Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 - January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer, p… Read Full Bio ↴Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 - January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer, political activist and author, and a key figure in the mid-20th century American folk music revival. He is particularly loved as the author (or co-author) of the songs Where Have All the Flowers Gone, If I Had a Hammer, and Turn, Turn, Turn. One of his brothers is Mike Seeger; Peggy Seeger is his half-sister.
As a member of The Weavers, Seeger had a string of hits, including a 1949 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" that topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. He was formerly a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America and was a major contributor to folk and protest music in the 1950s and the 1960s.
Perhaps best known today as the author or co-author of the songs Where Have All the Flowers Gone, If I Had a Hammer, and Turn, Turn, Turn, songs that have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and which are still sung all over the world. Flowers was a hit recording for The Kingston Trio (1962), Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962), and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while The Byrds popularized "Turn, Turn, Turn" in the mid-1960s.
Early work
Seeger dropped out of Harvard (where he had been studying journalism) in 1939, and he took a job in Washington, D.C. at the Archive of American Folk Song in the Library of Congress. In that capacity, he met and was influenced by many important musicians such as Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. He met Woody at a "Grapes of Wrath" migrant workers concert on March 3, 1940 and the two thereafter began a musical collaboration.
In 1948, Seeger wrote the first version of his now-classic How to Play the Five-String Banjo, a book that many banjo players credit with starting them off on the instrument. He went on to invent the Long Neck or Seeger banjo. This instrument is three frets longer than a typical banjo, and slightly longer than a bass guitar at 25 Frets, and is tuned a minor third lower than the normal 5-string banjo.
As a self-described "split tenor" (between an alto and a tenor), he was a founding member of the folk groups the Almanac Singers with Woody Guthrie and the Weavers with Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman. The Weavers had major hits in the early 1950s, before being blacklisted in the McCarthy Era.
On August 18, 1955, Pete was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) where he refused to name personal and political associations stating it would violate his First Amendment rights... "I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this." Seeger's refusal to testify led to a March 26, 1957 indictment for contempt of Congress; for some years, he had to keep the federal government apprised of where he was going any time he left the Southern District of New York. He was convicted in a jury trial in March 1961, and sentenced to a year in jail, but in May 1962 an appeals court ruled the indictment to be flawed and overturned his conviction.
Seeger started a solo career in 1958, and is known for songs such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," "If I Had a Hammer" (co-written with Lee Hays), "Turn, Turn, Turn," adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes, and "We Shall Overcome" (based on a spiritual and later became the unofficial anthem for the civil rights movement). Seeger became influential in the 1960s folk revival centered in Greenwich Village. He helped found Broadside Magazine and Sing Out!. He was strongly associated with Moses Asch and Folkways Records. To describe the new crop of folk singers, many of whom were politically minded in their songs, he coined the phrase "Woody's children", alluding to his former bandmate Woody Guthrie, who by this time had become a legendary figure. He has often sung and is associated with the song "Joe Hill".
In the mid-sixties he hosted a regional folk music TV show called Rainbow Quest which featured folk musicians playing traditional folk music. Among his guests were Johnny Cash, June Carter, Mississippi John Hurt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Roscoe Holcomb, The Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Richard Fariña and Mimi Fariña, and many others. Thirty-eight hour-long programs were recorded at new UHF station WNJU's Newark studios in 1965 and 1966, produced by Seeger and his wife Toshi with Sholom Rubinstein.
An early advocate of Bob Dylan, Seeger was supposedly incensed over the distorted electric sound Dylan brought into the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, especially with the inability to clearly hear the lyrics. There are many conflicting versions of exactly what ensued, some claiming that he actually tried to disconnect the equipment. He is often cited as one of the main opponents to Dylan at Newport 1965, but claimed in 2005:
"There are reports of me being anti-him going electric at the '65 Newport Folk festival, but that's wrong. I was the MC that night. He was singing 'Maggie's Farm' and you couldn't understand a word because the mic was distorting his voice. I ran to the mixing desk and said, 'Fix the sound, it's terrible!' The guy said 'No, that's how they want it.' And I did say that if I had an axe I'd cut the cable! But I wanted to hear the words. I didn't mind him going electric.
Later work
Seeger achieved some notoriety in 1967 and 1968 for his song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy", about a captain—a "big fool"—who drowned while leading a platoon on maneuvers in Louisiana during World War II. Seeger performed the song on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour after some arguments with CBS about whether the song's lyrics were objectionable. Although the song was cut from the Smothers Brothers show in September 1967, Seeger returned in January 1968 and sang the entire song. It was clearly an allegory about the U.S. under the leadership of Lyndon Johnson which was in over its head in the Vietnam War.
Another slight against Lyndon Johnson can be heard in his singing of Len Chandler's seemingly juvenile song, "Beans in My Ears" from his 1966 album Dangerous Songs!? in which he accuses "Mrs. Jay's little son Alby" (Alby Jay is meant to sound like LBJ) of having beans in his ears, or of not listening to the people.
In 1998 a double-CD tribute album was released - "Where Have All the Flowers Gone: the Songs of Pete Seeger". It contained contributions from Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Eliza Carthy, Bruce Springsteen, Roger McGuinn, Judy Collins, Indigo Girls, Dick Gaughan, Martin Simpson, Odetta and others.
Pete Seeger still performed occasionally in public until his death, and for a number of years appeared at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough Tennessee to tell stories, mostly children's stories such as Abiyoyo. He performed at MerleFest April 27-30, 2006 in Wilkesboro, NC.
On March 16, 2007, the 88-year old Pete Seeger performed with his siblings Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger, and other Seeger family members at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where he had been employed as a folk song archivist 67 years earlier.
In April 2006, Bruce Springsteen released a collection of songs associated with Seeger or in Seeger's folk tradition, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Bruce Springsteen performed a series of concerts based on those sessions, to sellout crowds. Springsteen had previously recorded one Seeger favorite, "We Shall Overcome," on the 1998 "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" tribute album.
Seeger lived in the hamlet of Dutchess Junction in the Town of Fishkill, NY and remained very politically active in the Hudson Valley Region of New York, especially in the near-by City of Beacon, NY. He and Toshi purchased their land in 1949, and lived there first in a trailer, then in a log cabin they built themselves, and eventually in a larger house. Seeger joined the Community Church (a church practicing Unitarian Universalism), is considered a famous Unitarian Universalist, and often performed at functions for the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Seeger died in 2014 of natural causes.
Awards
Seeger has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions throughout his career, including:
A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1993)
The National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts (1994)
Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Honor (1994)
The Harvard Arts Medal (1996)
Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1996)
Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album of 1996 for his record "Pete" (1997)
As a member of The Weavers, Seeger had a string of hits, including a 1949 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" that topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. He was formerly a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America and was a major contributor to folk and protest music in the 1950s and the 1960s.
Perhaps best known today as the author or co-author of the songs Where Have All the Flowers Gone, If I Had a Hammer, and Turn, Turn, Turn, songs that have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and which are still sung all over the world. Flowers was a hit recording for The Kingston Trio (1962), Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962), and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while The Byrds popularized "Turn, Turn, Turn" in the mid-1960s.
Early work
Seeger dropped out of Harvard (where he had been studying journalism) in 1939, and he took a job in Washington, D.C. at the Archive of American Folk Song in the Library of Congress. In that capacity, he met and was influenced by many important musicians such as Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. He met Woody at a "Grapes of Wrath" migrant workers concert on March 3, 1940 and the two thereafter began a musical collaboration.
In 1948, Seeger wrote the first version of his now-classic How to Play the Five-String Banjo, a book that many banjo players credit with starting them off on the instrument. He went on to invent the Long Neck or Seeger banjo. This instrument is three frets longer than a typical banjo, and slightly longer than a bass guitar at 25 Frets, and is tuned a minor third lower than the normal 5-string banjo.
As a self-described "split tenor" (between an alto and a tenor), he was a founding member of the folk groups the Almanac Singers with Woody Guthrie and the Weavers with Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman. The Weavers had major hits in the early 1950s, before being blacklisted in the McCarthy Era.
On August 18, 1955, Pete was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) where he refused to name personal and political associations stating it would violate his First Amendment rights... "I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this." Seeger's refusal to testify led to a March 26, 1957 indictment for contempt of Congress; for some years, he had to keep the federal government apprised of where he was going any time he left the Southern District of New York. He was convicted in a jury trial in March 1961, and sentenced to a year in jail, but in May 1962 an appeals court ruled the indictment to be flawed and overturned his conviction.
Seeger started a solo career in 1958, and is known for songs such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," "If I Had a Hammer" (co-written with Lee Hays), "Turn, Turn, Turn," adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes, and "We Shall Overcome" (based on a spiritual and later became the unofficial anthem for the civil rights movement). Seeger became influential in the 1960s folk revival centered in Greenwich Village. He helped found Broadside Magazine and Sing Out!. He was strongly associated with Moses Asch and Folkways Records. To describe the new crop of folk singers, many of whom were politically minded in their songs, he coined the phrase "Woody's children", alluding to his former bandmate Woody Guthrie, who by this time had become a legendary figure. He has often sung and is associated with the song "Joe Hill".
In the mid-sixties he hosted a regional folk music TV show called Rainbow Quest which featured folk musicians playing traditional folk music. Among his guests were Johnny Cash, June Carter, Mississippi John Hurt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Roscoe Holcomb, The Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Richard Fariña and Mimi Fariña, and many others. Thirty-eight hour-long programs were recorded at new UHF station WNJU's Newark studios in 1965 and 1966, produced by Seeger and his wife Toshi with Sholom Rubinstein.
An early advocate of Bob Dylan, Seeger was supposedly incensed over the distorted electric sound Dylan brought into the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, especially with the inability to clearly hear the lyrics. There are many conflicting versions of exactly what ensued, some claiming that he actually tried to disconnect the equipment. He is often cited as one of the main opponents to Dylan at Newport 1965, but claimed in 2005:
"There are reports of me being anti-him going electric at the '65 Newport Folk festival, but that's wrong. I was the MC that night. He was singing 'Maggie's Farm' and you couldn't understand a word because the mic was distorting his voice. I ran to the mixing desk and said, 'Fix the sound, it's terrible!' The guy said 'No, that's how they want it.' And I did say that if I had an axe I'd cut the cable! But I wanted to hear the words. I didn't mind him going electric.
Later work
Seeger achieved some notoriety in 1967 and 1968 for his song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy", about a captain—a "big fool"—who drowned while leading a platoon on maneuvers in Louisiana during World War II. Seeger performed the song on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour after some arguments with CBS about whether the song's lyrics were objectionable. Although the song was cut from the Smothers Brothers show in September 1967, Seeger returned in January 1968 and sang the entire song. It was clearly an allegory about the U.S. under the leadership of Lyndon Johnson which was in over its head in the Vietnam War.
Another slight against Lyndon Johnson can be heard in his singing of Len Chandler's seemingly juvenile song, "Beans in My Ears" from his 1966 album Dangerous Songs!? in which he accuses "Mrs. Jay's little son Alby" (Alby Jay is meant to sound like LBJ) of having beans in his ears, or of not listening to the people.
In 1998 a double-CD tribute album was released - "Where Have All the Flowers Gone: the Songs of Pete Seeger". It contained contributions from Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Eliza Carthy, Bruce Springsteen, Roger McGuinn, Judy Collins, Indigo Girls, Dick Gaughan, Martin Simpson, Odetta and others.
Pete Seeger still performed occasionally in public until his death, and for a number of years appeared at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough Tennessee to tell stories, mostly children's stories such as Abiyoyo. He performed at MerleFest April 27-30, 2006 in Wilkesboro, NC.
On March 16, 2007, the 88-year old Pete Seeger performed with his siblings Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger, and other Seeger family members at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where he had been employed as a folk song archivist 67 years earlier.
In April 2006, Bruce Springsteen released a collection of songs associated with Seeger or in Seeger's folk tradition, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Bruce Springsteen performed a series of concerts based on those sessions, to sellout crowds. Springsteen had previously recorded one Seeger favorite, "We Shall Overcome," on the 1998 "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" tribute album.
Seeger lived in the hamlet of Dutchess Junction in the Town of Fishkill, NY and remained very politically active in the Hudson Valley Region of New York, especially in the near-by City of Beacon, NY. He and Toshi purchased their land in 1949, and lived there first in a trailer, then in a log cabin they built themselves, and eventually in a larger house. Seeger joined the Community Church (a church practicing Unitarian Universalism), is considered a famous Unitarian Universalist, and often performed at functions for the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Seeger died in 2014 of natural causes.
Awards
Seeger has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions throughout his career, including:
A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1993)
The National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts (1994)
Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Honor (1994)
The Harvard Arts Medal (1996)
Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1996)
Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album of 1996 for his record "Pete" (1997)
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American Favorite Ballads, Vols. 1-5 (Box Set)
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Ain't It A Shame Ain't it a shame to beat Your wife on a Sunday?…
Alabama Bound I'm Alabama bound I'm Alabama bound And if the train don't…
All My Trials I had a little book was given to me, And every…
America the Beautiful O beautiful for spacious skies For amber waves of grain Fo…
Banks of the Ohio I asked my love to take a walk Just a little…
Barbara Allen Twas in the merry month of May When green buds all…
Black Girl Songwriters: HUDDIE LEDBETTER Black girl, black girl, don…
Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair Black is the color of my true love's hair His face…
Blow the Man Down As I was out walkin' down paradise street To me way,…
Blue Mountain Lake Come all you bold fellers Where'er you may be Come set down…
Boll Weevil Have you heard the latest, the latest of the song, 'Bout…
Buffalo Gals As I was walking down the street Down the street, down…
Buffalo Skinners 'Twas in the town o' Jacksboro, in the spring o'…
Camptown Races Well, I came down there with my hat caved in Oh…
Careless Love Oh love, ooh love Oh, careless love Yes, oh love, oh lov…
Cielito Lindo De la sierra, morena Cielito lindo vienen bajando Un par de …
Clementine In a cavern, in a canyon, Excavating for a mine, Dwelt a…
Cumberland Gap Lay down boys take a lil' nap We're all going down…
Cumberland Mountain Bear Chase Away, away, we're bound for the mountain, Bound for the…
Deep Blue Sea Deep Blue Sea, Baby, Deep Blue Sea (3x) It was Willy…
Dink's Song If I had wings like Noah's dove I'd fly up the…
Down in the Valley Down in the valley valley so low Hang your head over…
Erie Canal I've got a mule and her name is Sal Fifteen miles…
Frankie and Johnny Now Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts Oh Lord, how they di…
Froggie Went a Courtin' Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh Frog went a-cou…
Go Tell Aunt Rhody Go tell Aunt Rhody go tell Aunt Rhody Go tell Aunt…
Golden Vanity There was a lofty ship And she put out to sea And…
Goodnight Irene Irene, goodnight Irene, goodnight Goodnight, Irene Goodnight…
Greer County Bachelor My name is Tom Hight, an old bachelor I am, You‟ll…
Ground Hog Whet up your axe and whistle up your dog, (repeat) We're…
Gypsy Davy It was late last night when the boss come home He's…
Holler Go down, go down you little red Red rising sun And don't…
Home On the Range Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam Where the…
House of the Rising Sun There is a house in New Orleans You call the…
I Ride an Old Paint I ride an old paint, I lead an old dan I'm…
I've Been Working on the Railroad I've been working on the railroad All the livelong day I've …
Jay Gould's Daughter Jay Gould's daughter said before she died Papa, fix the blin…
Jesse James Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man He…
John Brown's Body John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the grave John Brown's…
John Hardy John Hardy was a desperate little man, He carried two guns…
John Henry John Henry was about three days old, Sittin' on his papa's…
John Riley As I went out one morning early, To breathe the sweet…
Johnny Gray There once was a little feller His name was Johnny Gray He…
Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill Who can blame me, cryin'…
Leatherwing Bat "Hi!" said the little leatherwing bat "I'll tell you the rea…
Midnight Special Oh, let the midnight special, shine her light on me Oh,…
Molly Malone In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty I…
Monsieur Banjo Look at the dandy, oh there Michie Banjo, Doesn't he put…
New River Train I'm riding on that new river train, I'm riding on that…
No Irish Need Apply I'm a decent boy just landed from the town of…
Oh, Susanna I come from Alabama With my banjo on my knee I'm going…
Old Blue I had a dog and his name was Blue You bet…
Old Dan Tucker Well, Old Dan Tucker, was a fine old man, Washed his…
Old Joe Clark Farethee well Old Joe Clark Farethee well I say Farethe well…
On Top of Old Smoky On top of old smokey all covered with snow I lost…
Ox Driver's Song I pup my whip and bring the blood Make the leaders…
Play Party I sent my brown jug down town So early in the…
Poor Boy My mother called me to her bedside These words she said…
Pretty Polly There was a youth and a well-bred youth, he being…
Putting on the Style Young man in the carriage Driving like he's mad with a…
Red River Valley From this valley they say you are going. We will miss…
Sally Ann Did you ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann? Dragging his slick…
She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, (when…
Shenandoah The Missouri, she's a might river Away you rolling river The…
Sioux Indians I′ll sing you a song, though it may be a…
Skip to My Lou Lost my partner, what'll I do Lost my partner, what'll I…
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child Sometimes I feel like a motherless child Sometimes I feel li…
St. James Hospital In a corner by the square The drinks were served as…
St. Louis Blues I hate to see that evening sun go down I hate…
Stewball Way out in (uh huh) California (uh huh) Where old Stewball…
Strawberry Roan I was lopin" around town just a-spendin′ my time, Out of…
Summertime Summertime and the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' and the…
Swanee River Way down upon the Swanee River, Far, far away, There's…
Sweet Betsy from Pike Oh, don't you remember Sweet Betsy from Pike? She crossed th…
Talking Blues I went down to the fishing hole And I set down…
The Big Rock Candy Mountain One evening as the sun went down And the jungle fires…
The Foggy Dew I was down the glen one Easter morn To a city…
The Fox The fox went out to the chase one night Prayed to…
The Keeper and the Doe The keeper did a hunting go Under his cloak he carried…
The Riddle Song UN-BREAK MY HEART Toni Braxton Don't leave me in all t…
The Wabash Cannonball Public Domain I stood on the Atlantic Ocean The wide Pacifi…
The Water Is Wide The water is wide, I cannot cross over, And neither have…
The Wreck Of The Old 97 Well they gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia, Said: "St…
This Land Is Your Land This land is your land, this land is my land From…
Trail to Mexico I made up my mind to change my way And quit…
Wayfaring Stranger I'm a poor wayfaring stranger While traveling through this w…
When I First Came to This Land When I first came to this land I was not a…
When I Was Single When I was most beautiful Cities were falling And from unexp…
Whiskey Rye Whiskey Rye whisky, rye whisky, rye whisky, l cry, If you don't…
Wimoweh Oh, wimoweh Wimoweh Wimoweh Wimoweh Wimoweh Wimoweh Wimow…
Yankee Doodle Yankee Doodle came to town, A-ridin' on a pony; He stuck a…
You Are My Sunshine You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy…
Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn I'll sing you a song and it's not very long It's…