Solidarity forever

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Red diaper babies Cat, Lionel, and Leon Fullerton all fell close to the tree, spending a lot of their adult lives among unions, civil rights groups, peaceniks, and other desirabless. Leon, in particular, made himself useful, both musically and with anything else that needed doing. 

He was a chronicler. The stories he sang were sometimes uplifting, sometimes grim. Those songs were never about himself. As he explained to Brownie McGee, who had given young Fullerton a few pointers on blues picking: "I'd rather sing about interesting people."

Here, culled from other pages on this website, are demos of some of his songs of struggle, recorded in reliably (or at least predictably) haphazard fashion by his nephews Ray and Del and son Jasper, a.k.a. the Outcasts.

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The songs:

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Leon Fullerton - The Molly Maguires


> See "The Molly Maguires" lyrics and notes at Americanarama.
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Leon Fullerton - Just Like Tom Joad's Blues


> See "Just Like Tom Joad's Blues" lyrics and notes at Division Street.
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Leon Fullerton - The Lawrence Factory


> See "The Lawrence Factory" lyrics and notes at Division Street.
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Leon Fullerton - Ludlow


> See "Ludlow" lyrics and notes at Americanarama.
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Leon Fullerton - Heat Lightning


> See "Heat Lightning" lyrics and notes at Blame It On Memphis.
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Leon Fullerton - Called In Well


> See "Called In Well" lyrics and notes at Doublewide!
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Leon Fullerton - Dakota


> See "Dakota" lyrics and notes at Division Street.
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Leon Fullerton - The Shreveport Shuffle


> See "The Shreveport Shuffle" lyrics and notes at Americanarama.
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Leon Fullerton - Division Street


> See "Division Street" lyrics and notes at Division Street.
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There once was a union maid, 
she never was afraid
of goons and ginks and company finks

and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.
She went to the union hall 

when a meeting it was called,
and when the Legion boys come 'round

she always stood her ground.


Woody Guthrie
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