The Past Didn't Go Anywhere

The Past Didn't Go Anywhere is an album by American folksinger Utah Phillips and American singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, released October 15, 1996, on Ani DiFranco's label, Righteous Babe Records.

The Past Didn't Go Anywhere
Studio album by Ani DiFranco and Utah Philips
Released	October 15, 1996
Recorded	March 1996
Genre	Folk, spoken word
Length	57:18
Label	Righteous Babe
Producer	Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco and Utah Philips chronology
Dilate (1996) The Past Didn't Go Anywhere (1996) Living in Clip (1997)
Utah Phillips chronology
I've Got to Know (1991) The Past Didn't Go Anywhere (1996) Loafer's Glory (1997)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

On the album Utah Phillips is recorded telling stories at concerts with Ani DiFranco setting the musical background. DiFranco provides background vocals on the first and last tracks as part of her remixing, but no songs as such.

This was followed by Fellow Workers, a second collaboration between Phillips and DiFranco, which focused on Union songs associated with the Industrial Workers of the World and contained singing as well as spoken word pieces.

Track listing

All tracks written by Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco.

1. "Bridges" – 8:03
2. "Nevada City, California" – 6:41
3. "Korea" – 8:30
4. "Anarchy" – 6:27
5. "Candidacy" – 1:45
6. "Bum on the Rod" – 4:18
7. "Enormously Wealthy" – 0:43
8. "Mess With People" – 6:44
9. "Natural Resources" – 2:31
10. "Heroes" – 1:07
11. "Half a Ghost Town" – 4:22
12. "Holding On" – 6:13

Personnel

• Ani DiFranco – guitar, bass, percussion, Hammond organ, vocals, thumb piano, producer, engineer, sampling, artwork, design, mixing, Wurlitzer
• Utah Phillips – spoken word, vocals, guitar
• Douglas MacArthur – spoken word excerpt
• Darcie Deaville – fiddle
• Mark Hallman – engineer
• Marty Lester – engineer
• Chris Bellman – mastering
• Blair Woods – photography

References

1. Ankeny, Jason. The Past Didn't Go Anywhere at AllMusic
2. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
3. Entertainment Weekly review
4. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 236-7. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone ani difranco album guide.