The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Vill… Read Full Bio ↴The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City.
The Weavers were formed in November 1948 by Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman.
They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and sold millions of records at the height of their popularity. Their hard-driving string-band style inspired the commercial "folk boom" that followed them in the 1950s and 1960s, including such performers as The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, The Rooftop Singers, and Bob Dylan.
In 1940 Lee Hays and Pete Seeger had co-founded, with Woody Guthrie and Millard Lampell, a previous group, Almanac Singers, which had promoted peace and isolationism during the Second World War, working with the American Peace Mobilization. It featured many songs opposing entry into the war by the U.S. In June 1941, the same month Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the APC changed its name to the American People's Committee and altered its focus to supporting U.S. entry into the war. The Almanacs supported the change and produced many pro-war songs urging the U.S. to fight on the side of the Allies. The group disbanded after the U.S. entered the war.
At Hellerman's suggestion, the new group took its name from a play by Gerhart Hauptmann, Die Weber (The Weavers 1892), a powerful work depicting the uprising of the Silesian weavers in 1844 which containing the lines, "I'll stand it no more, come what may". After a period of being unable to find much paid work, they landed a steady and successful engagement at the Village Vanguard jazz club. This led to their discovery by arranger-bandleader Gordon Jenkins and their signing with Decca Records. The group had a big hit in 1950 with Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", backed with the 1941 song "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", which in turn became a best seller. The recording stayed at number one on the charts for a lengthy 13 weeks. In keeping with the audience expectations of the time, these and other early Weavers' releases had violins and orchestration added behind the group's own string-band instruments. Because of the deepening Red Scare of the early 1950s, their manager, Pete Cameron, advised them not to sing their most explicitly political songs and to avoid performing at "progressive" venues and events. Because of this, some folk song fans criticized them for watering down their beliefs and commercializing their singing style. But the Weavers felt it was worth it to get their songs before the public, and to avoid the explicit type of commitment which had led to the demise of the Almanacs. The new approach proved a success, leading to many bookings and increased demand for the group's recordings.
The successful concerts and hit recordings of the Weavers helped introduce to new audiences such folk revival standards as "On Top of Old Smoky" (with guest vocalist Terry Gilkyson), "Follow the Drinking Gourd", "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", "The Wreck of the John B" (aka "Sloop John B"), "Rock Island Line", "The Midnight Special", "Pay Me My Money Down", "Darling Corey" and "Wimoweh". The Weavers encouraged sing-alongs in their concerts, and sometimes Seeger would shout out the lyrics in advance of each line in lining out style.
In a 1968 interview, in response to claims that record companies found the Weavers difficult to classify, Seeger told the Pop Chronicles music documentary to "leave that up to the anthropologists, the folklorists. ...For you and me, the important thing is a song, a good song, a true song. ...Call it anything you want."
Film footage of the Weavers is relatively scarce. The group appeared as a specialty act in a B-movie musical, Disc Jockey (1951), and filmed five of their record hits that same year for TV producer Lou Snader: "Goodnight, Irene", "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", "So Long", "Around the World", and "The Roving Kind".
During the Red Scare, however, Pete Seeger and Lee Hays were identified as Communist Party members by FBI informant Harvey Matusow (who later recanted) and ended up being called up to testify to the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1955. Hays took the Fifth Amendment. Seeger refused to answer, however, claiming First Amendment grounds, the first to do so after the conviction of the Hollywood Ten in 1950. Seeger was found guilty of contempt and placed under restrictions by the court pending appeal, but in 1961 his conviction was overturned on technical grounds. Because Seeger was among those listed in the entertainment industry blacklist publication, Red Channels, all of the Weavers were placed under FBI surveillance and not allowed to perform on television or radio during the McCarthy era. Decca Records terminated their recording contract and deleted their records from its catalog in 1953. Their recordings were denied airplay, which curtailed their income from royalties. Right-wing and anti-Communist groups protested at their performances and harassed promoters. As a result, the group's economic viability diminished rapidly and in 1952 it disbanded. After this, Pete Seeger continued his solo career, although as with all of them, he continued to suffer from the effects of blacklisting.
In December 1955, the group reunited to play a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert was a huge success. A recording of the concert was issued by the independent Vanguard Records, and this led to their signing by that record label. By the late 1950s, folk music was surging in popularity and McCarthyism was fading. Yet the media industry of the time was so timid and conventional that it wasn't until the height of the revolutionary '60s that Seeger was able to end his blacklisting by appearing on a nationally distributed U.S. television show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, in 1968.
After the April 1957 LP release of the Carnegie Hall concert, the Weavers launched a month-long concert tour. That August the group reassembled for a series of recording sessions for Vanguard. As Seeger's college concert bookings grew, the singer felt restricted by his obligations to the group. Vanguard booked the Weavers for a January 15, 1958, session to record a rock-and-roll single. The results were embarrassing and fueled Seeger's frustration. The following month Gilbert, Hays, and Hellerman overruled Seeger about a recording a cigarette ad for a tobacco company. Seeger, opposed to the dangers of tobacco and discouraged by the group's apparent sell-out to commercial interests, decided to resign. Honoring his commitment to record the jingle, he left the group on March 3, 1958.
Seeger recommended Erik Darling of The Tarriers as his replacement. Darling remained with the group until June 1962, leaving to pursue a solo career and eventually to form the folk-jazz trio The Rooftop Singers. Frank Hamilton, who replaced Darling, stayed with the group nine months, giving his notice just before the Weavers celebrated the group's fifteenth anniversary with two nights of concerts at Carnegie Hall in March 1963. Folksinger Bernie Krause, later a pioneer in bringing the Moog synthesizer to popular music, was the last performer to occupy "the Seeger chair." The group disbanded in 1964, but Gilbert, Hellerman, and Hays occasionally reunited with Seeger during the next 16 years. In 1980, Lee Hays, ill and using a wheelchair, wistfully approached the original Weavers for one last get-together. Hays' informal picnic prompted a professional reunion, and a triumphant return to Carnegie Hall on November 28, 1980, which was to be the band's last full performance. They appeared one final time in June 1981 at the Clearwater Festival, in an informal "rehearsal." A documentary film, The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time! (1982), was released after the death of Hays, and chronicled the history of the group, and the events leading up to the reunion.
Following the dissolution of the band, Ronnie Gilbert toured America as a soloist and Fred Hellerman worked as a recording engineer and producer. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
In February 2006, The Weavers received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Represented by members Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, they struck a chord with the crowd as their struggles with political witch hunts during the 1950s were recounted. "If you can exist, and stay the course – not a course of blind obstinacy and faulty conception – but one of decency and good sense, you can outlast your enemies with your honor and integrity intact," Hellerman said. Some commentators see the reference to 'blind obstinacy' as a veiled criticism of those who believed blindly in all the actions of the Communist Party.
Lee Hays died in 1981, aged 67, and his biography, Lonesome Traveler by Doris Willens, was published in 1988. Erik Darling died August 3, 2008, aged 74, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from lymphoma. After a long career in music and activism, Pete Seeger died at the age of 94 on January 27, 2014, in New York City. Ronnie Gilbert died at the age of 88 on June 6, 2015. Fred Hellerman died at the age of 89 on September 1, 2016.
Members
Ronnie Gilbert – Alto (1948–1952, 1955–1964, 1980; died 2015)
Lee Hays – Bass (1948–1952, 1955–1964, 1980; died 1981)
Fred Hellerman – Baritone (1948–1952, 1955–1964, 1980; died 2016)
Pete Seeger – Tenor (1948–1952, 1955–1958, 1980; died 2014)
Erik Darling – Tenor (1958–1962; died 2008)
Frank Hamilton – Tenor (1962–1963)
Bernie Krause – Tenor (1963–1964)
The Weavers were formed in November 1948 by Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman.
They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and sold millions of records at the height of their popularity. Their hard-driving string-band style inspired the commercial "folk boom" that followed them in the 1950s and 1960s, including such performers as The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, The Rooftop Singers, and Bob Dylan.
In 1940 Lee Hays and Pete Seeger had co-founded, with Woody Guthrie and Millard Lampell, a previous group, Almanac Singers, which had promoted peace and isolationism during the Second World War, working with the American Peace Mobilization. It featured many songs opposing entry into the war by the U.S. In June 1941, the same month Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the APC changed its name to the American People's Committee and altered its focus to supporting U.S. entry into the war. The Almanacs supported the change and produced many pro-war songs urging the U.S. to fight on the side of the Allies. The group disbanded after the U.S. entered the war.
At Hellerman's suggestion, the new group took its name from a play by Gerhart Hauptmann, Die Weber (The Weavers 1892), a powerful work depicting the uprising of the Silesian weavers in 1844 which containing the lines, "I'll stand it no more, come what may". After a period of being unable to find much paid work, they landed a steady and successful engagement at the Village Vanguard jazz club. This led to their discovery by arranger-bandleader Gordon Jenkins and their signing with Decca Records. The group had a big hit in 1950 with Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", backed with the 1941 song "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", which in turn became a best seller. The recording stayed at number one on the charts for a lengthy 13 weeks. In keeping with the audience expectations of the time, these and other early Weavers' releases had violins and orchestration added behind the group's own string-band instruments. Because of the deepening Red Scare of the early 1950s, their manager, Pete Cameron, advised them not to sing their most explicitly political songs and to avoid performing at "progressive" venues and events. Because of this, some folk song fans criticized them for watering down their beliefs and commercializing their singing style. But the Weavers felt it was worth it to get their songs before the public, and to avoid the explicit type of commitment which had led to the demise of the Almanacs. The new approach proved a success, leading to many bookings and increased demand for the group's recordings.
The successful concerts and hit recordings of the Weavers helped introduce to new audiences such folk revival standards as "On Top of Old Smoky" (with guest vocalist Terry Gilkyson), "Follow the Drinking Gourd", "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", "The Wreck of the John B" (aka "Sloop John B"), "Rock Island Line", "The Midnight Special", "Pay Me My Money Down", "Darling Corey" and "Wimoweh". The Weavers encouraged sing-alongs in their concerts, and sometimes Seeger would shout out the lyrics in advance of each line in lining out style.
In a 1968 interview, in response to claims that record companies found the Weavers difficult to classify, Seeger told the Pop Chronicles music documentary to "leave that up to the anthropologists, the folklorists. ...For you and me, the important thing is a song, a good song, a true song. ...Call it anything you want."
Film footage of the Weavers is relatively scarce. The group appeared as a specialty act in a B-movie musical, Disc Jockey (1951), and filmed five of their record hits that same year for TV producer Lou Snader: "Goodnight, Irene", "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", "So Long", "Around the World", and "The Roving Kind".
During the Red Scare, however, Pete Seeger and Lee Hays were identified as Communist Party members by FBI informant Harvey Matusow (who later recanted) and ended up being called up to testify to the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1955. Hays took the Fifth Amendment. Seeger refused to answer, however, claiming First Amendment grounds, the first to do so after the conviction of the Hollywood Ten in 1950. Seeger was found guilty of contempt and placed under restrictions by the court pending appeal, but in 1961 his conviction was overturned on technical grounds. Because Seeger was among those listed in the entertainment industry blacklist publication, Red Channels, all of the Weavers were placed under FBI surveillance and not allowed to perform on television or radio during the McCarthy era. Decca Records terminated their recording contract and deleted their records from its catalog in 1953. Their recordings were denied airplay, which curtailed their income from royalties. Right-wing and anti-Communist groups protested at their performances and harassed promoters. As a result, the group's economic viability diminished rapidly and in 1952 it disbanded. After this, Pete Seeger continued his solo career, although as with all of them, he continued to suffer from the effects of blacklisting.
In December 1955, the group reunited to play a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert was a huge success. A recording of the concert was issued by the independent Vanguard Records, and this led to their signing by that record label. By the late 1950s, folk music was surging in popularity and McCarthyism was fading. Yet the media industry of the time was so timid and conventional that it wasn't until the height of the revolutionary '60s that Seeger was able to end his blacklisting by appearing on a nationally distributed U.S. television show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, in 1968.
After the April 1957 LP release of the Carnegie Hall concert, the Weavers launched a month-long concert tour. That August the group reassembled for a series of recording sessions for Vanguard. As Seeger's college concert bookings grew, the singer felt restricted by his obligations to the group. Vanguard booked the Weavers for a January 15, 1958, session to record a rock-and-roll single. The results were embarrassing and fueled Seeger's frustration. The following month Gilbert, Hays, and Hellerman overruled Seeger about a recording a cigarette ad for a tobacco company. Seeger, opposed to the dangers of tobacco and discouraged by the group's apparent sell-out to commercial interests, decided to resign. Honoring his commitment to record the jingle, he left the group on March 3, 1958.
Seeger recommended Erik Darling of The Tarriers as his replacement. Darling remained with the group until June 1962, leaving to pursue a solo career and eventually to form the folk-jazz trio The Rooftop Singers. Frank Hamilton, who replaced Darling, stayed with the group nine months, giving his notice just before the Weavers celebrated the group's fifteenth anniversary with two nights of concerts at Carnegie Hall in March 1963. Folksinger Bernie Krause, later a pioneer in bringing the Moog synthesizer to popular music, was the last performer to occupy "the Seeger chair." The group disbanded in 1964, but Gilbert, Hellerman, and Hays occasionally reunited with Seeger during the next 16 years. In 1980, Lee Hays, ill and using a wheelchair, wistfully approached the original Weavers for one last get-together. Hays' informal picnic prompted a professional reunion, and a triumphant return to Carnegie Hall on November 28, 1980, which was to be the band's last full performance. They appeared one final time in June 1981 at the Clearwater Festival, in an informal "rehearsal." A documentary film, The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time! (1982), was released after the death of Hays, and chronicled the history of the group, and the events leading up to the reunion.
Following the dissolution of the band, Ronnie Gilbert toured America as a soloist and Fred Hellerman worked as a recording engineer and producer. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
In February 2006, The Weavers received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Represented by members Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, they struck a chord with the crowd as their struggles with political witch hunts during the 1950s were recounted. "If you can exist, and stay the course – not a course of blind obstinacy and faulty conception – but one of decency and good sense, you can outlast your enemies with your honor and integrity intact," Hellerman said. Some commentators see the reference to 'blind obstinacy' as a veiled criticism of those who believed blindly in all the actions of the Communist Party.
Lee Hays died in 1981, aged 67, and his biography, Lonesome Traveler by Doris Willens, was published in 1988. Erik Darling died August 3, 2008, aged 74, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from lymphoma. After a long career in music and activism, Pete Seeger died at the age of 94 on January 27, 2014, in New York City. Ronnie Gilbert died at the age of 88 on June 6, 2015. Fred Hellerman died at the age of 89 on September 1, 2016.
Members
Ronnie Gilbert – Alto (1948–1952, 1955–1964, 1980; died 2015)
Lee Hays – Bass (1948–1952, 1955–1964, 1980; died 1981)
Fred Hellerman – Baritone (1948–1952, 1955–1964, 1980; died 2016)
Pete Seeger – Tenor (1948–1952, 1955–1958, 1980; died 2014)
Erik Darling – Tenor (1958–1962; died 2008)
Frank Hamilton – Tenor (1962–1963)
Bernie Krause – Tenor (1963–1964)
Follow the Drinking Gourd
The Weavers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the Sun comes back
And the first quail calls
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd
The riverbank makes a very good road.
The dead trees will show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on,
Follow the drinking gourd.
The river ends between two hills
Follow the drinking gourd.
There’s another river on the other side
Follow the drinking gourd.
When the great big river meets the little river
Follow the drinking gourd.
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.
And the first quail calls
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd
The riverbank makes a very good road.
The dead trees will show you the way.
Follow the drinking gourd.
The river ends between two hills
Follow the drinking gourd.
There’s another river on the other side
Follow the drinking gourd.
When the great big river meets the little river
Follow the drinking gourd.
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.
The Weavers' song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" is a powerful testament to the Underground Railroad and the brave men and women who risked everything to help enslaved people escape to freedom. The lyrics are full of symbolism and hidden messages that would have been understood by those seeking escape from enslavement. The song begins with "When the Sun comes back and the first quail calls, Follow the drinking gourd." This is a reference to the winter solstice, which was a key time for enslaved people to make their escape. The "drinking gourd" refers to the Big Dipper, which was used as a guide to follow the North Star, which led to freedom.
The next verse speaks of the riverbank being a good road and the dead trees showing the way. This is a reference to the Ohio River and the trees that were marked with a certain symbol to indicate a safe passage across. The lines "Left foot, peg foot, traveling on, Follow the drinking gourd," refer to a person who had a peg leg and was known to be a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The verse about the river ending between two hills and leading to another river is a reference to the journey across the Ohio River and the continuation of the journey toward Canada.
Line by Line Meaning
When the Sun comes back
When the daytime returns
And the first quail calls
And the bird known as quail starts singing
Follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the direction of the constellation Big Dipper
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom
Because an old man is ready to guide you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd
Only if you follow the path of the constellation
The riverbank makes a very good road.
The side of the river is an excellent path to travel
The dead trees will show you the way.
The lifeless trees are a guide to the route
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on,
Use your left and wooden leg to keep journeying
Follow the drinking gourd.
Follow the path guided by Big Dipper
The river ends between two hills
The river meets a conclusion amidst two hills
Follow the drinking gourd.
Follow the constellation's route
There’s another river on the other side
On the opposite side is another river
Follow the drinking gourd.
Continue following the path of the constellation
When the great big river meets the little river
When a large river merges with a smaller one
Follow the drinking gourd.
Keep following Big Dipper's path
For the old man is a-waiting for to carry to freedom
An elderly man is ready to lead you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.
Only if you follow the constellation's route
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DP, ERIC CHARLES BIBB, LINDA JOYCE TILLERY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@quiltlady73
Follow, follow, follow...
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
When the suns comes back and the first quail calls
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom
Just,follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' to carry you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Now the riverbank will make a mighty good road
The dead trees will show you the way
Left-foot, Peg-foot, travelin' on,
Just you follow the drinkin' Gourd.
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Now the river ends between to hills,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
There's another river on the other side,
Just you follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
And now you can answer a question that I used to wonder about as a child with Weavers records: Who was the Old Man?
@RoyFive
This is so much better than the one without Lee Hays introduction and with all those extraneous horns. Thank you,!
@margaretross9150
History set to music. The Weavers were brilliant. Let's try to be good to each other.
@NaomiMartin1928
This is such a good song! :)
@MrManorAvenue
First heard this song courtesy of the New Christy Minstrels. Fantastic earlier version by The Weavers. Was intrigued to find out what "the drinking gourd" was... a new way of referring to the stellar constellation that helped lead the people on their journey.
@jansumi
Grew up on The Weavers & Seeger. Such memories, brings goose bumps.
@Unpromoted
Well here are the ones I sing. (there are more than 25,000 versions of this song, and only so many are similar. :)) Follow the drinking gourd Follow the drinking gourd For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom Follow the drinking gourd When the sun comes up And the first quail calls Follow the drinking gourd For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom Follow the drinking gourd
@kerrissagraffis8859
I love it
@MrWaldionor
Gostaria de ouvir Folow the drinking Gourd, na interpretação do quarteto "The Brothers Four"
@Unpromoted
the riverbank will make a mighty good road dead trees'll show you the way left foot peg foot travelling on Follow the drinking gourd Follow the drinking gourd Follow the drinking gourd For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom Follow the drinking gourd Ain't gonna study war no more the river ends between two hills Follow the drinking gourd there's another river on the other side Follow the drinking gourd
@quiltlady73
Follow, follow, follow...
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
When the suns comes back and the first quail calls
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom
Just,follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' to carry you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Now the riverbank will make a mighty good road
The dead trees will show you the way
Left-foot, Peg-foot, travelin' on,
Just you follow the drinkin' Gourd.
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Now the river ends between to hills,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
There's another river on the other side,
Just you follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd,
For the Old Man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom,
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd.
And now you can answer a question that I used to wonder about as a child with Weavers records: Who was the Old Man?