Bruce's I HAD A MULE on July 4th at a beautiful outdoor gig and I hadn't sung it since the late 70s so I searched online for the words which I never came up with.

But, alas, I read the news of his passing and I was saddened greatly and almost immediately filled with great joy of having not only expereinced his incredible rapport as a member of an audience numerous times over the years but also touched personally by his grace and sincerity as a human being.

I was a young college student at SDSU in the late 70s and was on the Cultural Arts Board that worked with San Diego folk supporter Lou Curtiss to book what was a gem of a little annual Folk Festival.

The first year I was involve Utah was one of the headliners and after speaking with him briefly before one of the afternoon workshops I was completely taken with the direct and passionate focus he had with each and every person he met as well as his inate ability to touch folks on a very personal but universal level whether conversing casually or in the spotlight onstage.

Also on the bill was Kate Wolf who was as gracious as a person could be to an enamored guitar player (me) who was scrawling down lyrics to tunes as she sang and had the audacity to ask her if they were correct as she came off stage. She was sweet enough to offer to show me the chords right then and there. The song was A LEGEND IN HIS TIME which on hearing it now seems to fit Bruce as well.

In the years since, I have worked as a publicist for many fine musicians including Willie Nelson who I have also seen this kind of graciousness and connection on a one-to-one basis with his fans. And I always recalled the first time I ever saw the wall between stage and audience fall away, when I first realized thru Utah and Kate that the reason these great talents were so magnificent was that they were just good folks like the rest of us; folks with families, folks that cared about other people, folks that spent their time sharing good thoughts and good messages and good sense with other good folks.

Here's to good folks.; July 8, 2008 at 2:31 AM
Neil App Jones said...: A Warm-Welsh-Welcome to you and your family Duncan.....!

I am privleged yet very saddened to have just come across the achievements of your precious father, "Utah" Phillips; so sorry that I have arrived at your Blog to find that your much lamented father has arisen to the heavens. I am sorry

You must be very, very proud of his heart warming decency and principled humanitarianism. I only a few hours ago discovered your dad in a huge publication by Doring Kingsley; Music, the definitive music history under the Protest Music section! An "Utah Saint!!

May I ask Duncan? Have you traced your family roots back to the Celtic-Brythonic-Welsh, the original inhabitants of what is now called Britain? I would love to know kind sir!

May I therefore wish you and your family, long, inspiring and pleasant memories from your fathers musical legacy!!

Diolch

yours Respectfully

Neil; February 8, 2018 at 7:24 PM

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The Two Bums

This is a poem from George Milburn's book, The Hobo's Hornbook. You can also find it in a lot of old I. W. W. pamphlets and literature. It sums up a great deal of what I feel. It talks about the bum on the rod and the burn on the plush, which is just a simple way of saying that the kind of system we live in now demands that there be a poor people, demands that there be people out of work so that there will always be people willing to work for any wage.
Sure, a lot of railroad burns are parasites, but, like the poem says, they're just fleas who get an occasional bite, and you look at what those parasites at the top are chewing off. I know that there's a lot of talk these days about the welfare Cadillac; middle class people talking about those welfare gobblers down on the bottom who are afraid to do an honest day's work, and they're all driving big Cadillacs. And you hear over and over again, "Nobody ought to get something for nothing. " I've got to agree. You've got to work to eat.
I look at a factory. I see that everybody associated with that factory puts something in and they take something out. The workers put in their sweat and their skill, and they take out wages. The salesmen put in their skill and ability, and they take out commissions. The managers and foremen and people in the offices put in theirs, and take out salaries. But there's one group of people who take out more than they put in, and that more is called profit. I can't think of any other way to define it. That's a bunch of people who are getting something they didn't work for, and it's a whole lot.
If we're really concerned about people getting just what they earn, if we're really concerned about people not getting something that they didn't put in time and sweat for, let's start with the major offenders, and get rid of them. Then we'll gradually work our way down to the petty chiselers. It just makes sense.

The bum on the rod is hunted down
As the enemy of mankind;
The other is driven around to his club
And feted, wined and dined.

And they who curse the bum on the rods
As the essence of all that is bad
Will greet the other with a winning smile
And extend him the hand so glad.

The bum on the rods is a social flea
Who gets an occasional bite;
The bum on the plush is a social leech,
Blood-sucking day and night.

The bum on the rods is a load so light
That his weight we scarcely feel,
But it takes the labor of dozens of men
To furnish the other a meal.

As long as you sanction the bum on the plush,
The other will always be there,
But rid yourself of the bum on the plush
And the other will disappear.

Then make an intelligent, organized kick,
Get rid of the weights that crush;
Don't worry about the bum on the rods,
Get rid of the bum on the plush!

Internet Archive

I have started to develop an internet archive on my web page. It will be a collection of pictures, concert flyers and posters, concert audio and video, in short everything that I have collected during the last few years of traveling with dad. My hope is that it may one day become a central place for the world wide community to have access to an ever growing archive of Utah Phillips. I would like to encourage folks to add to the archive as well. You can either send things via e-mail ( friendsofutah@yahoo.com) or to my home address. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank You
Duncan Phillips
1392 e. 5935 s.
SLC, UT. 84121