The Joe Hill Memorial Committee Presents – If I Were Free: A Collection of Songs Sung Every Friday Night at the Joe Hill House for Transients and Migrants, 3462 South on Fourth West, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[Salt Lake City, Utah]: The Utah Wobbly Press, February 17, 1967. Paperback / Songbook / Ephemera. [14], 33, [1] pp. Quarto [28 cm]; sidebound with a metal slide-prong fastener through two holes punched at the left margin (presumably as issued). In original cardstock covers, with illustration and title to front. Mimeograph printed. Light overall wear, bumping to edges and corners, sporadic soft creasing, and minor age-toning. Some staining at the bottom of the rear cover. Still, a structurally sound, clean, and unmarked copy of this rare and fragile songbook. Very Good. Item #71539
The text includes two essays by Ammon Hennacy ("The Case of Joe Hill" & "Joe Hill House") as well as the lyrics to a large collection of favorite songs sung by residents of the Joe Hill House who were accompanied by local activists and politically conscious university students every Friday night. Classic songs of working-class activism by Joe Hill, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger (among others) are interspersed with more humorous offerings. Of particular note is "Wives" by Utah Phillips, which tackles polygamy. There are five original Utah Phillips songs; some of his earliest material.
While the index in this work lists fifty-three songs, and past archival records report fifty-five songs included in this title, our collation and physical count in this copy confirm fifty-six songs printed herein. In addition to all of the songs listed in the index, printed in this work are also the following songs:
– "We Shall Not Be Moved." An uncredited song consisting of eight lines of lyrics, printed on page 4 (beneath the song "Midnight Special").
– "Hobo Bill's Last Ride." A song credited to Jimmy Rodgers [sic, Jimmie] consisting of sixteen lines of lyrics in four stanzas, printed on page 33.
– "Wives." A song credited to Utah Phillips consisting of twenty-two lines of lyrics in six stanzas, also printed on page 33.
[Note: The final song of the songbook, "If I Were Free," is printed on the final (unpaginated) printed page, [page 34]; the index states this song as appearing on page 33.]
The Joe Hill House was a Catholic Worker Movement house of hospitality established in Salt Lake City in 1961 by Ammon Hennacy and Mary Lathrop. It provided shelter and hospitality to those without. It was relocated multiple times, and the state forced its closure in 1968.
The price of the book reads "Contribution," with proceeds intended "to be used for the erection of a suitable monument to the undying memory of Joe Hill, poet and organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, and murdered by the State of Utah, November 19, 1915." Such a monument was not erected until November 2023 in Salt Lake City's Sugarhouse Park, which is the former site of the Sugar House Prison and Joe Hill's execution by firing squad. The front cover shows an illustration of a worker breaking free from his chains, and the text reads: "If I Were Free | Joe Hill House – Febuary [sic] 1967". The colophon page [2] lists the Utah Wobbly Press Editorial Board: Ammon Hennacy, Bruce ["Utah"] Phillips, Ceres Freeman, Jack Freeman, Kathy Laney, Jo Thorn, Robert Thorn, and Roger Carrier.
Rare. Our research via OCLC/WorldCat locates only five copies in institutional holdings (at Northwestern University, the University of Mississippi, the University of Tulsa, the Salt Lake City Public Library, and the University of Utah), although we know of an additional sixth copy held by the Brigham Young University Library which is not currently reported in our search results.
Price: $1,000.00