Pete Seeger

Harvard educated son of eminent Juilliard ethnomusicologist Charles Seeger. Key member of the Almanac Singers and then the Weavers. Blacklisted during the McCarthy era for his socialist politics and refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Founder of the Clearwater Foundation to clean up the Hudson. His gutsy performance of "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour at the height of the Vietnam conflict helped get that show cancelled. Among Seeger's most lasting contributions to folk music are his idealistic politics, his tireless attempt to get everybody - young and old - to sing and play, no matter how well or badly, and his early mining and adaptation of Latin and especially African music.

For a good bio on seeger, try Rolling Stone on-line:
http://rollingstone.com/artists/bio.asp?oid=4116&cf=4116

For my backstage conversation with Pete at the 2001 People's Music Conference and a review of his concert there with grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, check my article: "The Tao of Pete."

Immortal Songs

• "If I Had A Hammer" (music by Seeger, lyrics by Lee Hays of the Weavers)
• "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (lyrics)
• "We Shall Overcome" (with Zilphia Horton, Guy Carawan, Frank Hamilton))
• "Turn, Turn, Turn" (lyrics - adapted from Ecclesiastes)
• "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" (lyrics)
• "Wimoweh" (copied and lightly adapted from a traditional Zulu/South African song "Mbube" - first recorded and possibly already adapted by South African Solomon Linda - see below).

Best Books The Incompleat Folksinger, The. (Buy it online) Hard-hitting Songs for Hard-hit People. (with Woody Guthrie and Alan Lomax) (Buy it online) Pete Seeger's Storytelling Book (Harcourt, 2000) Rise Up Singing (edited by Pete Seeger and Peter Youngblood, published by Sing Out!). Best and handiest collection of singable songs anywhere. (order one from Sing Out! - or order a bunch...)

Essential Discs

• We Shall Overcome: The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert. (Columbia). (Buy it online)
• Abiyoyo. (Columbia). (Buy it online)

Heirs

Not all political protest singers can truly be said to be heirs of Seeger. His songs are characterized by irrepressible optimism, almost demagogic populism, and a simplicity of style that all but forces audiences to sing along. His earmark is a studied gentleness, but many of those who have attempted to follow have turned this into mere pollyanna-ism. Judge for yourself.

• Michael Cooney
• Kim & Reggie Harris
• Magpie
• Fred Small
• Charlie King
• Greg Greenway
• Pat Humphreys
• Tao Rodriguez-Seeger

It also makes sense to mention Paul Simon here, another major adaptor and popularizer of world music, especially African music.

Sites to Check Out

• An extensive tribute site:
  http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JimCapaldi/
• And lyrics for many of Pete's songs at the same site:
  http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JimCapaldi/songsby.htm
• For Pete's eco-humanitarian site, check out:
  http://www.peteseeger.com/
  
  
• For the fascinating history behind the song "Wimoweh," and the growing royalties scandal, here's an article from South Africa's Sunday Times (August 2000). I'm still looking for an on-line copy of the original May 25, 2000 Rolling Stone article by Rian Malan that broke the royalties scandal surrounding "Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

Hugh Blumenfeld, Editor
hugh@balladtree.com

 

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