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)
Frankie and Johnny
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh Lord, how they did love
Swore to be true to each other true as the stars above
He was her man but he wouldn't do her wrong.
Now Frankie went down to the corner
Just for a bucket of beer
She said Mr Bartender has my loving Johnny been here
I don't want to cause you no trouble
Woman, I ain't gonna lie
But I saw your lover an hour ago
With a girl named Nellie Blie
He's your man but he's doin' you wrong.
Now Frankie looked over the transom
She saw to her surprise
There on the cab sat Johnny
Making love to Nellie Blie
He's my man, but he's doin' me wrong.
Frankie threw back her comona
Took out her little 44
Rutty too-too three times she shot right through
That hardwood door
Shot her man, he was doin' her wro
Now bring out your rubber tired hearses
Bring out your rubber tired hack
I'm taken said the man to the graveyard
But only six of 'em called him back
He was my man but he done me wrong.
Bring round a thousand policemen
Bring 'em around today
To lock me down in that dungeon cell
And throw that key away
I shot my man, he was doin' me wrong.
Now Frankie she said to the warden
What are they goin' to do
The warden he said to Frankie
It's the electric chair for you
You shot your man, he was doin' you wrong.
Now this story has no moral
This story has no end
This story just goes to show
That there ain't no good in man
He was her man, but he done her wrong
The lyrics to Pete Seeger's "Frankie and Johnny" tell the story of a complex and tumultuous relationship between two lovers, Frankie and Johnny. The song begins with a description of their deep love and devotion to one another, noting that they have sworn to be true to each other. However, the song quickly takes a dark turn when Frankie goes to a corner store to buy a bucket of beer and asks the bartender if Johnny has been there. The bartender tells her that he saw Johnny with another woman named Nellie Blie only an hour ago, and that he is "doin' [her] wrong."
Frankie is devastated by this news, and looks through the window to see Johnny and Nellie Blie making love in a cab. She takes out her gun and shoots through the door, killing Johnny. The song's title comes from this portion of the story, as Frankie and Johnny are the names of the two lovers who have reached a tragic end. Frankie is sent to jail and ultimately to the electric chair for her crime.
The song is a cautionary tale about the dangers of love and relationships, warning listeners that "there ain't no good in man." It highlights the complexities of human relationships and the paradoxical nature of love, which can bring great joy and great pain.
Line by Line Meaning
Now Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts
Frankie and Johnny were a romantic couple
Oh Lord, how they did love
Their love was intense and strong
Swore to be true to each other true as the stars above
They made a solemn promise to be loyal to each other forever
He was her man but he wouldn't do her wrong.
Although Johnny was her man, he would never betray her
Now Frankie went down to the corner
Frankie went to a nearby pub
Just for a bucket of beer
She went there just to have a drink
She said Mr Bartender has my loving Johnny been here
Frankie asked the bartender if Johnny had been there
He's my man, he wouldn't do me wrong.
Frankie believed Johnny would never hurt her
I don't want to cause you no trouble
Frankie didn't want any problems
Woman, I ain't gonna lie
She was being honest
But I saw your lover an hour ago
Frankie saw Johnny earlier with someone else
With a girl named Nellie Blie
The other girl was named Nellie Blie
He's your man but he's doin' you wrong.
Although he was Frankie's man, Johnny was unfaithful
Now Frankie looked over the transom
Frankie looked through the window
She saw to her surprise
Frankie was surprised by what she saw
There on the cab sat Johnny
Johnny was sitting on a taxi
Making love to Nellie Blie
Johnny was having sex with Nellie Blie
He's my man, but he's doin' me wrong.
Even though Johnny was her man, he was cheating on her
Frankie threw back her comona
Frankie removed her robe
Took out her little 44
Frankie pulled out a gun, a .44 caliber revolver
Rutty too-too three times she shot right through
Frankie fired three shots
That hardwood door
She shot at the door
Shot her man, he was doin' her wrong
Frankie shot Johnny because he cheated on her
Now bring out your rubber tired hearses
Frankie wants a hearse with rubber tires
Bring out your rubber tired hack
She requests a hack with rubber tires (a taxi)
I'm taken said the man to the graveyard
They carry Johnny's corpse to the cemetery
But only six of 'em called him back
Only six men came back from the cemetery
He was my man but he done me wrong.
Johnny was Frankie's man but he betrayed her
Bring round a thousand policemen
Frankie wants a lot of policemen
Bring 'em around today
She wants them there immediately
To lock me down in that dungeon cell
She wants to be imprisoned
And throw that key away
She wants to be locked up with no chance of release
I shot my man, he was doin' me wrong.
Frankie admits to shooting Johnny because he cheated on her
Now Frankie she said to the warden
Frankie talks to the prison warden
What are they goin' to do
She asks what will happen to her
The warden he said to Frankie
The warden responds to Frankie
It's the electric chair for you
Frankie will be executed by electric chair
You shot your man, he was doin' you wrong.
Frankie killed Johnny because he was cheating, which led to her own death sentence
Now this story has no moral
There is no lesson to be learned from this tale
This story has no end
The story has no definite conclusion
This story just goes to show
The story is meant to illustrate
That there ain't no good in man
The story suggests that there is no inherent goodness in people
He was her man, but he done her wrong.
Johnny was Frankie's man, but his betrayal led to her tragic end
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PD TRADITIONAL, SANFORD SCHMIDT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind