Died On This Date (May 23, 2008) U. Utah Phillips / American Folk Singer and Union Organizer
themusicsover Bruce U. “Utah” Phillips
May 15, 1935 – May 23, 2008
Utah Phillips was a great folk singer, poet and much respected labor organizer. Phillips first picked up a ukulele when he was a child but soon switched to guitar after he moved to Yellowstone Park to work on a road crew. It was there that he was exposed to the music of Jimmie Rodgers and Gene Autry. After the Korean War, Phillips began to turn his focus on politics and worker unions, going as far as unsuccessfully running for Senate as part of the Peace & Freedom Party. Phillips continued to use his voice and writing as a weapon to defend what he felt were injustices toward his fellow-man. Phillips performed and recorded into his early ’70s, but died of heart disease at the age of 73.
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