KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Political Protest and Labor Union Songs by the Bay Area Progressive Musicians Association
Analog Audio
Event Type
MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
AM.197X.XX.XX.03Program Length
30 minDates
| broadcast| 402 | created
Description
Recorded in 1975 or 1976, the Bay Area Progressive Musicians Association (BAPMA) perform a selection of labor union and political protest songs, live in the studios of KPFA. BAPMA, was a band of revolutionary minded musicians who performed regularly at local San Francisco Bay Area political rallies, union strikes, and other similar forums during the 1970s. In this recording they can be heard performing such classic work songs as “Huelga en General,” an anthem of the United Farmworkers, “Which Side Are You On?,” a song made famous during the coal strikes of the 1930s, “Bread & Roses” from the 1911-12 Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike, Woody Guthrie’s “Union Maid,” and “The Internationale,” the official anthem of the Socialists workers movement, among others.Genres
Folk musicMusical Selections
[unidentified excerpt of band music] -- Huelga en General (”General Strike”) [text and arrangement by Luis Valdez & Valdemar Gomez] (2:41) / [traditional, Cuban] -- De Colores (2:56) / [traditional] -- Which Side Are You On? (1931) (1:51) / Florence Reece -- Shut It Down (0:58) / [unidentified member of BAPMA] -- I’m Going To Organize, Babe O’ Mine (ca. 1930s) (2:19) / Sarah Ogan Gunning -- Time To Organize (3:05) -- Bread & Roses [text by James Oppenheim] (ca. 1911) (2:32) / Martha Coleman or Caroline Kohlsaat [arr. by Mimi Fariña] -- We Shall Not Be Moved (2:10) -- Union Maid (1940) (2:04) / Woody Guthrie [after a traditional English melody, arr. by Robert Schumann in “The Merry Farmer” ] -- The Internationale (2:12)Performers
Bay Area Progressive Musicians AssociationSubjects
Political ballads and songsFolk songs
Work songs
Protest songs
Labor unions
Related places
Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
Bay Area Progressive Musicians AssociationBAPMA
Snitow, Alan
Valdez, Luis
Gomez, Valdemar
Gomez, Baldemar
Reece, Florence, 1900-1986
Gunning, Sarah Ogan, 1910-1983
Coleman, Martha
Kohlsaat, Caroline, 1875-
Fariña, Mimi
Oppenheim, James, 1882-1932
Guthrie, Woody, 1912-1967
Schumann, Robert, 1810-1856