SheriffFatman
Member
Been spending most our lives living in the Cheshire countryside
Posts: 10,933
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Post by SheriffFatman on Aug 3, 2019 22:04:15 GMT 1
Just finished reading How Can I Keep From Singing?: The Ballad Of Pete Seeger, took me ages but it was brilliant. Pete Seeger was an amazing man, he was driven by an unwavering belief in the power of songs to change the world for the better. In retrospect he probably over estimated that power, but he dedicated his whole life to singing about peace, workers’ rights, equality and the environment because he believed it was right.
He wasn’t the best singer ever, or the most accomplished musician, but he used what talents he had to spread the word about what he believed in. His commercial success was sporadic - his band The Weavers had massive success with Goodnight Irene in 1950, before the UK pop charts even started, The Byrds had a huge hit in the 60s with his song Turn, Turn, Turn, and he was first to popularise Wimoweh, way before my generation heard it turned into The Lion Sleeps Tonight. He never wanted to be famous though, he wanted his message to take centre stage.
When his left wing views had him blacklisted from all US entertainment venues as a communist, he spent a decade performing in schools, sometimes up to 4 times a day, and a generation of children grew up singing If I Had A Hammer. It is thought that more Americans have seen him play live than any other artist, even though he rarely set foot in a stadium.
Many of his songs have fascinating stories of their own. My favourite is how My Rainbow Race became symbolic of the rejection by the Norwegian public of the racist politics of mass murderer Hans Behring Breivic. That had nothing to do with Seeger himself, but is testament to the ability of the songs he wrote to move people.
He lived his whole adult life in a wooden house he built himself on the banks of the Hudson River in New York State, a humble existence which embodied the values promoted in his songs. When he played This Land Is Your Land alongside Bruce Springsteen and in front of the whole world at Barack Obama’s inauguration you could see the happiness all over his face, it was like he’d lived his whole life building up to that point. He died aged 94 in 2014.
If he could see the state of American politics now I fear he may think it had all been for nothing. It wasn’t though, because through sheer hard work and perseverance he had a huge influence over whole generations of people, and the fact that I’m just one of millions who think he was an absolute hero means his impact will live on for a long time to come.
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Post by suedehead on Aug 3, 2019 23:02:25 GMT 1
Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions albums is one of his best. I say that as a big Springsteen fan.
You're right to say that Seeger was not a particularly great singer, but he was a brilliant writer and also helped to popularise some great traditional songs.
I've not heard of the book you've read. I'll have to check it out.
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Post by Earl Purple on Aug 3, 2019 23:05:57 GMT 1
I read that he gave about 50% of songwriting royalties of Turn Turn Turn to the church because of his use of biblical lyrics.
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SheriffFatman
Member
Been spending most our lives living in the Cheshire countryside
Posts: 10,933
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Post by SheriffFatman on Aug 4, 2019 17:40:33 GMT 1
Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions albums is one of his best. I say that as a big Springsteen fan. You're right to say that Seeger was not a particularly great singer, but he was a brilliant writer and also helped to popularise some great traditional songs. I've not heard of the book you've read. I'll have to check it out. It’s very good, comprehensive but also full of stories from a fascinating life. It gives plenty of credit to the other people who had a part in his success too, especially his wife Toshi, but also the many other musicians he worked with, which has sent me off in all sorts of directions discovering music I didn’t know.
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Post by raliverpool on Aug 4, 2019 20:29:11 GMT 1
For me Pete Seeger will be most famous for popularising Woody Guthrie's composition "This Land Is Your Land".
That song was written when Guthrie became the tenant in New York of housing magnate Fred Trump, father of Donald. Guthrie’s unhappy two-year tenancy led him to write a series of bitter missives, accusing his landlord of having encoded in his contracts regulations evincing not just a cynical treatment of the working class but a bigotry towards black Americans.
I wonder if he was alive today what he would make of Morrissey writing a song with strongly racist, and definitely Islamophobic lyrics to a soon to be released Katie Hopkins "documentary" on how Jews and Caucasians are being "driven out" of Western Europe.
#CancelMorrissey
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Post by Shireblogger on Aug 5, 2019 8:59:07 GMT 1
I'm another who adores Springsteen's Seeger Sessions album. In fact, its my favourite post-Born In The USA release by the Boss. Seeger himself was a highly admirable figure, as you say.
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Post by Mic1812 on Aug 6, 2019 21:03:10 GMT 1
Not my cup of tea but my mate loved him
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