Textile Mills have a long and varied history in America. Some of that history is not pleasant. Today, as textile mill employees are laid off due to cheap overseas labor we take a look at some of the music that speaks to the plight of the textile worker. From the days when working conditions were sub-human and unions waged war against mill owners to the plight of today's unemployed.
1. Si Kahn – “The Aragon Mill” from the album “New Wood”
The Aragon Mill was written by Si Kahn in 1979 and refers to the closing one of the main employers in Aragon, Georgia; The Aragon Textile Mill.
2. Pete Seeger – “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues” from the Smithsonian Folkways compilation “American Industrial Ballads”
Winnsboro, SC is about 75 miles south of Gastonia, NC. This track comes from the Smithsonian Folkways compilation “American Industrial Ballads”, which documents the unprecedented industrialization of the 19th century. The album contains songs of struggle, which emerged from the coalmines, textile mills and farmland of America.
3. Dave McCarn - “Cotton Mill Colic” from the compilation “Hard Times Come Again No More Vol. 2 CD”
In 1905 Dave McCarn was born in Gaston County, NC. Like many in the area, he became a textile industry worker. He took up guitar and harmonica and began writing songs, which became a vehicle to express the hardships of a mill-working life. In 1926 Dave McCarn wrote “Cotton Mill Colic” and released it in August 1930. The song was soon adopted by striking Carolina Piedmont mill workers. In 1939 Alan Lomax found the song and published it on the compilations “Folksongs of North America” and “Our Singing Country”.
4. Almanac Singers - “The Weaver’s Song” from the compilation “Songs For Political Action”
Members of the the Almanac singers included such names as Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays and Pete Seeger. The group’s music remained closely tied with the members political beliefs, which were far-left and at times controversial. “The Weaver’s Song” is a traditional folk song from the late 1800’s, which speaks about the hard life of the weaver.
5. Fisher Hindley – “Weave Room Blues” from the compilation “Hard Times Come Again No More Vol. 2 CD”
The "Weave Room Blues," was written by Dorsey Dixon in 1932 and is perhaps his most significant industrial composition, he called it his “first blues”. In “Weave Room Blues” the author expresses his dissatisfaction with farmers who traded their vocation for the life of a mill worker.
6. Pete Seeger, Jane Sapp and Si Khan – “Bread and Roses” from the compilation “Carry it On: Songs of American Working People”
On a bitterly cold New Year's Day, 1912, textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, began a 9-week strike. The strike would have national repercussions. During one of the striker’s parades, a group of young girls carried a banner with the words: "We want bread and roses too." This sign sparked James Oppenheim to write the poem, "Bread and Roses," later it was put to music by Caroline Kohlsaat, and is performed here by Pete Seeger.
Article comments
1 - earnest
good read
2 - Sunflower
Very interesting, it is great that you put this list together! Only one thing, i do not think that Natalie Merchant wrote the song Owensboro, on the liner notes she says she learned it "from an anthology of American folk songs collected by Elie Siegmeister and published in 1940." It also says that it is traditional; the tune is that of an old moutain hymn and the author of the lyrics is unknown.
But besides that, this list is wonderful, I am going to look into alot of these songs, Thank you for writing it!
3 - Mary
Thanks! I was researching songs from "American Industrial Ballads, and found your playlist. I will be sure to look into some of these other songs.
4 - sonny
i personaooy diod nlt oike the articoe