Various Artists - Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways)

This 78-minute, 27-track compilation opens aptly with the classic “Joe Hill,” proclaiming that the Industrial Workers of the World leader’s spirit lives on, despite his execution. One of the ways it lives on is through music; JOE HILL was a songwriter with sharp senses of justice and humor, as heard on – among several examples here – his “Casey Jones (Union Scab),” as sung by PETE SEEGER & THE ALMANAC SINGERS.

Of course, classic artists are well represented, including WOODY GUTHRIE, HAZEL DICKENS, UTAH PHILLIPS, MIKE SEEGER, PEGGY SEEGER, and PAUL ROBESON. Some important songwriters are included as performers: JOHN HANDCOX in a lo-fi but inspiring 1937 recording, and FLORENCE REECE, singing her great “Which Side Are You On?” in her seventies, with a cracked but fierce voice (followed by a more mellifluous rendition by the Almanac Singers).

Other musicians included, such as LARRY PENN, are workers with musical talent who write with deep knowledge of the working life. The predominant style is folk music, but bluegrass (KENNY WINFREE) and country (EDDIE STARR) are used to proclaim the importance of unions, and ANNE FEENEY rocks hard on HARRY STAMPER’s “We Just Come to Work Here.” “We don’t come to die,” that last song continues, in a plea for workplace safety; Utah Phillips has anointed Feeney “the best labor singer in America.”

One of the compilers is JOE GLAZER, whose contributions as both a performer and label owner are included. The catalog of his Collector Records has been donated to the Smithsonian. This helps make this collection current, with two songs about carpal tunnel syndrome and songs by newer talent such as Feeney and ELAINE PURKEY. And no labor-song collection would be complete without “Solidarity Forever,” penned by IWW stalwart RALPH CHAPLIN in 1915. Glazer’s rendition closes this excellent disc.