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)
Aimee Semple McPherson
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aimee McPherson, that wonderful person,
She weight a hundred eighty and her hair was red
And preached a wicked sermon, so the papers said.
[Chorus]
Hi dee hi dee hi dee hi
Ho dee ho dee ho dee ho.
Aimee built herself a radio station
To broadcast her preaching to the nation.
She found a man named Armistead who knew enough
To run the radio while Aimee did her stuff.
She held a camp meeting out at Ocean Park
Preached from early morning 'til after dark.
Said the benediction, folded up her tent,
And nobody knew where Aimee went.
When Aimee McPherson got back from this journey,
She told her tale to the district attorney.
Said she'd been kidnapped on a lonely trail.
In spite of all the questions, she stuck to her tale.
Well, the Grand Jury started an investigation,
Uncovered a lot of spicy information.
Found out about a love nest down at Carmel-by-the-Sea,
Where the liquor was expensive and the loving was free.
They found a cottage with a breakfast nook,
A folding bed with a worn-out look.
The slats were busted and the springs were loose,
And the dents in the mattress fitted Aimee's caboose.
Well they took poor Aimee and they threw her in jail.
Last I heard she was out on bail.
They'll send her up for a stretch, I guess,
She worked herself up into an awful mess
Now Radio Ray is a going hound;
He's going yet and he ain't been found.
They got his description, but they got it too late.
Sin they got it, he's lost a lot of weight.
Now I'll end my story in the usual way,
About this lady preacher's holiday.
If you don't get the moral then you're the gal for me
'Cause they got a lot of cottages down at Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Pete Seeger's song "Aimee Semple McPherson" is a satirical ballad that tells the story of a popular and controversial evangelist of the early 20th century. Aimee McPherson was a Canadian-American Pentecostal evangelist who founded the Foursquare Church in Los Angeles. She was known for her flamboyant personality, her theatrical sermons, and her use of the media (including radio broadcasts) to spread her message. The song begins by introducing Aimee and her reputation as a powerful preacher. However, the chorus ("hi dee hi dee hi dee hi, ho dee ho dee ho dee ho") gives a sense of irony or even mockery, as if to suggest that there is a darker side to Aimee's story.
The second verse describes how Aimee built her own radio station to spread her message further. She hires a man named Armistead to run the radio while she preaches. The third verse tells the story of one of Aimee's camp meetings, where she preaches from morning until night. The verse ends with the line "nobody knew where Aimee went," foreshadowing the scandal to come.
The fourth verse is where the scandal unfolds. Aimee returns from a journey and claims she was kidnapped while on a lonely trail. The district attorney investigates and finds "spicy" information about Aimee's personal life, including a love nest in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The next verse describes the cottage where Aimee allegedly stayed, with a "worn-out" bed and mattresses that fit her shape. The satire is biting here, suggesting that Aimee was not the saintly figure she portrayed herself to be.
The final two verses describe the aftermath of the scandal. Aimee is thrown in jail and is said to be "out on bail." Radio Ray, the man who allegedly helped Aimee fake her kidnapping, is still missing. The song ends with the line "if you don't get the moral then you're the gal for me," implying that the story is a cautionary tale about the dangers of religious zealotry and hypocrisy.
Line by Line Meaning
Did you ever hear the story of Aimee McPherson?
Have you heard about Aimee McPherson's story?
Aimee McPherson, that wonderful person,
Aimee McPherson, the amazing lady,
She weight a hundred eighty and her hair was red
She weighed 180 pounds and had red hair,
And preached a wicked sermon, so the papers said.
And according to the papers, she delivered provocative sermons.
Hi dee hi dee hi dee hi
Silly chorus line. (No deeper meaning).
Ho dee ho dee ho dee ho.
Silly chorus line. (No deeper meaning).
Aimee built herself a radio station
Aimee established her radio station on her own.
To broadcast her preaching to the nation.
To spread her sermons throughout the country.
She found a man named Armistead who knew enough
She discovered a man named Armistead who had the skills required,
To run the radio while Aimee did her stuff.
To manage the radio while Aimee did what she needed to do.
She held a camp meeting out at Ocean Park
She led a meeting at Ocean Park.
Preached from early morning 'til after dark.
She gave sermons for most of the day.
Said the benediction, folded up her tent,
Concluded with a benediction, and then left.
And nobody knew where Aimee went.
No one knew where Aimee had gone.
When Aimee McPherson got back from this journey,
When Aimee returned from her trip,
She told her tale to the district attorney.
She reported what had occurred to the district attorney.
Said she'd been kidnapped on a lonely trail.
She claimed that she had been kidnapped on a deserted path.
In spite of all the questions, she stuck to her tale.
Despite being questioned numerous times, she never changed her story.
Well, the Grand Jury started an investigation,
The Grand Jury began investigating.
Uncovered a lot of spicy information.
Discovered many sensational details.
Found out about a love nest down at Carmel-by-the-Sea,
They discovered a love nest in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Where the liquor was expensive and the loving was free.
Where alcohol was pricey and love was free.
They found a cottage with a breakfast nook,
They located a cottage with a breakfast area.
A folding bed with a worn-out look.
A shabby-looking fold-out bed.
The slats were busted and the springs were loose,
The slats were broken and the springs were weakened.
And the dents in the mattress fitted Aimee's caboose.
The dents in the mattress were a perfect fit for Aimee's bum.
Well they took poor Aimee and they threw her in jail.
Then they arrested Aimee and put her behind bars.
Last I heard she was out on bail.
The last news I heard was that she was out on bail.
They'll send her up for a stretch, I guess,
I think they'll most likely imprison her for some time.
She worked herself up into an awful mess.
She has gotten herself into a terrible situation.
Now Radio Ray is a goin' hound;
Radio Ray is a wanted man.
He's goin' yet and he ain't been found.
He remains uncaught and is at large.
They got his description, but they got it too late.
The authorities received his description, but it was already too late.
Sin' they got it, he's lost a lot of weight.
He lost a considerable amount of weight since they received his description.
Now I'll end my story in the usual way,
I'll finish my tale in usual fashion,
About this lady preacher's holiday.
Discussing the lady preacher's vacation.
If you don't get the moral then you're the gal for me
If you don't understand the message, then you're perfect for me.
'Cause they got a lot of cottages down at Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Since there are so many cottages in Carmel-by-the-Sea, it's a good place to visit.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: J. LOMAX JR.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind