![]() ![]() As a member of the Weavers, he sang hits including Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene” - which reached No 1 - and “If I Had a Hammer,” which he wrote with the group’s Lee Hays. Seeger was a prime mover in the folk revival that transformed popular music in the 1950s. “We Shall Overcome,” which Seeger adapted from old spirituals, became a civil rights anthem. His agenda paralleled the concerns of the American left: He sang for the labor movement in the 1940s and 1950s, for civil rights marches and anti-Vietnam War rallies in the 1960s, and for environmental and anti-war causes in the 1970s and beyond. ![]() In his hearty tenor, Seeger, a beanpole of a man who most often played 12-string guitar or five-string banjo, sang topical songs and children’s songs, humorous tunes and earnest anthems, always encouraging listeners to join in. For Seeger, folk music and a sense of community were inseparable, and where he saw a community, he saw the possibility of political action. His career carried him from singing at labor rallies to the Top 10, from college auditoriums to folk festivals, and from a conviction for contempt of Congress (after defying the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s) to performing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at an inaugural concert for Barack Obama. Pete Seeger, who died in Manhattan on Monday, was a cult singer, folk-song collector and songwriter who spearheaded an American folk revival and spent a long career championing folk music as both a vital heritage and a catalyst for social change. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |