The Life and Sad Ending of Pete Seeger

the life and sad ending of pete seeger pete seeger was born may 3rd 1919 in paterson new york the son of charles and constance seeger pete grew up in a household filled with both music and political activism the youthful pete initially rebelled against his parents passion for music but upon hearing a five-string banjo for the first time at the folk song and dance festival in asheville north carolina his dreams of becoming a painter was pushed aside he studied sociology at harvard university beginning in 1936 but left just before his final exams two years later choosing instead to roam the american south making field recordings with musical scholar alan lomax these experiences were the foundation of seeger's repertoire of work songs lullabies folk songs and ballads that he would revisit throughout his musical career seeger was drafted into the army in 1942 spending much of his time performing to troops in the south pacific and in 1943 he got married to toshi otta after his discharge he continued his travels throughout the u.s but as a performer instead of a scholar performing wherever people were gathered from taverns to churches on march 3rd 1940 he met woody guthrie at a migrant worker benefit concert and soon after the two helped form the almanac singers a loosely organized musical collective that included lee hayes millard lampl lead belly josh white and richard dyer bennett at different times the almanac singer's career was brief but their pacifist attitudes and their ability to draw large crowds brought them under the scrutiny of the political powers of the time upon the disillusion of the almanacs seeger and hayes formed the weavers with ronnie gilbert and fred hellermann finding universal success with their bright renditions of folk songs and spirituals like kisses sweeter than wine win away and on top of old smoky mountain unfortunately seeger and hayes leftist leanings had long been under scrutiny of the fbi and ironically their straightforward and innocuous performances were drawing disdain from the die-hard leftist press in 1955 seeger was brought before the house on american activities committee and his testimony resulted in his being blacklisted for seven years seeger left the weavers in 1958 for a solo career just as the seeds of music they planted were beginning to take root on college campuses and in coffee houses across the u.s he spent much of the 60s in the south marching in civil rights protests and arranging an old spiritual into what he named we shall overcome which has become the anthem of the pursuit for equality worldwide in 1962 he put the words to a portion of the book of ecclesiastes to music capturing the feeling of the changing climate of the youth movement in his song turn turn turn in addition to the countless social rallies he organized and participated in at this time seeger also had a hand in many of the newport folk festivals in the early and mid-1960s his adherence to the sanctity of folk music came to a boiling point with the advent of folk rock and this was visibly demonstrated when he tried to pull the pluck on bob dylan's very electrified set with the paul butterfield blues band in 1965. in 1967 his objection to the vietnam war was made evident during an appearance on the smothers brothers comedy hour when he attacked lyndon johnson's war policies during his performance of the song waist deep in the big muddy seeger focused his attention on environmental issues in the 1970s and 80s notably with the launch of the sloop clearwater onto the hudson river in 1969. he also remained active on the festival circuit appearing at outdoor folk concerts and organizing rallies for any number of causes from labor unions to anti-pollution legislation in the 90s saw seeger on stage receiving awards as often as performing music with honors including receiving the nation's highest artistic honors at the kennedy center gaining entry into the rock and roll hall of fame and earning the harvard arts medal he also won a grammy award for best traditional folk album of 1996 and in 1999 he traveled to cuba to accept the felix varela medal in 2008 seeger released at 89 a collection of newly recorded classics and newly written material released on september 30th it won the 2008 grammy award for best traditional folk album seeger's 90th birthday on may 3rd 2009 was celebrated with an all-star concert at madison square garden where he performed with many of the artists he had influenced over the years seeger remained a comfortable and riveting performer on stage no matter his age appearing at farm aid in september of 2013 where he performed this land is your land with willie nelson neil young john mellencamp and dave matthews sadly on january 27 2014 pete seeger died at new york presbyterian hospital in manhattan at the age of 94. goodbye pete seeger

Channel: Most Actor & Actress Hollywood

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Keywords: Pete Seeger, Pete Seeger song, Pete Seeger live, Pete Seeger interview, Pete Seeger biography, Goodnight Irene, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, Turn! Turn! Turn!, the Kingston Trio, Johnny Rivers, sad ending, graveyard, biography, documentary, jerry skinner, jerry skinner documentary, The Life and Sad Ending, Life and Sad Ending, what happened, history, story

Id: GNBMhcE72f4

Length: 6min 11sec (371 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 03 2021