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)
Cobbler's Song
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I served my time at ould camp
Some call me an old agitator
But now I'm resolved to repent
With me ing-twing of an ing-thing of an i-doe
With me ing-twing of an ing-thing of an i-day
With me roo-boo-boo roo-boo-boo randy
Now, my father was hung for sheep stealing
My mother was burned for a witch
My sister's a dandy house-keeper
And I'm a mechanical switch
It's forty long years I have traveled
All by the contents of me pack
Me hammers, me awls and me pinchers
I carry them all on me back
Oh, my wife she is humpy, she's lumpy
Me wife she's the devil, she's cracked
And no matter what I may do with her
Her tongue, it goes clickety-clack
It was early one fine summer's morning
A little before it was day
I dipped her three times in the river
And carelessly bade her "Good day"
The Cobbler's Song by Pete Seeger is a ballad that tells the story of a cobbler named Dick Darby. Dick Darby introduces himself as an old agitator who has resolved to repent. He laments about his family's dark history, which includes his father being hanged for sheep stealing, his mother being burned for a witch, and his sister being a housekeeper. He describes himself as a mechanical switch, emphasizing how he has been a cobbler for 40 long years, and he has traveled with his tools on his back.
The lyrics show the cobbler's frustration with his wife, who is described as humpy, lumpy, and devilish. Despite his efforts, her tongue keeps wagging endlessly. He then narrates a story of how he carelessly dipped her thrice in the river one fine summer morning and bade her good day. The chorus is catchy, featuring "ing-twing of an ing-thing of an i-doe," "ing-twing of an ing-thing of an i-day," "roo-boo-boo roo-boo-boo randy," and "lab stone keeps beating away."
Overall, The Cobbler's Song is a commentary on the struggles and frustrations of everyday life. Pete Seeger's deep baritone voice and the simple melody blend perfectly to bring out the cobbler's story with raw emotion and depth.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, me name is Dick Darby, I'm a cobbler
My name is Dick Darby, and I work as a cobbler.
I served my time at ould camp
I completed my apprenticeship at an old workhouse.
Some call me an old agitator
Some people refer to me as a troublemaker.
But now I'm resolved to repent
But I have now decided to change my ways.
With me ing-twing of an ing-thing of an i-doe
I sing a cheerful tune.
With me ing-twing of an ing-thing of an i-day
And I continue to hum my pleasant melody.
With me roo-boo-boo roo-boo-boo randy
As I work, I keep a rhythm to keep up my spirits.
And me lab stone keeps beating away
And my work carries on rhythmically as well.
Now, my father was hung for sheep stealing
My father was executed for stealing sheep.
My mother was burned for a witch
My mother was accused of witchcraft and executed.
My sister's a dandy house-keeper
My sister is a skilled housekeeper.
And I'm a mechanical switch
And I am a skilled worker with my hands.
It's forty long years I have traveled
I have spent forty long years traveling and working.
All by the contents of me pack
And I have traveled with all of my tools and possessions in my backpack.
Me hammers, me awls and me pinchers
Including my hammers, awls, and pliers.
I carry them all on me back
Which I carry on my back.
Oh, my wife she is humpy, she's lumpy
My wife is not perfect in appearance.
Me wife she's the devil, she's cracked
And some might say she has a difficult personality.
And no matter what I may do with her
And no matter how hard I try to please her.
Her tongue, it goes clickety-clack
She talks and criticizes me constantly.
It was early one fine summer's morning
One morning in the summer, very early.
A little before it was day
Just before sunrise.
I dipped her three times in the river
I playfully dipped her in the river three times.
And carelessly bade her "Good day"
And with a casual farewell, I left her.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER REUSTROM KIRKWOOD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@petternilsson4393
Its a pleasure to see legends sing together..
@dogman8436
Fabulous version. Clear words which make the history and point of the song clear. This and the burl version are the best.
@KittyStarlight
This is certainly one of the best. They make it sound really pretty. I had previously not exactly thought of this as a pretty song.
Obviously related storywise to "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye."
Pretty tune, slightly creepy story. Like a lot of war songs are of course.
Or anti-war really.
("For I'd rather have my Teddy as he used to be
Than the King of France and his whole navy.")
@KittyStarlight
The accompaniment is very nice too. Words and music together are beautiful but the point of the song comes through loud and clear too at the same time.
Wow. Very, very good. ^___^
@RUTIGKILLE
What a wonderful piece. Have never seen Pete and Tommy together before.
@dogman8436
One of the best anti-war songs sung perfectly. Burl Ives also sang it well.
@PhilipSalen
Great song beautifully sung
@liammcgovern5243
Love this version
@tonycarton8054
the song writtten from a mothers viewpoint in a peripheral matter of fact way ,which makes the writing so potent
@dominicjackson3769
Who gives a damn grandson or not, what a lovely rendition of a great song ........ Dominic