May 25 2008
Utah Phillips Heads West
The great folk singer and American Utah Phillips died in his sleep Friday night at the age of 73 in his home n Nevada City, Calif. He struggled with heart disease for a long time and, as Chris, a friend of his said,
Utah has caught the westbound, and I am at a great loss.”
Here’s a snip from the family’s obituary:
Phillips served as an Army private during the Korean War, an experience he would later refer to as the turning point of his life. Deeply affected by the devastation and human misery he had witnessed, upon his return to the United States he began drifting, riding freight trains around the country. His struggle would be familiar today, when the difficulties of returning combat veterans are more widely understood, but in the late fifties Phillips was left to work them out for himself. Destitute and drinking, Phillips got off a freight train in Salt Lake City and wound up at the Joe Hill House, a homeless shelter operated by the anarchist Ammon Hennacy, a member of the Catholic Worker movement and associate of Dorothy Day.
Phillips credited Hennacy and other social reformers he referred to as his “elders” with having provided a philosophical framework around which he later constructed songs and stories he intended as a template his audiences could employ to understand their own political and working lives. They were often hilarious, sometimes sad, but never shallow.
“He made me understand that music must be more than cotton candy for the ears,” said John McCutcheon, a nationally-known folksingerand close friend.
In the creation of his performing persona and work, Phillips drew from influences as diverse as Borscht Belt comedian Myron Cohen, folksingers Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and Country stars Hank Williams and T. Texas Tyler.
Utah ended a letter to his friends at KVMR in Nevada City with these words:
The future? I don’t know. But I have songs in a folder I’ve never paid attention to, and songs inside me waiting for me to bring them out. Through all of it, up and down, it’s the song. It’s always been the song.
For more on Utah, his life, his music, including podcasts and videos, visit utahphillips.org.
Thanks for recognizing a wonderful artist. I’ll miss him. Would you consider posting some of his lyrics? He was a great writer.
Robin, for lyrics and more, just follow the link at the end of the article.