Joe Glazer (June 19, 1918 – September 19, 2006), closely associated with labor unions and often referred to as "labor's troubadour," was an American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

ian who recorded more than thirty albums over the course of his career.

Early life and union career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Glazer was a graduate of

Brooklyn College , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

. He eventually moved to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

, where he performed for the

United Rubber Workers The United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America (URW) was a labor union representing workers involved in manufacturing using specific materials, in the United States and Canada. The union was founded in 1935 as the United Rubber Wo ...

throughout his career and also served as education director from 1950 to 1962. Glazer was also a member of the

Textile Workers Union of America The Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) was an industrial union of textile workers established through the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1939 and merged with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to become the Amalgamated Clo ...

as well as an adviser to the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to " public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bil ...

. According to his obituary in

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

in 2006: "Mr. Glazer in 1961 joined the Foreign Service staff of the U.S. Information Agency, then headed by

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe f ...

, and was sent to Mexico as labor information officer. He transferred to the State Department in Washington as a labor adviser in 1965." His younger brother is sociologist

Nathan Glazer Nathan Glazer (February 25, 1923 – January 19, 2019) was an American sociologist who taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and for several decades at Harvard University. He was a co-editor of the now-defunct policy journal ''The Pu ...

Singer and songwriter

Some of his more acclaimed songs include "The Mill Was Made of Marble," "Too Old To Work" and "Automaton." He recorded "In Old Moscow" ("My Darling Party Line"), a song which ridiculed the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Rev ...

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

reversal following the 1939

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

. In 1954 Glazer released two albums of music from the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

, including one entirely of songs by Wobbly songwriter Joe Hill, released by

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

. In 1960 Glazer collaborated with

Edith Fowke Edith Fowke, ''(née'' Margaret Fulton; 30 April 1913 Lumsden, Saskatchewan – 28 Mar 1996 Toronto) was a Canadian folklorist.Nygaard King, Betty and Ruth Pincoe. Fowke was educated at the University of Saskatchewan. She hosted the CBC Radio ...

to publish ''Songs of Work and Freedom'', which included 10 of his original compositions. He went on to dedicate numerous albums to specific trades, including

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, newspaper printing, steelwork,

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s, and

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...

. In 1970 Glazer founded Collector Records, originally to issue his own recordings, and, later, recordings by other performers. Collector's first release was Glazer's 1971 album ''Garbage and Other Songs of Our Times'' backed by jazz guitarist

Charlie Byrd Charlie Lee Byrd (September 16, 1925 – December 2, 1999) was an American jazz guitarist. Byrd was best known for his association with Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. In 1962, he collaborated with Stan Getz on the album ''Jazz Samba'', ...

and his trio. The title track became one of Glazer's most well-known songs after

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

performed it on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'' and recorded versions of it both for the

children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

and

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment (biophysical), environment, par ...

markets. In 1979, Glazer invited 14 other labor musicians to the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...

, to share musical and written compositions, and to discuss the effective use of music, song, poetry and chants in labor activism. The three-day event became an annual one, becoming known as the

Great Labor Arts Exchange The Great Labor Arts Exchange is an annual arts festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, which celebrates the labor history of the United States as well as preserves, advances and promotes the culture of the American labor movement. In June 1979, Joe ...

(GLAE). Over the next five years, the concept of "labor culture" and how the labor movement and the arts interacted, which Glazer and others promoted, expanded. In 1984, Glazer incorporated the Labor Heritage Foundation as a parent body for GLAE as well as to curate and promote the culture of the American labor movement. In 2002, Glazer released his autobiography, ''Labor's Troubadour'', published by the

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic proje ...

. Glazer was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the

World Folk Music Association The World Folk Music Association is a non-profit organization formed in 1983 by folk singer/songwriter Tom Paxton and Dick Cerri, a radio host from Washington D. C. The first chairman of the board was Paxton and Cerri served as president. Paxton ...

in 2002.

Death and legacy

Glazer died on September 29, 2006 at the age of 88 due to the progression of

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of hematological malignancy, blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include lymphadenopathy, enlarged lymph nodes, fever ...

, at his home in

. His label, Collector Records, is now part of the

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

distributed by the

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

label.

Discography

1950s

*''Eight New Songs for Labor''. CIO Department of Education and Research, 1950. *''Ballads for Sectarians''. Labor Arts, 1952. Reissued 1953. Also included in ''Songs for Political Action'', Bear Family BCD 15720 JL, 10 CDs, 1996. *''The Songs of Joe Hill''.

FA 2039, 1954. *''Songs of the Wobblies''. Labor Arts, 1954, reissued on LP 1977 and cassette in 1988 by Collector Records. *''Joe Glazer and the PAC Bucks''. CIO Education and Research Department, 1955. *''Image of History: Twenty Years of the CIO''. UAW Education Department, 1956. *''A Douglas for Me and Other Songs of the New Democratic Party of Canada''. Woodworth Book Club of Canada, 1956. *''Ballads for Ballots''. Sound Studios, 1956, reissued by Labor's Committee for Kennedy and Johnson, 1960. *''Union Songs''. UAW Education Department, 1958.

1960s

*''Songs of Work and Freedom''. Washington Records WR-4601, 1960. *''Democratic Music''. Democratic Committee for John F. Kennedy for President, 1960. *''Songs of Coal''. Sound Studios, 1964. *''The Golden Presses -- That Heavenly Newspaper Plant''. The American Newspaper Guild, 1966.
''My Darling Party Line''
Sound Studios, 1968. Reissued as cassette, 1988. *''AFSCME Sings with Joe Glazer'', 1968. Reissued in 1971 as ''Joe Glazer Sings Labor Songs'', Collector Records #1918. *''Singing about Our Union''. AFSCME, 1969.

1970s

*''Joe Glazer Sings Garbage -- and Other Songs of Our Times'' with the

Trio. Collector Records #1919, 1971. Reissued in 1980 with 2 extra tracks, and in 1993 as a cassette. *''Joe Glazer Live at Vail''. Central Pension Fund of the OEIU, 1973. *''Songs of Steel and Struggle -- the Story of the Steelworkers of America''. Collector Records, 1975.
''Down in a Coal Mine''
Collector Records #1923, 1974. Reissued in 1997 as a cassette. *''Textile Voices -- Songs and Stories of the Mills''. Collector Records #1922, 1975. Reissued 1985 as a cassette.
''Singing BRAC with Joe Glazer''
Collector Records #1924, 1975. *''Union Train''. Collector Records #1925, 1975. *''Songs for Woodworkers''. Collector Records #1929, 1997.

1980s

*''Service Employees International Sings with Joe Glazer''. SEIU, 1980.
''Joe Glazer Sings Labor Songs''
Collector Records, 1980. Reissued 1988 as a cassette; reissued 1994 as a CD. *''A Century of Labor Songs.'' Collector Records #1934, 1981.
''Jellybean Blues—Songs of Reaganomics''
Collector Records #1935, 1982. Also issued 1982 as a cassette.
''Jellybean Blues, Vol. II''
Collector Records #1935, 1984. Also issued 1984 as a cassette. *''Songs for USIA''. Collector Records, 1985, cassette. *''Fifty Years of the UAW''. Collector Records #1934. 1985, cassette.
''Bricklayin' Union Man''
Collector Records #1991, 1987, cassette.
''Old Folks Ain't All the Same''
Collector Records # 1942, 1987. Also issued 1987 as a cassette. *''Joe Glazer Sings Labor Songs, II''. Collector Records #1944, 1989, cassette, reissued on CD in 2001 *''The Jewish Immigrant Experience in America''. Collector Records #1945, 1989, cassette.

1990s

*''Sing and Build -- Songs for Architects, Builders and Planners''. Collector Records #1950, 1991, cassette. *''Welcome to America -- Songs of the American Immigrants''. Collector Records #1952, 1990, cassette.
''Folk Songs of the American Dream''
Collector Records #1954, 1995, cassette and CD.
''The Music of American Politics''
Collector Records #1955, 1996, cassette and CD.For a highly detailed complete discography, see Glazer, ''Labor's Troubadour'', pp. 285-294.

Bibliography

* ) *

Notes

References

*Barbash, Fred.

" ''Washington Post.'' September 24, 2006. *Carney, Jim. "U.S. Labor Troubadour Dies at Age 88." ''Akron Beacon-Journal.'' September 21, 2006. *Conn, Richard. "Review: ''Labor's Troubadour.''" ''Labor Studies Journal.'' 28:3 (Fall 2003).

Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2002. *Martin, Douglas. "Joe Glazer, 88, A Singer and Songwriter for Labor, Dies." ''New York Times.'' September 21, 2006. *Moe, Doug. "Labor's Love Lost: Joe Glazer Dies." ''Madison Capitol Times.'' September 21, 2006.

External links

"Singer-Songwriter Joe Glazer, Class of '38, Dies at Age 88." Brooklyn College. No date.
Accessed May 3, 2007.
Glazer Discography
on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glazer, Joe 1918 births 2006 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma Musicians from Akron, Ohio Musicians from New York City Deaths from cancer in Maryland Jewish American musicians People from Silver Spring, Maryland Trade unionists from Ohio National Labor College people 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from Ohio Trade unionists from New York (state) Textile Workers Union of America people Brooklyn College alumni Folkways Records artists