Pete

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[edit] Pete Seeger

[edit] Short Biography

Pete Seeger was born in Patterson, New Jersey. As a boy he grew up in a very political atmosphere with his father being a Music Professor at University of California: Berkeley. As a child he wanted to be a journalist. Until in 1936 he heard the five-string banjo for the first time at the Folk Song and Dance Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, and he found his love for folk music and decided to pursue that. He attended Harvard for two years before dropping out and started on his path to being a folk legend. After dropping out he got a job in New York City at the Archives of American Folk Music. Between 1939 and 1940 Seeger spent his time learning folk music from such folk legends as Huddie William "Lead Belly" Ledbetter and Aunt Molly Jones, who was a militant of the labor movement. In 1940 he formed the Almanac Singers, a highly politicized folk group. He left the Almanac Singers with the advent of WWII and joined the military as an airplane mechanic. In 1948 he joined up as part of the folk group The Weavers. In 1955 he was subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities for being a communist and had to appear in court. In the 1960's he was deeply involved in the civil rights movement. Through the 1970's and on he has continued to play folk music and is still involved in political issues, mostly environmental.

[edit] Pete Seeger, The Almanac Singers, and the Labor Movement

Pete Seeger was involved in the labor movement heavily in his early career. In 1940, he met Woodie Guthrie, at a "Grapes of Wrath" benefit show for Migrant Workers. The would join together with other folk artists to form the loosely tied group, called The Almanac Singers. In 1941, they played their first big show for 20,000 striking Transport Workers' Union Members. They were a huge hit with the unions. It was with the Almanac Singers that Seeger would record such labor songs as "The Talking Union Blues", which would be the anthem for the CIO. The Almanac Singers also did a national tour of CIO unions. As part of the Almanac Singers he would also play a part in other songs such as "Talking Union" and "Union Maid". Seeger was also involved in the labor movement through the communist party, which he joined in 1942, though his leftist ideals dated prior to that.

[edit] Pete Seeger and the Weavers

In 1948, Seeger joined the folk group called The Weavers. They are responsible for recording such hits as “Goodnight Irene” and “Wimoweh” (a.k.a. “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”), "Turn, Turn, Turn" & "On top of Old Smokey". Many of these songs have been covered by more current day artists many times. At the high point of The Weavers, they were America's #1 Folk group, but this was to be short lived. In the early 50's the group would be struck by blacklisting for the political affiliations of its members. The blacklisting resulted in the cancellation of many of their shows and the loss of their recording contract with Decca records. Seeger would be subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities for his involvement with the American Communist Party. Seeger left The Weavers in 1959.

[edit] Pete Seeger and The House Committee on Un-American Activities

In 1955, Pete Seeger was brought before the committee and charged with being a communist. He would be asked to give up names of others. Instead, like many other people who were brought before the committee and plead the 5th amendment, Seeger would say that by being forced to talk about his political beliefs and affiliations was in violation of his first amendment rights. His words were as follows, “I am not going to answer any questions as to my associations, my philosophical or my religious 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.” The following year he would be indicted along with seven others by an overwhelming vote of the House of Representatives for contempt of Congress. He would be found guilty of this in 1961 and sentenced to serve 1 year concurrently in prison for each of the ten charges brought against him. The next year all the charges against him would be dropped on account of a technicality.

[edit] Pete Seeger and the Civil Rights Movement

Pete Seeger would spend much of the early 1960's touring the South deeply involved in the civil rights movement. He toured singing songs and playing the banjo to help lift spirits of those involved in the struggle. In 1957 about 6 months after the bus boycott was won, Seeger played his version of the song "We Shall Overcome" for Martin Luther King Jr. The next day on a ride to Kentucky, King told Seeger, "'We Will Overcome'. That song really sticks with you, doesn't it?" Seeger's version of "We Shall Overcome" would become the anthem of the civil rights movement. In 1963, he would sing for a church of black civil rights activists in Albany, Georgia, while segregationists prowled outside. The concert went horribly for Seeger. The next day he played at a SNCC benefit, where he met Bernice Johnson. Bernice was already an accomplished civil rights singer and Pete encouraged her to start a group of civil rights singers. The next day Bernice quit school, called Toshi (Pete's wife) and flew to New York to start the group the Freedom Singers. In 1964, he played in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for black and white SNCC organizers and then in Meridian. In 1965 he was involved in the march from Selma to Birmingham to protest the artists of over 1,000 activists by Sheriff Jim Clark.

[edit] Pete Seeger and other movements

During the Mid to Late 1960's Pete Seeger was heavily involved in the Anti-War Movement with such songs as "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy", which attacked Lyndon Johnson and his policies. He also played at the March on Washington Protest that brought over 500,000 people to the capital to protest the war. To this day Seeger has still be very active in many of the anti-war movements of our country from the 1960's through. Also, recently Seeger has also been heavily involved in Environmental issues. Most notably was his movement to clean up the Hudson River, which he played many concerts of benefit for.

[edit] Photos

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Pete Seeger playing a concert and if you look closely Eleanor Roosevelt is in the center

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Pete Seeger in 1971

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Pete Seeger and the Power of Song

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Pete Seeger as part of the Almanac Singers in 1942

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Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie around 1940

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Pete Seeger as part of The Weavers

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Pete Seeger before the House of Un-American Activities after being charged with being a Communist in 1955

[edit] Bibliography

Dunaway, David King (1981). How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Taskin, Richard The Man and His Music. Retrieved June 4, 2008, from Pete Seeger Appriciation Page Web site: http://www.peteseeger.net/biograph.htm

Scott, A.O. (Oct. 26, 2007). The New York Times. Retrieved June 4, 2008, from Pete Seeger: The Power of Song Web site: http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/movies/26seeg.html

Unknown, Pete Seeger. Retrieved June 4, 2008, from Rock and Roll: Hall of Fame Web site: http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/pete-seeger

Krajnc, Anita &, Greenspoon, Michael Singing Together for Social Change: an interview with Pete Seeger. Retrieved June 4, 2008, from Protest Music as Responsible Citizenship Web site: http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/pete-seeger

Unknown, Pete Seeger. Retrieved June 4, 2008, from Discover the Net: A Guide ot the Political Left Web site: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1619

[edit] Relevent Music

"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" By Pete Seeger

It was back in nineteen forty-two,

I was a member of a good platoon.

We were on maneuvers in-a Louisiana,

One night by the light of the moon.

The captain told us to ford a river,

That's how it all begun.

We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,

But the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,

This is the best way back to the base?"

"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river

'Bout a mile above this place.

It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.

We'll soon be on dry ground."

We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy

And the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment

No man will be able to swim."

"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"

The Captain said to him.

"All we need is a little determination;

Men, follow me, I'll lead on."

We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy

And the big fool said to push on.

All at once, the moon clouded over,

We heard a gurgling cry.

A few seconds later, the captain's helmet

Was all that floated by.

The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!

I'm in charge from now on."

And we just made it out of the Big Muddy

With the captain dead and gone.

We stripped and dived and found his body

Stuck in the old quicksand.

I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper

Than the place he'd once before been.

Another stream had joined the Big Muddy

'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.

We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy

When the big fool said to push on.

Well, I'm not going to point any moral;

I'll leave that for yourself

Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking

You'd like to keep your health.

But every time I read the papers

That old feeling comes on;

We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy

And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy

And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy

And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a

Tall man'll be over his head, we're

Waist deep in the Big Muddy!

And the big fool says to push on!

View here:Waist Deep


"Little Boxes" performed by Pete Seeger and written by Malvina Reynolds

Little boxes on the hillside

Little boxes made of ticky tacky

Little boxes, little boxes

Little boxes all the same

There's a green one and a pink one

And a blue one and a yellow one

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

And they all look just the same

And the people in the houses all go to the university

And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same

And there's doctors and there's lawyers and business executives

And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same

And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry

And they all have pretty children and the children go to school

And the children go to summer camp and then to the university

And they all get put in boxes, and they all come out the same

And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family

And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same

There's a green one, and a pink one

And a blue one and a yellow one

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

And they all look just the same

Listen and watch here. "Little Boxes"