Great piece in the Boston Globe giving the history of the song, Charlie on the MTA. Turns out, it was a Commie song commissioned by mayoral candidate Walter O'Brien (not George), who was later black-listed during the Red Scare. The name was timidly changed by the Kingston Trio who made the song famous and didn't want to risk offense to the tea party of their day.
Here's how the song was inspired:
Here's how the song was inspired:
O’Brien couldn’t afford radio ads, but he had a boxy old truck outfitted with speakers and a platform. He had asked a quintet named the Boston Peoples Artists to compose and record some songs he could broadcast from the truck as it drove through the city, and sometimes to play live from the truck at rallies.
