that a Seattle man, Earl Robinson, cowrote it.
Here's some info on him:
http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2029Robinson, Earl Hawley (1910-1991)
HistoryLink.org Essay 2029
Seattle-born activist and musician Earl H. Robinson is remembered for writing some of the labor movement's most famous ballads, including "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night." Robinson attended West Seattle High School and the University of Washington. He traveled to New York City in 1934 to join the WPA Federal Theater Project. His patriotic themes expressed a strong sympathy for the working class and for ordinary citizens. They earned him the friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Paul Robeson, Hollywood movie commissions, and a right-wing blacklisting in the 1950s. He was "rediscovered" during the folk music revival of the 1960s. Robinson returned to Seattle and his roots in 1989 to pursue more abstract compositions. He died in a car accident near his West Seattle home on July 20, 1991.
Don't Mourn, Harmonize
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you and me.
Says I, "But, Joe, you're ten years dead,"
"I never died," says he,
"I never died," says he.
Few have failed to be moved by those words, whether hearing them from the liquid thunder of baritone Paul Robeson, the oboe lament of Joan Baez, or the slender tenor of the composer of the music -- Earl Robinson. In fact, Robinson's musical legacy probably turns on Joe Hill, the Industrial Workers of the World organizer who told supporters, "Don't mourn, organize!" shortly before his 1915 execution by a Utah firing squad.
Robinson remembered clearly the writing of Joe Hill in 1936. "I was directing the music in a left-wing summer camp, Camp Unity near Wingdale, NY. We decided to put on a campfire program of Joe Hill songs. Alfred Hayes gives me this lyric in the afternoon. I went into the tent with the lyric and came out 45 minutes later with the tune. I want it that night." More at link
Haven't been able to find a link to the whole tune with him singing to post, but I did find his version on itunes and am listening to it now. He also wrote "Black & White" and found that there, too which was revelatory since Three Dog Night left out the verse referring to the Supreme Court and Brown v. Board of Education decision, which was his reason for writing the song, to celebrate that decision.
"Their robes were black, Their heads were white, The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight, Nine judges all set down their names, to end the years and years of shame."
You can hear that snip here:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-and-White/dp/B000S3D0G0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1209668428&sr=8-5
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