Gilbert was born in New York City, daughter of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Her mother, Sarah, was a dressmaker and trade unionist, and her father, Charles Gilbert, was a factory worker.
Gilbert's singing was characterized as "a crystalline, bold contralto."
The Weavers were an influential folk-singing group that was blacklisted in the early 1950s, during a period of widespread anti-communist feeling, because of the group's left-wing sympathies.
Following the Weavers' dissolution in 1953 due to the blacklist, Gilbert continued her activism on a personal level, traveling to Cuba in 1961 on a trip that brought her back to the United States on the same day that country banned travel to Cuba. She also participated in the Parisian protests of 1968 after traveling to that country to work with British theatrical director Peter Brook. In the 1970s, Gilbert earned an MA in clinical psychology and worked as a therapist for a few years.
Various well-known younger singers honor Ms. Gilbert for the example she set for them, and the influence she had on their careers, particularly Holly Near, with whom Gilbert has released three duet albums: 1983's Lifelines, 1989's Singing With You, and 1997's This Train Still Runs. Near and Gilbert also joined Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger for the 1984 quartet album HARP (an acronym for "Holly, Arlo, Ronnie and Pete"). During that period, Gilbert wrote and appeared in a one-woman show about Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, the American labor organizer, and in a second work based on author Studs Terkel's book Coming of Age. In 1992 she accompanied the Vancouver Men's Chorus on the song Music in My Mother's House from their album Signature.
In 1991, Gilbert recorded "Lincoln and Liberty" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" for the compilation album, Songs of the Civil War, joining artists such as Kathy Mattea, Judy Collins, John Hartford, Hoyt Axton, and the United States Military Academy Band of West Point.
“ Songs are dangerous, songs are subversive and can change your life. ”
—Ronnie Gilbert, On the effects of hearing Paul Robeson sing when she was 10.
Gilbert continued to tour and appears in plays, folk festivals, and Jewish music festivals well into her 80s. She also continued her protest work, participating in groups such as Women in Black to protest "Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories."[8][9] In 2006, the Weavers received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys. Gilbert and Hellerman accepted the award. Seeger was unable to attend the ceremony, and Hays had died in 1981.
Gilbert was married to Martin Weg from 1950 until 1959, and the couple have one daughter, Lisa (born 1952). Their marriage ended in divorce. In 2004, Gilbert married her partner of almost two decades, Donna Korones, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom temporarily legalized gay marriage in San Francisco. Gilbert moved to Caspar, California in 2006.
Gilbert died in June 6, 2015 in Mill Valley, California from natural causes, aged 88.
A native New Yorker, Ronnie Gilbert was singing on the radio by age 12. After performing in various choral and vocal groups, Ronnie joined forces with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman to form The Weavers in 1947. The quartet, featuring Ronnie’s soaring contralto, exposed their listeners in the late Forties, Fifties and early Sixties to traditional and newly-written folk songs ranging from early “world” music (“Wimoweh,” “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena,” “Guantanamera”) to classic, comforting standards (“On Top of Old Smokey,” “Goodnight Irene,” “Kisses Sweeter than Wine”) to idealistic social comment (“This Land is Your Land,” “If I Had a Hammer” and "Wasn't That a Time."
Despite the group’s commercial popularity (beginning with “Goodnight Irene,” their hit records sold in the millions of copies), the politically aware Weavers were blacklisted during the anti-Communist hysteria of the McCarthy era. With The Weavers unable to tour, Ronnie moved toward a solo career as singer and actor in the early Sixties, recording albums and appearing in plays off and on Broadway. She subsequently earned an M.A. in clinical psychology and worked as a therapist before returning to the theater.
Drawn out of musical retirement by longtime devotee Holly Near for a series of 1983 concerts (captured on Appleseed Recordings' LIFELINE EXTENDED) Gilbert continued her musical partnership with Near and recorded three albums on Near’s record label (formerly Redwood Records) including a solo release, SPIRIT IS FREE. Ronnie and Holly's historic tour with Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger is preserved on Appleseed's H.A.R.P: A TIME TO SING. Another solo record, LOVE WILL FIND A WAY was released on Abbe Alice Music, a label owned by Ronnie and her partner, Donna Korones.
Ronnie’s 70th birthday tour with Holly in 1996 was celebrated with another Abbe Alice release, THIS TRAIN STILL RUNS. It contains two of her songs from her one-woman theater piece, "Mother Jones," based on the life of the legendary American labor activist. Ronnie also wrote the lyrics and co-authored the musical play "Legacy," inspired by Studs Terkel’s oral history “Coming of Age.”
Currently, Ronnie performs an auto-biographical song/talk called “Ronnie Gilbert: A Radical Life with Songs" for cross-generational communities. She coninues her commitment to feminism and global peace activism through strong participation in the Women In Black network, challenging U.S. policy in the Middle East and around the world. She is at work writing her memoirs.
(Based on a bio from Appleseed Records)
Wimoweh
Ronnie Gilbert Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
Brothers, sisters, all
Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
We are dancing Sarah's circle
We are dancing Sarah's circle
We are dancing Sarah's circle
Sisters, brothers, all
Every round a generation
Every round a generation
Every round a generation
Sisters, brothers, all
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
Brothers, sisters, all
The song "Wimoweh" by Ronnie Gilbert is a spiritual gospel that emphasizes the sense of community among brothers and sisters climbing Jacob's ladder, a religious metaphor for spiritual ascension. The first verse sets the scene and establishes the notion that we are all on a journey, climbing up Jacob's ladder. The repetition of this phrase not only emphasizes the act of climbing the ladder but also emphasizes the unity of "brothers and sisters". The ladder is a symbol of progression, and each rung is higher than the last, signifying that every step we take is a step towards spiritual elevation.
The second verse repeats the same structure as the first but with dancing as the central symbol. We are dancing Sarah's circle, with each round signifying a generation, highlighting the importance of tradition and that each generation brings something to the circle. The repetition of the phrase "Sisters, brothers, all" emphasizes the notion that everyone is welcome, and no one is excluded. The song highlights a communal aspect of the journey to spiritual ascension, which involves the whole community, not just individuals on their own.
Line by Line Meaning
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are making progress in our lives, like ascending rungs on a ladder, and striving to reach a higher level of existence
Every rung goes higher and higher
Each step brings us closer to a better state of being, and we should continue to reach for greater heights
Brothers, sisters, all
This song is meant for everyone, regardless of gender or relational status
We are dancing Sarah's circle
We are celebrating the traditions and customs of our ancestors, specifically referring to a dance circle named after Sarah
Every round a generation
Each cycle of the dance represents a new generation carrying on the legacy of those who came before them
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management, THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY
Written by: JAMES J. COVELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind