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Union Boys

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Union Boys, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 29 November 20257 sources
The Union Boys
Company typeMusical ensemble
IndustryMusic
Founded1944
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Key people
Josh White, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, Tom Glazer, Alan Lomax (producer)
ProductsSongs for Victory: Music for Political Action (album)

The Union Boys—also known as "Josh White and the Union Boys"—was a United States-based folk music ensemble created in 1944 specifically to produce the album Songs for Victory: Music for Political Action. This "all-star leftist" collective featured prominent artists such as Josh White, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, and Tom Glazer, with a contribution from Woody Guthrie in the form of a song.

Background

The album Songs for Victory served as a companion piece to the Almanac Singers' release Dear Mr. President, both records endorsing the wartime effort.

In 1942, Army intelligence along with the FBI flagged the Almanac Singers’ prior anti-conscription position as detrimental to recruitment and morale, particularly among African Americans and young people. The group encountered harsh criticism, public exposure of Communist affiliations, and unfavorable press in New York, including headlines accusing them of attempting to infiltrate radio with Communist propaganda. Following a nationwide CBS broadcast in January 1942 that featured their pro-war song, their engagements ceased, culminating in the group's dissolution by early 1943.

Recording session

On March 11, 1944, an unplanned recording session was convened by Alan Lomax at New York City’s Asch Recording Studio.[1][2][3]<ref name=Cohen-Capaldi> This album marked a departure from the members’ typical anti-war and pro-labor messages, instead expressing support for the United States and its Allies against Fascism and Nazism. The Union Boys were formed solely for this occasion, with their name coined by Moe Asch.[3]

Afterwards

Soon after this project, White and Glazer collaborated on Songs of Citizen CIO.[4] This endeavor initiated Josh White’s partnership with engineer Moe Asch, who produced White’s subsequent two albums under Asch Records.[2]

Track listing

Although Woody Guthrie did not participate in the recording session, the Union Boys performed one of his compositions.[3]

According to the Recorded Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University:

  1. "Hold the Fort / We Shall Not Be Moved"[5]
  2. "Hold On" (a traditional piece led by Josh White)[1][6]
  3. "UAW-CIO" (authored by Butch Haws)Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
  4. "A Dollar Ain't a Dollar Any More" (written by Tom Glazer)
  5. "Sally Don't You Grieve" (composed by Woody Guthrie)
  6. "Jim Crow" (written and performed by Josh White)[1]

Elijah Wald’s book Josh White: Society Blues lists these tracks:

  • "Hold On" (traditional, led vocally by Josh White)
  • "Little Man on a Fence" (both written and sung by Josh White)
  • "Move into Germany" (performed by Josh White alongside Brownie McGhee)
  • "Jim Crow" (credited to Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes, with Josh White leading)[2][6]

The album may have been re-released under the title Song for Political Action credited to the Union Boys.[5]

"Hold On (Keep Your Hand On That Gun)"

The track "Hold On," adapted from the Gospel tune "Gospel Plow," was given a pro-war makeover for this album. Its chorus includes:

Hold on – Franklin D. / Hold on – Winston C. / Hold on – Chiang Kai-shek / Hold on – Joseph Stalin / Keep your hands on that gun / And hold on.[2]

This song later appeared on Josh White’s posthumous compilation Free and Equal Blues released in 1998.

Emphasizing Allied unity, it highlights political leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek, and Stalin.[6]

Subsequently, Josh White reworked it into "Keep Your Hand on that Vote," encouraging African Americans to participate in voting. The melody resurfaced during the 1950s and 1960s as "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize."[7]

Personnel

The Big Red Songbook identifies the members involved:

See also

External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named FAU
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Wald
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Santelli-Davidson
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Denning
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Phillips
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Wald-White
  7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Carawan

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