Pete Seeger passed away today. He was 94. He had a big influence on me when I started playing guitar. That was way back in the early sixties during the folk music revival. Pete had been blacklisted during the Commie Witch Hunts of Senator Joseph McCarthy. He wasn’t on network television much at the time. Yet I, and others, still discovered him. I bought a banjo and attempted to learn to play it because of Pete Seeger.
He was on television in those days. This link from the New Republic captures him playing on his show “Rainbow Quest”. The videos included in the article include him playing with:
- The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem. They helped popularize Irish folk music during the america’s folk music revival.
- Elizabeth Cotton: Best known for her tune, Freight Train. She has a unique style of guitar playing. She plays a right handed instrument left handed. Watch her finger picking.
- Malvina Reynolds: Remember the song Little Boxes (made of ticky tacky). That’s her song. Turn Around is another tune she wrote.
- The New Lost City Ramblers: Made Jug Band “Old Timey Music” popular during the folk music revival. One of the members was Mike Seeger, Pete’s half brother.
- I’ll skip details about the other videos in the link except to mention the last video is a very young Johnny Cash with his wife, June Carter Cash.
Here’s some more Pete Seeger – classic songs.
