Publisher's Synopsis
The essays in "Songs About Work" offer striking portraits of working environments where song arose in response to prevailing conditions. Approaches range from ethnography to biography, from case to discographic study, and represent a broad range of occupational and cultural context. Included are the protest blues of African American Mississippi River levee workers, the corridors of Chicano farm workers in California, and the European songs of immigrant lumber workers in the Upper Midwest. Rounding out the collection are considerations of such key figures as Woody Guthrie, John Handcox, and the legendary Joe Hill.
