The Association for Recorded Sound Collections invites the community to post memorials and tributes to Pete Seeger via the “replies” link above.
ARSC Blog
Blog of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections
The Association for Recorded Sound Collections invites the community to post memorials and tributes to Pete Seeger via the “replies” link above.
If there was a Mount Rushmore of influential folk performers, Pete Seeger would be the first one carved into stone, head raised and singing to the heavens. In the more than 60 years since folk music made its journey from the backwoods, hills, and valleys of America to the concrete jungles of New York City, no one person has had a greater impact or a more pronounced presence on the music than Seeger and his long-necked five-string banjo. In retrospect, even the monumental accomplishments of his friend and frequent musical companion, Woody Guthrie, pale in comparison with Seeger’s. Although Guthrie penned the folk world’s anthem, “This Land is Your Land,” and was the lightning rod for countless aspiring folk singers, it was Seeger who transcended Guthrie’s era and others that came after it; writing, performing, teaching, preaching, reviving folk traditions, and then ensuring their perpetuation. If there was a cause, be it musical, populist, or conservationist, you could count on Seeger to be there, singing out his support. He is as American as Abraham Lincoln in his nobility, his love for his country, and his relentless support of the rights of the individual.
A member of an esteemed family of musicians and folklorists, Seeger was born on May 3, 1919 in New York City. His father, Charles, was a noted ethnomusicologist; his mother, a concert violinist. Seeger attended college at Harvard, but dropped out after becoming entranced with folk music after his father took him to a folk festival in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1938, he hoboed around the U.S., riding the rails while meeting performers such as Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, and Earl Robinson. His father introduced him to Alan Lomax, and Seeger spent the next two years learning to play the banjo and studying the vast folk music archives at the Library of Congress.
When the Almanac Singers were formed before World War II, Seeger helped lead and organize the group, playing at rallies and contributing pro-union and anti-fascist songs. After serving in the army during the war, Seeger continued his support for labor unions. by helping to found People’s Songs, the notorious leftist organization of the late ‘40s. During this time, Seeger rode the campaign trail with Henry Wallace and after the demise of People’s Songs, helped organize the Weavers, the group that set the standard for the oncoming “folk music revival.” The Weavers soon became victims of the blacklist, which all but destroyed their careers in the early 1950s. In 1955, Seeger himself became a martyr when he invoked the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer any questions posed by the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) about his political background.
Surviving the Communist witch-hunts, Seeger inspired thousands of would-be musicians to learn to play the five-string banjo with his many recordings for the Folkways label. As “Johnny Appleseed,” Seeger penned a long-running column in “Sing Out!” the folk music Bible that helped disseminate folk songs through articles, printed transcriptions, and record reviews. Since Seeger could not get any gigs himself, he passed his folk traditions on to others through his column, keeping his music alive.
In the ‘60s, he was banned from appearing on television’s “Hootenanny” program, but continued on, joining the peaceniks and protesting the war in Vietnam. In the process, he penned some of the decade’s best-loved songs, including the Byrds’ “Turn, Turn, Turn” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” Seeger also was responsible for helping transform an ages old hymn (“We Shall Overcome”) into the anthem of the anti-war movement.
Seeger’s dedication toward conservation led to his spearheading the cleanup of the Hudson River, which he counts as one of his proudest achievements. Through all these years, Seeger soldiered on, becoming the patron saint of folk music. He outlived Guthrie by more than four decades, yet modestly dismissed his role as America’s folk laureate.
Impressions of Pete Seeger are as varied as are his talents. Carl Sandburg called him “America’s tuning fork.” The Limeliters’ Lou Gottlieb said of Seeger, “He was the slickest professional amateur I have ever seen in my life.” Awarded the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in 1994, Seeger was called “the living embodiment of America’s traditions in folk music.” As the genre’s elder statesman, Seeger not only outlived all of his erstwhile roommates in the old Almanac House, but also his vitriolic detractors from the deepest, darkest years of the blacklist era. Seeger and his late wife of more than 60 years, Toshi, lived out their years modestly in a house he built himself in upstate New York.
In his autobiography, Seeger told a story that summed up his own ever-positive personality and attitude towards life. As he tells it, there was a small peace demonstration in Times Square that consisted of a young Quaker carrying a sign. A passerby ridiculed him and queried, “Do you think you’re going to change the world by standing here at midnight with that sign?” The young man replied calmly, “I suppose not. But I’m going to make sure the world doesn’t change me.”
“How Can I Keep From Singing: A Seeger Family Concert at the Library of Congress”
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/Seegersymposium/?loclr=fbafc
—- Here’s the 2 hour 2007 LC concert featuring Peggy, Mike, and Pete playing together: http://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200196407/?loclr=fbafc
Also, youtube has many episodes available from Pete Seeger’s 1965-66 TV show, “Rainbow Quest” with guests including Julie Collins, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt, among many others. Here’s Judy Collins singing Turn, Turn, Turn with Pete – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHarJn1Bjh0 – and an interview with Mississippi John Hurt and “Good Night Irene” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jymMxdI7TOs
American Folklife Center’s’ “Folklife Today” Blog post by Stepen Winick:
“Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014)
January 28, 2014 by Stephen Winick
“On behalf of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, I’m sad to pass along the news of the death of Pete Seeger, a longtime friend of the AFC Archive and a giant in the folk music world, one of the most significant American folk musicians ever. Many AFC staff members have personal reminiscences of Pete, which we’ll be gathering in the days to come. Meanwhile, we wanted to place online an appreciation….” (see whole post at http://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/01/pete-seeger-may-3-1919-january-27-2014/)