There Is No Better Way / Black Gold

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 1979

Label: Phono

Vice President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), Sam Church Jr, who according to ads in contemporary union journals had only performed publicly "in church and at parties," recorded this 1979 benefit for the Organizing Relief Fund. The fund assisted workers striking for UMWA contracts. With the help of his wife Patti, Sam wrote the material and paid for the recording. The A-side takes issue with President Jimmy Carter's alleged preference for foreign oil over American coal. The B-side argues that "There would be no Three Mile Island if we were burning coal." The record was available in shops nationwide, and directly from the UMWA via mail order.