Joe Hill's 'The Tramp' played by Cisco Houston

Joe Hill's 'The Tramp' played by Cisco Houston.

Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, and also known as Joseph Hillström (October 7, 1879[1] -- November 19, 1915) was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, also known as the "Wobblies"). A native Swedish speaker, he learned English during the early 1900s, while looking for industrial jobs from New York to Los Angeles. Hill soon managed to become a well-respected songwriter for the workers' association. His most famous songs include "The Preacher and the Slave", "The Tramp", "There is Power in the Union", "Rebel Girl", and "Casey Jones: Union Scab", which generally express the harsh but combative life of industrial workers. In 1914, wounded the same night of the assassinations of J. G. Morrison, a local notable, and his son, Hill was accused of their murders. Hill declined to give an alibi, explaining the wound as the consequence of a dispute over a woman. Commentators speculated that Hill declined to make public his love affair with a married woman, in order to avoid consequences to her. He was convicted in a controversial trial with changing testimony. Following an unsuccessful appeal, political debates, and international calls for clemency from high profile people and workers' associations, Hill was executed in November 1915. After his death, he was memorialized by several folk songs and has inspired books and poetry.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Joe
• Hill
• Tramp
• Cisco
• Houston
• american
• folk
• roots
• utah
• hobo
• I.W.W.
• protest
• union
• socialist