Harry "Mac" McClintock - Hallelujah! I'm A Bum ~1928

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Harry Kirby McClintock, aka Haywire Mac, was born in Uhrichsville, Ohio in 1884 and shortly after moved with his family to Knoxville, Tennessee. This guy is what you call the real deal. As a kid he ran away to join the circus, worked as a railroader for multiple railroads in the US, railroaded through Africa, worked as a seaman, packed food and ammunition mule-trains for US troops in the Philippines, and in 1899 worked as an aid to newsmen in China who were there covering the Boxer Rebellion. This changed a bit when in 1917, he got married in Farmington City, Utah. All of that...by the time he was 33.

in 1925, he was part of a radio talent contest for KFRC. His song "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" managed to get him a spot on two new radio programs: a kid's show called Mac and His Gang, and a variety show called Blue Monday Jamboree. "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" got to No.1 on the Billboard's Hillbilly Hits chart in 1939.

McClintock popularized the song you're listening to as the marching song for the Industrial Workers of the World labor union (another version sung by Arthur Fields has also been posted on this channel if you're interested). Controversy over who wrote the song abounds, but what is certain is this recording was the second take of the day in Oakland California, March 31, 1928.