Remember why we are Democrats. Music of the coalmines.

[alfredo]

The eastern coal fields is an essential part of our culture here in Kentucky. Us that remember the lessons of the coal fields stand four square behind the union.

Here's the link to the story: The music files were on another page.
http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/165639.html

Here's a taste of the music of the coal fields. The first group, Reel World String Band is from here in Lexington Ky. They're good gals. I've known them for several decades.

Not all the songs are complete. Most dumped near the end, but they give enough to give you the message of the song, and the message I want to give to you.



Real World String Band "Come All You Coal Miners"
http://media.heraldleader.com/smedia/2007/08/30/10/Come_All_Ye_Coal_Miners.source.prod_affiliate.79.mp3

Molly Stemp "West Virginia Mine Disaster"
http://media.heraldleader.com/smedia/2007/08/30/10/West_Virginia_Mine_Disaster.source.prod_affiliate.79.mp3

Natalie Merchant "Which Side Are you On"
http://media.heraldleader.com/smedia/2007/08/30/10/Which_Side.source.prod_affiliate.79.mp3

Ron Short "Redneck War:
http://media.heraldleader.com/smedia/2007/08/30/10/Redneck_Wars-656.source.prod_affiliate.79.mp3

Ed Sturgill "31 Depression Blues"
http://media.heraldleader.com/smedia/2007/08/30/10/31_Depression_Blues.source.prod_affiliate.79.mp3

Rev Joe Freeman "There Will Be No Black Lung (Up in Heaven)"
http://media.heraldleader.com/smedia/2007/08/30/10/No_Black_Lung.source.prod_affiliate.79.mp3

Darrell Scott "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"
http://media.heraldleader.com/smedia/2007/08/30/10/Never_Leave_Harlan_Alive.source.prod_affiliate.79.mp3

Never give up the struggle.

[TygrBright]

1. Don't forget "Dark as a Dungeon"... if you ever heard Merle Travis...

...perform that, it was amazing.

And heart-breaking.

Come and listen you fellows, so young and so fine,
And seek not your fortune in the dark, dreary mines.
It will form as a habit and seep in your soul,
'Till the stream of your blood is as black as the coal.

CHORUS:
It's dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew,
Where danger is double and pleasures are few,
Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines
It's dark as a dungeon way down in the mine.

It's a-many a man I have seen in my day,
Who lived just to labor his whole life away.
Like a fiend with his dope and a drunkard his wine,
A man will have lust for the lure of the mines.

I hope when I'm gone and the ages shall roll,
My body will blacken and turn into coal.
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home,
And pity the miner a-diggin' my bones.

The midnight, the morning, or the middle of day,
Is the same to the miner who labors away.
Where the demons of death often come by surprise,
One fall of the slate and you're buried alive.

The amazing thing is how much misery humans can endure in order to keep a roof over their family's heads and a little crappy food on the table.

sadly,
Bright

[alfredo]

2. I've seen many a man with the blue tattoo. Had a friend who was on

his stomach digging a thin seam. A bit of the roof fell on his head. It wasn't enough to kill or seriously injure him, but it was enough to get his head stuck between the roof and the floor. He had to wiggle his head to get free from the trap. The rest of his life he had the blue coal under his skin on his cheeks and his temples.

[liberaldemocrat7]

14. On the topic of coal miners, I have created 2 postage stamps dedicated to coal miners.

http://www.zazzle.com/maximus7/product/172268666326406305?rf=238083065491105452


http://www.zazzle.com/maximus7/product/172929375327377983?rf=238083065491105452

[alfredo]

16. Excellent work

The pen and ink stamp has a very 30's Art Deco feel about it.

[liberaldemocrat7]

21. I will tell you how I decided to create a stamp.

One night while I surfed the net I found a web site Coal Miner Stamp site.

Apparently a group of dedicated people decided they wanted the government to dedicate a stamp to coal miners. They set up a petition and also communicated with several legislators from the 50 states some of whom endorsed having the post office release a stamp in dedication to those who have died working in the coal mines.


Alas it has not happened yet. My girlfriend runs a store at zazzle.com/maximus7 aka www.dmocrats.org

and I help with making designs of products in which stamps appear one of the products she sells.

Oh do we have products, over 1500 as of now.

I designed a stamp. I found the 1930's type coal miner picture at a public domain site. The picture appears in the public domain. I placed the drawing on the stamp with the text. Now that stamp appears real postage that you can put on an envelope and mail.

Someone said that they wanted to see a real person on a stamp, so I looked around and found some site involved with coal mining and the web site owner said he had a public domain picture of a miner that would also look good on a dedication stamp for coal miners. I put that picture on the stamp with the text.


Both stamps had to get cleared by the people at the post office and people at zazzle.com and in fact the zazzle workers actually call the post office and discuss the stamp design.

Both miner stamps got approved. I decided that 50 percent of the profits would go either to the United Mineworkers Union or to a charity they designate.

So that's what I have done, namely releasing 2 stamps dedicated to those miners who lost their lives on the job.

You can only buy them at the links I gave in the post in this thread.

At least now people can honor miners one way by placing such stamps on their envelopes.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Patty Loveless's version of "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"

(from her Mountain Soul CD) is one of my all-time favorite songs.

[alfredo]

4. She's got a great voice. Check this out.

http://folkstreams.net/ One could get lost in these pages.

[TwilightGardener]

8. Thanks--What an awesome site! I plan to watch the film about the Sacred Harp

singers, I think they were on the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack--cool!

[alfredo]

9. I'm watching this

.
http://www.folkstreams.net/film,128

[TwilightGardener]

11. Love bluegrass--I'll check that one out too--

can't miss the fastest banjo picker in the world.

[alfredo]

15. It is an ass kicking video, so is the fife and drum video

[Solly Mack]

5. This thread is so worth a recommend

[Bozita]

6. A Labor Day kick for unionized miners everywhere

[givemebackmycountry]

7. I give you... Mr. Steve Earle

Find the CD "Just an American Boy" or better yet buy the DVD version which is more of a movie than a live concert film.
In it, Steve recounts the story of those coal miners they rescued in Pennsylvania (?) and he remarks that they got rescued because of all those miners that stood on strike lines and "got their heads bashed in" and when they brought them all up alive "CNN didn't have a fucking thing to do with it"

Steve Earle is the workingman's hero.
He's one of mine.


HARLAN MAN
by
Steve Earle


But I'm a Harlan Man
Just as long as my luck and lungs hold out
I'm a mountain man
Born in east Kentucky and here I'll stay
And if it's the good Lord's plan
I'll wake up in the mornin' and find
I'm lookin' at the end
Of another long week and I can draw my pay
‘Cause I'm a Harlan Man
Never catch me whinin' cause I ain't that kind

I'm a union man
Just like my daddy and all my kin
I took a union stand
No matter what the company said
I got me two good hands
And just as long as I'm able I won't give in
‘Cause I'm a Harlan Man
A coal minin' mother ‘til the day I'm dead

I'm a Harlan Man
Went down in the mine when I was barely grown
It was easy then
‘Cause I didn't know what I know now
But I'm a family man
And it's the only life that I've ever known



THE MOUNTAIN
by
Steve Earle

I was born on this mountain a long time ago
Before they knocked down the timber and strip-mined the coal
When you rose in the mornin' before it was light
To go down in that dark hole and come back up at night
I was born on this mountain, this mountain's my home
She holds me and keeps me from worry and woe
Well, they took everything that she gave, now they're gone
But I'll die on this mountain, this mountain's my home

I was young on this mountain but now I am old
And I knew every holler, every cool swimmin' hole
‘Til one night I lay down and woke up to find
That my childhood was over and I went down in the mine

There's a hole in this mountain and it's dark and it's deep
And God only knows all the secrets it keeps
There's a chill in the air only miners can feel
There're ghosts in the tunnels that the company sealed


Those last four lines always chokes me up.
These songs appear on the albums "The Mountain" with the Del Mcoury band and "Just an American Boy" Steve Earle Live and probably several others as well.

edited due to tears in my eyes - so deal with it

[alfredo]

10. He's one of my heroes too.

[ConsAreLiars]

12. Thank you. (K&R). Some lyrics by Phil Ochs to add to these truth tellers.

Hazard, Kentucky
By Phil Ochs

Well, some people think that Unions are too strong,
Union leaders should go back where they belong;
But I wish that they could see a little more of poverty
And they might start to sing a different song.

Well, minin' is a hazard in Hazard, Kentucky,
And if you ain't minin' there,
Well, my friends, you're awful lucky,
'Cause if you don't get silicosis or pay that's just atrocious
You'll be screamin' for a Union that will care.

Well, let's look at old Kentucky for a while.
It's hard to find a miner who will smile.
Well, the Constitution's fine, but it's hard reading in the mines,
and when welfare stops, the trouble starts to pile.

Well, minin' is a hazard in Hazard, Kentucky,
And if you ain't minin' there,
Well, my friends, you're awful lucky,
'Cause if you don't get silicosis or pay that's just atrocious
You'll be screamin' for a Union that will care.

Well, the Depression was ended with the war,
But nobody told Kentucky, that is sure.
Some are living in a sewer while the jobs are getting fewer
But more coal is mined than ever was before.

Well, minin' is a hazard in Hazard, Kentucky,
And if you ain't minin' there,
Well, my friends, you're awful lucky,
'Cause if you don't get silicosis or pay that's just atrocious
You'll be screamin' for a Union that will care.

Well, the badge of Sheriff Combs always shines
And when duty calls he seldom ever whines.
Well, I don't like raisin' thunder, but it sort of makes you wonder
When he runs the law and also runs the mines.

Well, minin' is a hazard in Hazard, Kentucky,
And if you ain't minin' there,
Well, my friends, you're awful lucky,
'Cause if you don't get silicosis or pay that's just atrocious
You'll be screamin for a Union that will care.

Well, our standard of living is highest all around,
But our standard of giving is the lowest when you're down,
So give a yell and a whistle when they light that Union missile
And we'll lift our feet up off the ground.

Well, minin' is a hazard in Hazard, Kentucky,
And if you ain't minin' there,
Well, my friends, you're awful lucky,
'Cause if you don't get silicosis or pay that's just atrocious
You'll be screamin for a Union that will care.

[LeftishBrit]

13. In Britain too, the miners were crucial to everyone's lives, and crucial to the Labour movement

An industry essentially destroyed by Maggie the Evil One and her underling Sir Ian Macgregor.

Here are some links to British miners' songs.

www.unionsong.com/u013.html


www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/song-midis/Gresford_Disaster.htm

www.pitwork.net/song.htm

[alfredo]

17. thank you.

Here's probably the best known mining song in the US

Sixteen Tons

(Merle Travis)

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
Picked up a shovel and I walked to the mine
I hauled Sixteen Tons of number 9 coal
And the straw-boss said, "Well, bless my soul"

(Chorus:)

You haul Sixteen Tons, whadaya get?
Another older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store


Born one morning it was drizzle and rain
Fightin' and Trouble are my middle name
I was raised in a canebrake by an old mama lion
And no high-toned woman make me walk the line

Repeat Chorus

See me comin' better step aside
A lot of men didn't and a lot of men died
I got one fist of iron and the other of steel
And if the right one don't get ya, the left one will

Repeat Chorus

Born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
Picked up a shovel and I walked to the mine
I hauled Sixteen Tons of number 9 coal
And the straw-boss said, "Well, bless my soul"

Repeat Chorus

[kineneb]

19. I still have Grandma's 78 recording w/Tenn. Ernie Ford

the guy had a great voice.

Grandpa was a miner in the West, before he had too many injuries. Then he went to work in the smelters. Somewhere, we still have his carbide helmet lanterns.

[alfredo]

20. I remember those lanterns. I used to use one when I did some

cave crawling.



During my time in the boy scouts we used to fill balloons with the carbide gas, then pitch them in campfires. The heat would push them up and melt the rubber causing the gas to ignite. What a sight.

We had a union carbide factory in town. They had big impounds for the slurry they dumped. The outside of the impounds would dry, the inside would stay liquid for a very long time. Over the years the slurry grew into a small mountain that loomed over the neighborhoods around it. One day the impound broke sending a 12 ft wall of grey slurry onto houses and cars nearby.

[alfredo]

18. One of the great voices of the mountains Jean Ritchie

She's the writer of "My Dear Companion." She's the real thing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kFVdp1KJiqM


My Dear Companion Jean Ritchie and Emmy Lou Harris

http://youtube.com/watch?v=x1dZB63gwcQ&mode=related&search=

Early footage of Jean Ritchie. Note she is using the traditional turkey quill for a pick. That's Pete Seeger sitting by her.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=U8wR4GZGnZE&mode=related&search=


It is labor day, a day for the workers. I am looking for folk musicians today because they tell the story of the worker, they expose the soul of the worker in their music.

though my body has been broken by working on the farm and factories, I still yearn for the satisfaction of a job well done. There's nothing worse than idle hands. I know I should realize that I did my part, but my hands crave the work that defines my life.

[iverglas]

22. Thank you; Canada has them too

(I'm going to listen to them all as I work this evening.)

Rita MacNeil and the Men of the Deeps

http://www.ritamacneil.com/miningthesoul.htm
(click the arrow beside "Working Man" to hear the concluding chorus)

Working Man

Chorus
It’s a working man l am
And I’ve been down under ground
And I swear to God if l ever see the sun
Or for any length of time
I can hold it in my mind
I never again will go down under ground

At the age of sixteen years
Oh he quarrels with his peers
Who vowed they’d never see another one
In the dark recess of the mines
Where you age before your time
And the coal dust lies heavy on your lungs

Chorus

At the age of sixty-four
Oh he'll greet you at the door
And he'll gently lead you by the arm
Through the dark recess of the mines
Oh he'll take you back in time
And he'll tell you of the hardships that were had

Chorus
(Repeat Chorus)
(Repeat Chorus)

God I never again will go down under ground



Clip of National Film Board film about the Men of the Deeps here:

http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/vPlayer.php?id=51220


http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=51220

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0002344

Men of the Deeps. Choir of Cape Breton coal miners, formed in 1966. It was founded at the instigation of Nina Cohen, whose enthusiasm for the preservation of mining culture had also led to the founding of the Miners' Museum in Glace Bay, NS. ...

The choir has toured extensively in the US and Canada, including performances at Expo 67 and Expo 86. In 1976 it became the first Canadian performing group to tour China after diplomatic relations between Canada and China were re-established in 1972. ... After the 1992 Westray mine disaster, interest in the mining choir became even more widespread. ... At the invitation of actress Vanessa Redgrave, The Men sang for refugees in Kosovo in 1999. The University College of Cape Breton granted the entire choir an honorary doctorate of letters in 2000.

[iverglas]

23. and on Harlan County -- the movie, of course

Not to be missed by anyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County,_USA

Harlan County, USA is a 1976 documentary film documenting the efforts of 180 coal miners on strike in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1973. It was directed by Barbara Kopple, who has long been an advocate of workers' rights. Harlan County, U.S.A. is less ambivalent in its attitude toward unions than her later American Dream, the account of the Hormel Foods strike in Austin, Minnesota in 1985-86.

Kopple and her crew spent years with the families depicted in the film, documenting the dire straits they find themselves in while striking for safer working conditions, fair labor practices, and decent wages: following them to picket in front of the stock exchange in New York, filming interviews with people affected by black lung disease, and even catching an attempted murder on tape.

... The film won the 1976 Academy Award for Documentary Feature and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The events were dramatized in the 2000 TV movie Harlan County War.

[iverglas]

24. and more of our shared heritage ;)

It just occurred to me that I have a personal connection too.

I have recently been doing genealogy research and found that I have an ancestral family that was connected with the copper mines in Cornwall, England. I haven't yet figured out whether they were miners or managers, but don't hit me. My very dirt-poor 19th century ancestors in Nottingham probably had coal miners in the family.

There's a good chance that someone with mining family in the US has Cornish ancestry as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_emigration

There is a well known saying in Cornwall that
"a mine is a hole anywhere in the world with
at least one Cornishman at the bottom of it!"