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)
Blow Ye Winds
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Five hundred brave Americans a-whalin' for to go.
Chorus:
Singing Blow ye winds in the morning,
Blow ye winds, high-ho!
Clear away your runnin' gear,
And blow, boys, blow!
They send you to New Bedford, that famous whaling port,
And give you to some land sharks to board and fit you out.
They send you to a boardin' house, there for a time to dwell;
The thieves there they are thicker than the other side of Hell.
They tell you of the clipper ships a-runnin' in and out,
And say you'll take five hundred sperm before you're six months out.
And now we're out to sea, my boys, the wind comes on to blow;
One-half the watch is sick on deck, the other half below.
The skipper's on the quarterdeck a-squintin' at the sails,
When up aloft the lookout spots a mighty school of whales.
Then lower down the boats, my boys, and after him we'll travel,
But if you get too near his tail, he'll kick you to the Devil.
When we've caught a whale, my boys, we'll bring 'im alongside,
Then over with our blubber-hooks and rob him of his hide.
When we get home, our ship made fast, when we get through our sailin',
A brimming glass around we'll pass, and damn this blubber whalin'.
Some singers invariably sing "me boys" for "my boys," and other variations occur, too.
The song is sometimes called the "Boston Come-Ye-All,"( with the line "Come all you bold
Americans, a-whalin' for to go." in verse one ) and sometimes "Blow, Boys, Blow."
"Pete Seeger's Blow Ye Winds" is a traditional ballad that narrates the story of American whale hunters. The song opens with the advertisement of Boston, New York, and Buffalo to attract 500 American whale hunters to go to sea. Upon arriving at New Bedford, one of the most famous whaling ports, the land sharks board and outfit them. The boarding house veils numerous thieves the Americans must tolerate in a short period. They inform the Americans of the "clipper ships" running in and out and promise five hundred sperm before their six-month voyage terminates.
The song takes a shift as the Americans take off to sea. They catch wind and half the crew is taken sick on deck and the other half below deck. The skipper is at the rear deck, inspecting the sails before spotting a school of mighty whales up aloft, waiting to be captured by the Americans. The whale hunters lower down their boats to catch the animal, but they must evade getting too close to the mammal's tail since it could "kick them to the Devil." They eventually catch a whale and rob it of its hide when they bring it back to the ship. Upon docking, they would pass a brimming glass and damn blubber whaling.
Line by Line Meaning
'Tis advertised in Boston, New York, and Buffalo:
The poster is displayed in Boston, New York and Buffalo, telling that they need five hundred sailors to go whaling.
Singing Blow ye winds in the morning,
Singing, let the wind blow in the morning.
Blow ye winds, high-ho!
Wind, blow higher.
Clear away your runnin' gear,
Prepare to leave.
And blow, boys, blow!
And let the wind blow, my boys!
They send you to New Bedford, that famous whaling port,
They send you to New Bedford, a renowned port for whaling, from where you will board a ship.
And give you to some land sharks to board and fit you out.
They hand you over to land sharks for boarding and hiring.
They send you to a boardin' house, there for a time to dwell;
They send you to the boarding house where you'll live for some time.
The thieves there they are thicker than the other side of Hell.
The place is full of thieves.
They tell you of the clipper ships a-runnin' in and out,
They talk to you about the clipper ships going in and out.
And say you'll take five hundred sperm before you're six months out.
They promise you that you will catch five hundred sperms before six months passes.
And now we're out to sea, my boys, the wind comes on to blow;
Now we are at sea, my boys, and the wind is starting to blow.
One-half the watch is sick on deck, the other half below.
Half of us on deck are sick, while the other half is below.
The skipper's on the quarterdeck a-squintin' at the sails,
The skipper is on the quarterdeck, observing the sails.
When up aloft the lookout spots a mighty school of whales.
Up above, the lookout sees a school of whales.
Then lower down the boats, my boys, and after him we'll travel,
Lower the boats, my boys, and we'll chase him.
But if you get too near his tail, he'll kick you to the Devil.
But if you get too close to his tail, he'll throw you into disaster.
When we've caught a whale, my boys, we'll bring 'im alongside,
When we capture a whale, we will bring him beside the ship.
Then over with our blubber-hooks and rob him of his hide.
Then we will remove his blubber and take his hides.
When we get home, our ship made fast, when we get through our sailin',
When we return home and the ship is secured, and after we're done sailing.
A brimming glass around we'll pass, and damn this blubber whalin'.
We will toast each other with a full glass, and curse this whaling for blubber.
Contributed by Peyton I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.