I signed up for this class because I thought I would be awesome and was excited to learn more about folk music, hobo culture, and activism. I really had no idea who Utah Phillips is, or at least I thought I didn't, until I was talking on the phone with my dad after class today. I told him about my May term classes and mentioned Utah's name, and my dad says, "he was that storyteller right?" My dad is from upstate New York and apparently he got some of his best stories he told to my sister and I, from none other than Utah. One of my favorites was the hilarious "Moose Turd Pie," and I thought I would share with y'all how I first got acquainted with him.
I know Mr. Phillips is more than just a storyteller, and I am even more excited to hear about his life.
-Clara Jane
Thanks for posting this, it's a great version. Moose Turd Pie is the first thing I ever heard by Utah. My wife always talks about hearing it on K-FAT Radio, Gilroy, CA, garlic capital of the world. I also love the "wired a head for reservations" joke, but it's a victim of technological change - how many people know what "wiring" a message is anymore?
ReplyDeleteAnd my biological complaint about the Moose Turd Pie joke - he claims that he found a big one - "a real steamer," maybe the best line in the joke - and rolled it home on its edge. We get moose in our yard frequently, and I can tell you by long experience, moose turds don't come like that - they're discreet pellets, like deer poop except sort of egg-shaped.
So I don't think Utah is entirely telling the truth with this story.
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ReplyDeleteHaha! That is an interesting fact. I would never know because I have only seen a moose in the wild once or twice in my life, and I can't say I paid any attention to the trailings. Today you said you were from Hudson Falls; my dad is from Granville, NY. It's such a small world these days, and I thought it was awesome how relative Utah Phillips is to my life without even me knowing it.
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