#HaywireMac

2025-08-19

Today in Labor History August 19, 1909: The first edition of the IWW’s The Little Red Songbook was published in Spokane, WA. The book’s subtitle is “Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent.” Between 1909 and 1995, the Wobblies printed 36 editions. The songbook always includes songs by Joe Hill, Ralph Chaplin, T-Bone Slim, and Haywire Mac. Most editions contained many of the best-known labor songs, like "The Internationale," "The Preacher and the Slave," and "Solidarity Forever." Haywire Mac, composer of the “Big Rock Candy Mountain” and “Hallelujah I’m a Bum,” was one of the original members of the IWW band, in Spokane, in 1907. Mac later participated in the anarchist Magonista Revolution in Baja California, helping to capture and occupy Tijuana. He eventually settled down in San Francisco, where he hosted working-class radio and television programs.

You can read my bio of Haywire Mac here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/03/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #littleredsongbook #folkmusic #union #HaywireMac #JoeHill #internationale #wobblies #solidarity

Cover of the IWW Little Red Song Book with image of a young man, raised fist, with industrial background and rays of sunshine.
2025-06-05

The anti-Vietnam War version of Hallelujah I'm a bum. The original, of course, was composed by IWW bard Haywire Mac, which he first published as a broadside in 1906, and which was included in the first edition of the Little Red Songbook (and in probably most editions that followed, too).

You can read my bio of him here: michaeldunnauthor.com/.../16/t

youtube.com/watch?v=0PwYPI9b98

#IWW #antiwar #vietnam #haywiremac #folkmusic

2024-08-19

Today in Labor History August 19, 1909: The first edition of the IWW’s The Little Red Songbook was published in Spokane, WA. The book’s subtitle is “Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent.” Between 1909 and 1995, the Wobblies printed 36 editions. The songbook always includes songs by Joe Hill, Ralph Chaplin, T-Bone Slim, and Haywire Mac. Most editions contained many of the best-known labor songs, like "The Internationale," "The Preacher and the Slave," and "Solidarity Forever." Haywire Mac, composer of the “Big Rock Candy Mountain” and “Hallelujah I’m a Bum,” was one of the original members of the IWW band, in Spokane, in 1907. Mac later participated in the anarchist Magonista Revolution in Baja California, helping to capture and occupy Tijuana. He eventually settled down in San Francisco, where he hosted working-class radio and television programs.

You can read my bio of Haywire Mac here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/03/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #littleredsongbook #folkmusic #union #HaywireMac #JoeHill #internationale #wobblies #solidarity

Cover of the IWW Little Red Song Book with image of a young man, raised fist, with industrial background and rays of sunshine.
2024-06-17

Today in Labor History June 17, 1911: Federal troops, led by Madero, recaptured Tijuana from the Magonista anarchist rebels. Among those surviving and escaping was the famous Wobbly (IWW) songwriter, Joe Hill. Another Wobbly bard, Haywire Mac (compose of The Big Rock Candy Mountain and Hallelujah, I’m a Bum), also participated in the occupation of Tijuana. The Magonistas had captured the Baja California border town of Mexicali on January 29, and Tijuana on May 8, as well as Ensenada, San Tomas, and many other northern Baja California towns. The rebels encouraged the people to take collective possession of the lands. They also supported the creation of cooperatives and opposed the establishment of any new government. Many U.S. members of the IWW participated in the revolution. Lowell Blaisdell writes about it in his now hard to find book, “The Desert Revolution,” (1962). The IWW had been active in nearby San Diego since 1906, sight of an infamous Free Speech fight in 1912. During that struggle, in which many veterans of the Desert Revolution fought, police killed 2 workers. Vigilantes kidnapped Emma Goldman and her companion Ben Reitman, who had come to show their support. However, before deporting them, they tarred and feathered Reitman and raped him with a cane.

Read my history of the IWW in San Diego here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2022/02/

Read my biography of Haywire Mac here: michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/03/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #IWW #RicardoFloresMagon #magonista #mexico #Revolution #folkmusic #joehill #haywiremac #emmagoldman #vigilantes #tijuana #sandiego #freespeech #books #nonfiction #author #writer @bookstadon

Magonista guerrillas in front of a store with the banner,
"Tierra y Libertad" in Tijuana, 1911. By? (San Diego Historical Society's Title Insurance and Trust Collection). - http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/80fall/revolutionimages.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1788021
2023-08-19

Today in Labor History August 19, 1909: The first edition of the IWW’s The Little Red Songbook was published in Spokane, WA. The book’s subtitle is “Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent.” Between 1909 and 1995, the Wobblies printed 36 editions. The songbook always includes songs by Joe Hill, Ralph Chaplin, T-Bone Slim, and Haywire Mac. Most editions contained many of the best-known labor songs, like "The Internationale," "The Preacher and the Slave," and "Solidarity Forever."

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #IWW #LittleRedSongbook #FolkMusic #union #HaywireMac #JoeHill #internationale #wobblies #solidarity

Cover of the IWW Litter Red Song Book with image of a young man, raised fist, with industrial background and rays of sunshine.

Client Info

Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst