12 November 2014

On Joe Hill

Ed Miliband, the politician, included The Ballad of Joe Hill as one of the eight records he would take to his desert island.

Joe Hill was born in Gavle, Sweden. As a political activist in the USA he challenged the working conditions of emigrant and itinerant workers, stressing the need to organise to improve conditions for working people.

I remember seeing the film, in Swedish, with Bror and Margareta Berghall during the time that I lived in Vimmerby.

Paul Robeson's rendering is much admired.