Folk singer Pete Seeger dies at age 94

Folk singer Pete Seeger died earlier today, he was 94. For those of us who loved him this is a major event, as he was truly one of the great folk artists, singers, and American social activists of the 20th century.

music.msn.com...

He was kept off commercial television for more than a decade after tangling with the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1955. Repeatedly pressed by the committee to reveal whether he had sung for Communists, Seeger responded sharply: "I love my country very dearly, and I greatly resent this implication that some of the places that I have sung and some of the people that I have known, and some of my opinions, whether they are religious or philosophical, or I might be a vegetarian, make me any less of an American."

He was charged with contempt of Congress, but the sentence was overturned on appeal.

Seeger called the 1950s, years when he was denied broadcast exposure, the high point of his career. He was on the road touring college campuses, spreading the music he, Guthrie, Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter and others had created or preserved.

"The most important job I did was go from college to college to college to college, one after the other, usually small ones," he told The Associated Press in 2006. " ... And I showed the kids there's a lot of great music in this country they never played on the radio."

Tens of thousands of people have personal stories about him. The only time I ever heard Seeger sing was at a memorial anniversary event in a cemetery, with only nine of us in attendance. With my arm around his shoulder and his arm around mine, we sang many of the old protest songs, and more. I remember him saying that he hated cemeteries, and when he died he just wanted to be thrown on the compost heap.

A sad day, and an honoring of a legendary icon of the 20th century.

reply to post by Aleister


I hope I get to live that long.

reply to post by OrphanApology


He was a vegetarian for most of his life, and advocated the lifestyle, if that helps. Great song, great performance.

He will probably have quite a funeral or memorial service. I look forward to hearing or watching a recording of it, and of all the great singers and songs that will be performed there.

from the source:

"Can't prove a damn thing, but I look upon myself as old grandpa," Seeger told the AP in 2008 when asked to reflect on his legacy. "There's not dozens of people now doing what I try to do, not hundreds, but literally thousands. ... The idea of using music to try to get the world together is now all over the place."

reply to post by Aleister


good innings tho wasn't it

rip


funBox

reply to post by Aleister


Personal story about P Seeger ? Yup.
Sitting on a stone wall at Elk's Park, Telluride... playing banjo for the ' kids '.
Jee, he would have ( only ) been about 83 then.
Very smooth and soft-spoken, I thought.
RIP

He was one of the "greats" & will be sorely missed.

peteseeger.net...

reply to post by Aleister


Even as old as he was, this is a major shock for me. He was the last living hero for me.

As of this point, American music is DEAD.

R.I.P.

applesthateatpeople
reply to post by Aleister

 

Even as old as he was, this is a major shock for me. He was the last living hero for me.

As of this point, American music is DEAD.

R.I.P.

Then my sincere condolences. Yes, he was a hero, and now, dead, is more of a legend who truly joins Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, and scant few others at that pinnacle of using music to move the masses to think for themselves.

Another connection between them: none of them were played on the radio or appeared on American television "back in their day" (Seeger, after being censored by CBS and his song cut from the Smothers Brothers Show, finally did his "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" on the show, and that was probably shocking - shocking I tells ya - to some at the time):
en.wikipedia.org...

I was hoping that Bruce Springsteen would join their ranks, but he finally lost me when he didn't show up to march, sing, and participate in the Madison Movement a few years ago (which was actually a pretty major movement for this era).

Thank you, Aleister, for creating this memorial thread to Pete Seeger, a beautiful soul with beautiful music to share. As I posted elsewhere at ATS, 50 years ago when I got my first guitar, the first song I wanted to learn to play was "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"

To me, Pete's greatness was in his ability to work with and create in the genre of folk music. He delivered the deep, great messages found within both the simple songs and the hearts of people, not by a performance where the singer is the show, but in a performance to convey these messages, to draw in the listeners to where they, too, end up singing these great musical and heart truths.

I rank him right up there with other great persons who possess the genius to make something accessible to others. Alan Watts with Eastern Buddhism to the West. Richard Feynman with Physics. These great teachers enthusiastically make their subjects accessible to those who wish to hear, transferring that enthusiasm to those who wish to learn. Pete left our voices singing and our hearts thirsty for the truths, that freedom and justice are ours, but only if we are united to keep them. And maybe that's why some people would rather not have people singing these words.


This song, originally by Woody Guthrie, I included, to show Pete's added lyrics at the end:

This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley,
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps
To the sparking sands of her diamond deserts,
All around me a voice was sounding,
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, then I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling,
A voice was chanting as the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.

One bright sunny morning, in the shadow of the steeple,
By the relief office I saw my people,
As they stood there hungry, I stood there wondering if,
This land was made for you and me.

Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me,
Was a great big sign that said, "Private Property,"
But on the other side, it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking my freedom highway,
Nobody living can make me turn back,
This land was made for you and me.

[Additional verses by Pete Seeger:]

Maybe you've been working as hard as you're able,
But you've just got crumbs from the rich man's table,
And maybe you're thinking, was it truth or fable,
That this land was made for you and me.

Woodland and grassland and river shoreline,
To everything living, even little microbes,
Fin, fur, and feather, we're all here together,
This land was made for you and me.

[And a Native American verse:]

This land is your land, but it once was my land,
Until we sold you Manhattan Island.
You pushed our Nations to the reservations;
This land was stole by you from me

reply to post by desert


And your post makes it much more of a tribute. Thank you, and thank you for the lyrics.

reply to post by Aleister


Awww, man. I love that guy and the world was better for him. Even as a young, cynical, sneering, punk-alt listening music snob I loved Seeg... how could one not?

Another milestone passing... so many.

reply to post by Baddogma




I still haven't found anything about where he will be buried, and as I said, he told the few of us who were there at the cemetery memorial "I hate cemeteries, when I die I want to be thrown on the compost heap." Maybe it was in his will. (remember how Hunter Thompson's ashes were shot from a cannon by Johnny Depp)

eta: They did have a memorial in his hometown, Beacon, New York, with his ashes present. I bet his ashes end up somewhere very interesting (read: compost heap).

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