Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 3. maj 2009 / Time Line May 3, 2009
Version 3.005/03/2009
Folkemusikeren og humanisten Pete Seeger fylder
90.
Tribute to Pete Seeger on his 90th birthday
By Paul J. Stamler, host, 'No Time to Tarry Here'
If I could have, I would've played 2 hours of Pete Seeger
recordings. But I had to observe the rules laid down by Soundstream
et al...and, at least this particular week, there wasn't room to go
outside them.
Phil Cooper & Margaret Nelson - No Time to Tarry Here - -
private tape
The Monkees - Seeger's Theme - Missing Links, v. 2 - Rhino,
1990
[a rarity; in the late 1960s, one of the monkees -- i think michael
nesmith -- recorded an electrified arrangement of the theme song
from pete's 'goofing-off suite', in which he played all the
instruments. it wasn't released until this 1990 compilation came
out; i was working at the public library that year, and got to
listen to all the new cds as they arrived. it's a delight]
[i began by playing musicians who influenced pete in his early
years:]
Bascom Lamar Lunsford - Derby Ram - Minstrel of the Appalachians -
Riverside, 1956
[pete started out playing 4-string banjo but was dissatisfied with
the sound and the music available for it. his father, the
folklorist charles seeger, in the late 1930s took him to a folk
festival in asheville, north carolina, run by lunsford, a country
lawyer, song collector and performer who introduced him to the
5-string banjo, as well as to...]
VA/Samantha Bumgarner - Georgia Blues - Hard Times Come Again No
More, v. 1 - Yahoo; orig. Columbia, 1924
[bumgarner was one of the first 'hillbilly' performers to record;
she and friend eva davis walked into columbia's studios not long
after fiddlin' john carson's first record had been a regional hit.
they recorded six sides, all wonderful. bumgarner seems to have
been the first *clawhammer* banjo player pete heard]
Pete Steele - Last Pay Day on Coal Creek - Banjo Tunes and Songs -
Folkways, 1958; rec. 1957
[another big influence; steele was a kentucky-born banjo player
with a wide range of styles; one of them the up-down galloping
style shared with lunsford. that style became the pete seeger
'basic strum', learned by several generations of banjo players,
including me. steele recorded for the library of congress in 1938;
in 1957 ed kahn visited steele, now living in ohio, and made some
more modern-sounding recordings. steele had lost none of his skill
or fire]
[more influences:]
Woody Guthrie - Tom Joad - Dust Bowl Ballads - RCA Victor, 1964;
orig. Victor, 1940
[pete idolized woody, as a musician and a human being. they
wandered the country together, first in a car bought on their
non-existant credit and then, when it was repossessed, on freights.
woody, of course, was from oklahoma, which was hard-hit by the dust
bowl. he doesn't seem to have read steinbeck's 'the grapes of
wrath', but when the movie came out, he sat through three showings
one afternoon, then showed up at pete's greenwich village apartment
with a bottle of scotch. 'okay to use your typewriter, pete?' pete
assented, and woody set to work. he kept it up for hours;
eventually pete went to sleep, but could hear woody get up now and
again, try out a verse, then go back to typing. when he got up in
the morning, the lyrics to 'tom joad' were sitting on top of the
typewriter, woody was asleep under the table, and the bottle of
scotch was empty]
Lead Belly - Fannin Street - Bourgeois Blues -
Smithsonian/Folkways, 1997; orig. n.d.
[lead belly was another hero to pete, and the inspiration for him
to take up the 12-string guitar. fannin street was the main lowlife
area in shreveport, louisiana; lead belly's song includes some
astonishing machine-gun-quick guitar playing]
Paul Robeson - John Henry - Songs of Free Men - Columbia
Masterworks Heritage, n.d.; orig. Columbia, 1945
[http://www.archive.org/details/Paul-Robeson-collection-91-100
-ht]
[robeson was one of the first people to put folk songs onto a
concert stage, in the 1920s. his style was very much that of the
concert hall; his settings, often arranged by friend and
accompanist lawrence brown, were very much classically inspired.
pete admired robeson as a person, a singer and an activist, but
preferred a radically-different style of performing, one that
involved the audience as participants rather than just listeners.
in time, he'd become the song-leader par escellence]
[enough songs without hearing pete. in 1941 pete, along with woody,
bess hawes, lee hays and millard lampell, formed the almanac
singers, originally to sing at union rallies and political events.
they would eventually perform traditional material as well. they
were a pretty loose bunch; members would drift in and out, and
woody would call them 'the only group i know that rehearses on
stage':]
Almanac Singers - Talking Union - Sing Out - Magnum, 1996; orig.
Keynote, 1941
[the almanacs' first recording was a set of union songs on the
tiny, left-wing keynote label. it woulf be reissued in 1955 along
with new recordings by pete and a chorus, on a historic folkways
lp. the song was woody's, mostly, although pete seems to have
written the last verse]
Almanac Singers - The Golden Vanity - The Complete General
Recordings - MCA, 1996; orig. General, 1941
[the almanacs also made two albums -- back then they really were
albums, 3 or more 78 discs in a folder, with cover -- of
mostly-traditional material, including this traditional ballad]
Union Boys - You Better Get Ready - That's Why We're Marching -
Smithsonian/Folkways, 1996; orig. c. 1944
[after the debacle of the hitler-stalin pact and the antiwar
campaigning of communist parties worldwide, then the sudden
reversal of policy when hitler invaded the soviet union, the left
-- particularly communists -- threw themselves into the war effort.
pete got together with burl ives, tom glazer, brownie mcghee and
sonny terry as the 'union boys', making a series of recordings with
them while he was home on leave from the army]
Almanac Singers - The Sinking of the Reuben James - Sing Out -
Magnum, 1996; orig. Keynote, 1942
[the reuben james was the first american ship sunk by german
submarines; woody wrote this tribute to the 100 men who were lost,
to the tune of the old song 'wildwood flower', with pete adding a
chorus]
[after the war the country went through a succession of shocks,
including a wave of strikes and the beginnings of the cold war,
that helped solidify opposition to the democratic party. in the
1946 elections, republicans took over congress and the country took
a major turn to the right -- among the new faces on the washington
scene were joe mccarthy and richard nixon. labor unions, for the
most part, made deals with employers: their members would get good
wages and benefits, but the union would kick out its radical core
members who were promoting more militant approaches. the almanacs
found themselves unwelcome at union rallies, and after the
discouraging failure of henry wallace's progressive party campaign
for president -- he finished behind the dixiecrat strom thurmond --
the almanacs split up. pete and lee hays started woodshedding with
friends ronnie gilbert and fred hellerman; they made a few
recordings for the children's record guild and the microscopic
charter label. when pressed for a name, they called themselves the
weavers; bandleader gordon jenkins, also an a & r man for
decca, signed them to the label:]
The Weavers w. Gordon Jenkins' Orchestra - Goodnight, Irene - The
Best of the Decca Years - MCA, 1996; orig. Decca, 1950
[their first recording, lead belly's 'goodnight, irene', recorded
complete with jenkins's syrupy strings, was a smash hit, the
biggest-selling record in history up to that point. the weavers had
several more hit records, of traditional songs, woody's songs, lee
hays's songs. then, suddenly, their career crashed; they'd been
blacklisted. they took what hays called 'a sabbatical that turned
into a mondical and a tuesdical']
The Weavers - Darling Corey - The Weavers at Carnegie Hall -
Vanguard, 1955 [in 1955 manager and folk-music impressario harold
leventhal got them to do a reunion concert at carnegie hall, by
telling each of them that the others had agreed. it was a great
success, and leventhal had the foresight to have it professionally
recorded. the recording put the weavers back into the limelight,
and although pete would leave in 1958, they'd keep performing until
1964, with a brief reunion in 1980. this was their signature
concert opener, adapted from b. f. shelton's 1927 victor 78]
Peter Seeger & Bernie Asbel - Mad as I Can Be - - Bell 78,
1947
[this song's a bit out of sequence, but i needed it here to keep
within the rules of radio. this was a bitter reaction to the
country and congress's rightward turn, which threatened to
systematically undo all the progressive legislation of the new deal
and war years. bernie asbel, a new york songwriter, eventually
became a highly successful author of children's books]
The Weavers - Follow the Drinking Gourd - Folk Songs of America and
Other Lands - Decca, 1950
[one more from the weavers' early years, an adaptation of a song
from the underground railroad, giving slaves the directions to
freedom]
[a bit of folklore 101:]
VA/Solomon Linda & his Evening Birds - Mbube - Secret Museum of
Mankind, v. 4 - Yazoo
[linda, a zulu singer from south africa, and his group recorded
this song in 1939. it proved extraordinarily popular in south
aftrica, and gave its name to a vocal style. in the early 1950s,
folklorist alan lomax played a copy of the song for pete]
[Alexander, Mary: Mbube: Linda's Lion sleeps at last
http://www.southafrica.info/about/arts/mbube-210206.htm -ht] Pete
Seeger - Wimoweh - With Voices Together We Sing - Folkways, 1955
[unfortunately, pete had a cold at the time, and misheard the vocal
refrain as 'wimoweh'. he adapted the song for the weavers, then for
his own performances. he'd begun touring solo, teaching and
cajoling his audiences to sing with him. by 1955 he'd honed his art
to the point where he could teach a complex four-part song to a
crowd; in this recording, you hear him teaching the basses, altos,
tenors, and finally the sopranos. as they sing -- four radically
different parts -- he sings in falsetto over them. it's a
remarkable performance]
Kingston Trio - Where Have All The Flowers Gone? - The Best of the
Kingston Trio - Capitol, early 1960s
[pete wrote this song, an adaptation of a short poem in mikhail
sholokhov's novel 'and quiet flows the don'. he recorded it on a
folkways lp, then forgot about it. joe hickerson, who would later
head the archive of folk song at the library of congress, was a
camp counselor at the time; he added the last two verses, closing
the song's circle, and sang it to his campers. that's the version
we all know; the kingston trio had a major hit with their recording
in the early 1960s]
Joan Baez - Sagt Mir Wo die Blumen Sind? - Farewell, Angelina -
Vanguard, 1965
[in germany, marlene dietrich liked the song, had it translated
into german, and recorded it. the recording was a smash hit in
europe; pete, meanwhile, said he thought the german translation was
actually better than his english original; the words 'fit in the
mouth' better. i don't have dietrich's recording -- it's been a
fixture on wfmt's 'midnight special' for decades -- but i do have
joan baez's version. english or german? you decide]
[three of pete's adaptations:]
VA/Mass meeting, Hattiesburg, Mississippi - We Shall Overcome -
Voices from the Civil Rights Movement - Smithsonian/Folkways, 1997;
rec. 1964 [in the early 1950s pete, frank hamilton and guy carawan
were regulars at the highlander folk school -- now highlander
center -- which taught the techniques of grass-roots organizing to
people, particularly poor people, from across the southeast. (among
the participants: rosa parks and dr. martin luther king, jr.) at
one of their summer sessions, a union organizer brought in the
adaptation of a hymn, 'we will overcome' which had become a
rallying song for striking tobacco workers. (it turned out to have
a long history in the labor movement.) the three singers spread the
song to the burgeoning civil rights movement, but only after pete
had changed the words to 'we shall overcome', again because they
fit better in the mouth. it spread around the world]
Pete Seeger - He Lies in the American Land - American Industrial
Ballads - Folkways, 1956
[after his refusal, in 1955, to name names before the house
committee on un-american activities, pete's blacklisting from the
musical mainstream was virtually complete. he re-invented himself
and, in a sense, went underground, performing on college campuses,
at schools and summer camps, anyplace he could make a few dollars
and spread the idea of singing. in the process, he lit the fire
under what would become the second wave of the folk revival -- in
one san diego concert, he inspired the performing careers of joan
baez and the kingston trio's dave guard -- which would intern lead
to the revolution in american rock music of the 1960s. he also,
fearing that if he entered prison for contempt of congress he'd be
killed, began recording as much material as possible for moses asch
of folkways, who put pete on a weekly retainer so he could feed his
family. during those years he averaged one album every two months,
an astonishing level of productivity that would leave a treasure
trove of recorded music. one lp was a collection of industrial folk
songs, ranging from the c. 1800 lament of a worker displaced by
machinery to modern times. for this song, pete adapted andrew
kovaly's lament for a workmate killed on the job]
Pete Seeger - Abiyoyo - Abiyoyo and other Story Songs for Children
- Folkways, c. 1967
[one of pete's mainstays in those wilderness years was children's
concerts. i remember one he did at mandel hall in chicago in 1955;
my parents said that if i was really good i could also go to the
grownups' concert that night. i was and i did; i remember being
impressed as pete chopped a log in half on stage while singing a
work song. this adaptation of an african story and lullaby has
always been one of my favorites of pete's work]
[another way pete made ends meet during his wilderness years was to
work as a session player on other people's records, to make field
recordings, and to produce records for moe asch:]
Jean Carignan - Winnipeg Reel - Old Time Fiddle Tunes Played by
Jean Carignan - Folkways, 1960
[jean carignan was a quebec cabdriver who was also a monstrously
good fiddler. pete backed him up brilliantly on banjo. an old pal
of mine, a banjo player, used to say that he wasn't really sure
about pete until he'd heard him back up a fiddle player. he heard
this, and then he was sure]
Children of Edgewood, Illinois - Fudge - Skip-Rope Games - Folkways
[on one trip pete took a tape recorder with him and recorded an
entire album of kids' rope-skipping games. he found many in one
day; clearly the kids of edgewood were creative jumpers]
Kim Loy Wong and his Wiltwyck Steel Band - This Land is My Land -
Kim Loy Wong and his Wiltwyck Steel Band - Folkways, 1959
[kim loy wong was one of the first steel-drum players in new york;
pete produced this album for folkways, then made a film showing
wong's technique for making his drums out of oil barrels and
playing music on them. yes, it's really 'this land is your land',
and it sounds just fine on steel drums. i've also heard it played
as a polka by a local band in cumberland, maryland, and it sounds
just fine that way too]
[happily for all of us, but especially people compiling radio shows
under restrictions, pete likes to play music with a lot of
different people:]
Pete Seeger & Frank Hamilton - Pygmy Tune - Nonesuch -
Folkways, 1959 [pete and frank, who was one of pete's successors
singing the tenor part in the weavers, made a mostly-instrumental
album for the sheer delight of playing together. it has some
delightful pieces, including the title track and this remarkable
tune from central africa, which sounds like it could have
originated on a kalimba, or maybe one of the banjo's gourd
ancestors]
Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie - Lonesome Valley - Together -
Rising Son, 1999; orig. Warner Bros., 1975
[pete and arlo have toured together for decades now, musical
father-and-son in all but genetics. this is from the first
recording they released together. they're still at it; they'll be
appearing in massachusetts sometime in the next few months]
Mike Seeger w. Pete Seeger - Well May the World Go - The Second
Annual Farewell Reunion - Mercury, 1973
[mike and pete took different directions in traditional music, with
mike applying himself to mastering and reproducing a concentrated
range of southeastern instrumental and vocal styles while pete
leaned more toward an eclectic, world-ranging road. they're both
superb musicians, but haven't recorded a lot together. here they
mesh beautifully on pete's song, written to the scots tune 'weel
may the keel row', more or less. it's pete's parting wish for the
world -- except that, happily, he wasn't parting and, 36 years
later, is still roaring along]
Pete Seeger - Wasn't That A Time - With Voices Together We Sing -
Folkways, 1955
[finally, i chose to end the program with a political song, written
by lee hays and poet walter lowenfels during the depths of the
mccarthy era. it's an affirmation of their faith, and pete's faith,
in the best side of america. it's a faith that's been tried,
sorely, over the decades, but it's still a flame. may it burn a
long, long time, for pete and for us all]
So that was the program. There was a lot more I didn't have time to
play: some rarities, including a soundtrack Pete and Mike produced
in the 1950s that was a very early example of multitrack recording,
some off-the-beaten track songs, more influences, some of Pete's
"greatest hits" that have been recorded by other folks. So gee, I
guess I'll have to play some of those next week. Happy 90th
birthday, Pete, and my personal thanks for making me a better and
happier person for the last six decades, not to mention turning me
on to this wonderful music that I love.
"No Time to Tarry Here" airs Sundays from 2:00 - 4:00 pm central
daylight time (1900-2100 GMT) on KDHX-St. Louis, 88.1 FM, and over
the net via RealAudio at www.kdhx.org . All programs are archived
for two weeks after air.
05/03/2009
Fransk massakre i Madrid, 1809.
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