Pete helped my mother pick out her first acoustic guitar. It was a Harmony Sovereign. He was friends with the Kingston Trio. They were signed to Trident records, and recorded at Trident Studios. Frank Warber owned Trident records and Trident Studios and later he would own the Trident restaurant in Sausalito California. Frank lived on Silva Island. My father Ed Heine designed Trident Studios Frank's house and the Trident restaurant. It was through my father Ed Heine and Frank Warber that I first met Carlos Santana. Carlos taught me how to clean the seeds from weed using a cigar box. Frank and Carlos then shoved the weed into a tampon wrapper and smoked it. Carlos was going to roll it up in newspaper. I think it was 1969 I was 10 years old. Frank helped a lot of Bay Area bands make it. Frank Warber was friends with Bill Graham. Bill Graham was a major concert promoter in California. Pete Seeger was a decent honest simple guy. He helped a lot of people believe in World Peace, He was an ecologist and a conservationist.
Pete Seeger did what many said was impossible he organize a cleanup crew with his wife to save the Hudson River in New York from pollution and filth he was part of the hands on effort as well. the world lost a great humanitarian, songwriter, musician, singer, author on January 27 2014 when Pete Seeger pass away.
He was a courageous man to be one of the singers that sang protest songs so early. He paved the way for a ton of bands/singers for years to come. And he was a great entertainer as well!
Huge respect to Fil for covering Pete Seeger. Although the folk genre is not that well known today, in its heyday it rivalled rock and roll for popularity and was seen in a more serious light than the frothiness of early rock & roll. One of its greatest proponents was Woodie Guthrie who wrote songs during the depression that reflected and captured the emotions and themes of suffering that afflicted the working class. Pete Seeger carried that torch with his political activism in the civil rights movement and wrote songs with a social conscience. Significant artists from that era also had roots in folk music. Of course the best known is Bob Dylan. But there were many other artists whose roots and influences came from folk. A short but significant list include The Mamas and Papas, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. These artists carried those influences into the pop and rock mainstream which enabled those genres to also be taken more seriously as musical art forms.
He's a giant in the folk music world. Dylan, Peter Paul Mary, Don McLean, and many other disciples. Even John Cash had many things in common in those days. Burl Ives was another guy back in that era who was a folk giant. There's a great clip of John Cash performing with Pete circa 1962 on Pete's TV show.
My brother's inspiration and hero, along with Woody Guthrie, these voices and sentiments rang throughout my childhood. Thank you for this video, brought my brother's musical journey back to me. Although our musical paths diverged, I was always grateful for the opening of my musical mind and heart. Sid passed away in 1994, his last lyrics about freedom as seen through the eyes of an eagle. Peace xxx
This sweet and gentle song takes a stinging jab at injustice. It makes me uncomfortable because I am guilty of turning a blind eye to the seemingly unending wars and conflicts and suffering throughout the world. It isn't fashionable to care about things that don't affect us personally. No one wants to sacrifice anything to help some nameless, faceless stranger. Pete's message is so deep, and yet so simple. Yes, it does make me ask, "What do I really believe?" and "Do my actions reflect what I say I believe?".
I love how it's obvious you're thinking deeply about what this song means to you. I was busy doing that while looking out of my window. Wishing mostly that more people understood that compassion = strength, when I looked back at the screen to see you deep in some of your own thoughts too. I bet many more here were thinking and feeling something similar to that.
He was Woody Guthrie's heir apparent. Both branches on the same tree. Pete's influence on music was huge. Always loved the sticker on Woody's guitar. This machine slays fascists. Regards.
I was so lucky to have seen him live in the 60’s. He was an incredibly moving artist , musician, social , racial justice and environmental activist. His boat, the Clearwater, and activists cleaned up the Hudson River in NY. He wrote the great melodies for Turn, Turn, Turn and The Bells of Rhymney. His weekly TV show had just about every great folk/ rock artist on as guests. Those shows are on YT. He was blackballed in show business during the McCarthy era - because he was labeled a Communist and refused to name names. He performed at Dr King’s March On Washington. A great great man. The Smothers Brothers show got cancelled after Pete sang an anti Vietnam war song on it. Thanks for showcasing him. If you haven’t already- Arlo Guthrie is another fantastic performer still touring to this day. “ City of New Orleans” was his big hit.
I was also lucky enough to see him then, but I am not sure if it was in concert or in a coffee house. Between concerts and Georgetown bar scene we had all the great folk groups. My favorite group was Chad Mitchell Trio,
I believe the song that got The Smothers Brothers cancelled was 'Waist Deep in the Big Muddy". Lot of guts for them to stand up to the censors, but really too bad and beyond ridiculous, as they were the best show on TV at that time by far, imo.
You didn't mention one of Pete's life long friendships and frequent collaborators Woody Guthrie and his son Arlo Guthrie. In his later years he often performed and toured with Arlo. Pete was like a father to Arlo.
I remember this song when I was a kid. I always loved it because it was simple and to the point. I actually understood it... and at 15, I didn’t understand a lot! 🙂. Thank you, Fil
Finally, Pete Seeger!!! What a great singer, song writer. Fil please do Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome" one of the most important songs of the 20 century.
In the mid 60s I learned Peter, Paul and Mary's version of "Where Have all the Flowers Gone". This was one of my favorite songs to perform for many years. If I remember correctly, the cords that I played were C, Am, F, G7. I think that I must have transposed it to those chords to better fit my vocal range.
Patricia Snyder , my piano teacher was so old. She used to come to my house and fall asleep. I thought she was dying so I banged really loud on the piano to wake her up. Lol. What an inspiration.. 🤣. In her defense, she didn’t snore. And she was pretty sweet when she was awake.
Thanks Fil for bringing up Pete Seeger. I heard his music often as a kid in the 50s-60s. Once again my dad was eclectic and where as he hated "teen music", he loved "beat" music,jazz and anti war music. So unlike many my age I heard a lot of it in my formative years, being a 60s long haired protester seemed natural to me. Pete Seeger, the Seekers, Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Barry McGuire, Joan Baez, the Smothers Brothers, Tom Paxton, Peter, Paul and Mary, Counter Joe McDonald, and of course Arlo Guthrie were all in my collection. Thanks again for highlighting Pete, the Granddad of them all. I stillisten to them all. They were risking their careers and lives in some cases to tell us what they thought. You'll be damned hardpressed to find many nowadays with that conviction.
Thank you for doing Pete, one of the most important artist/activists of our times. If there was a Mount Rushmore for American musicians who most positively changed the world through their life and music it would have Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan as the initial three members.
I have never heard this song sung/played with such color and texture from the voice and from the instrument. Really wonderful meanings come forth. So appreciate your analysis, Fil.
Wow Fil...this really takes me back! My mum adored Pete Seeger and this song! So l was so lucky to have been introduced to such great talent! Cheers Mario! 😀👌👍
I have his instruction book for learning banjo. Someone gave me a banjo along with the book. Not very good but is an honor trying and learning about the music. I'm getting to the age where the banjo rolls are good for keeping my fingers. The trick for me is working the melody into the rolls.. Thank you for talking about his music. So much a part of my musical history.
Real class, not manufactured. No effects, no flashing lights, no gimmicks. These songs are timeless. It sounds just as great today as it did then. Thanks Fil.
I was a nut in high school in late 60's - I sold lunch bags with my own silk screen design of Ché Guevara on them for 25¢ a piece (the irony); then living in Mystic CT I caught Pete on one of his trips around the LI Sound on his Clearwater boat when he stopped in Mystic - got his autograph. What a beautiful summer night that was with him playing to a sunset and a few people on the coast outdoors. Things seemed more serious back then - but then you look around today and realize maybe those WERE the good ol' days. 🎸
Thank you for covering Pete Seeger. He was so important to society, encouraging people to unionize and to recognize we are all brothers and sisters. For that the government went after him, as it was during the time of the paranoia of the red scare. They blackballed his band, The Weavers, but he carried on. He was so self reliant and up for any job. He built his house himself. Years later, when the Hudson River was polluted with PCBs, he sailed a sailboat up and down the river, cleaning as he went. The ship, the Clearwater is still sailing , teaching young people about pollution and the importance of clean water. Pete Seeger is responsible for The Clean Water bill being passed. Quite a man.
Pete Seeger a huge artist in the folk music world. This songs lyrics touch a nerve. Love it. Pete was such a good songwriter, always thought provoking. One of the early masters. Appreciate his artistry. Excellent analysis and demo Fil! Thanks! 🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦
Hello Fil, Great song, artist, and, social commentary as only Pete Seger could. Always great analysis and interpretation. Informative and a pleasure to watch and listen. Best regards from Oregon, C.
We used to sing this song at church camp in the summer. My dad was a very progressive Methodist minister. It's an anti-war song. I knew this song best from the Peter, Paul & Mary version. Dylan's manager put them together to cover Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" and it became huge. Helped make Dylan famous. PP&M played Blowing in the Wind at Martin Luther King's speech on Washington DC.
Another great review. You make us all appreciate musical performances even more. Please check out the Rolling Stones’ 1966 performance of “Paint in Black” on the Ed Sullivan show. It’s begging for your review.
Thank you Fil, probably the first song I learned on my red tiger striped Stella at 13....thank you for sharing I've never seen this video of Pete before. Great history.
"What Have They Done To The Rain?" (the version by The Searchers). I remember Pete Seeger very well. Likewise for The Kingston Trio. This is a truly great anti-war ballad. Thanks Fil! You broke down this tune in a technical and in a somewhat personal way. You're the mate!
Hi Fil! One of the biggest songs of the sixties! There were so many artists that did this one! I saw Peter, Paul, and Mary in concert, and they did this one beautifully! Loved hearing Pete do it....a poignant song! Thanks for doing this one! ✌️
Nice job again, Fil. I enjoyed Pete and Arlo together back at Ontario Place all those years ago. Like Phil Ochs sang "he sure [got us] singing those songs." This one was a favorite of ours for sing-a-longs in a friends basement when we were skipping high school.
Enjoyed this. Petes version of Guantanamera is a favourite of mine. Would be interested to see you do a vid analysis on Bert Jansch / John Renbourn / Pentangle. Stars of the 1960s UK folk music scene
I definitely agree with Paul Strauss below. If schools were to adopt your approach to analyzing songs, more students would appreciate the meaning and importance of music to the body politic. Thank you for yet another great analysis of a song that speaks volumes.
Thanks for covering Pete. What an inspirational musician he was. The Weavers were my introduction to music, which led to so many other styles and genres. Their music and Pete's brought "World Music" to our ears many decades before that concept was known. His concerts were 30% Pete singing and 70% the audience singing. Nothing like it before or after. A music historian of the highest order who contributed himself to the history of music.
Love the Matrix shirt you got there Fil. Thanks for the video. You are as I always say "The Best' These last 3 and a half days have been very stressful but your tape was just what I needed to relax. I remember reading about this song in grade 6
I often conflate “Blowing in the Wind” with “Where have all the Flowers Gone” to the point where I actually forgot that Pete Seeger wrote it. Have to look back and see whose came first. By now, both songs have become such a part of eternity that it’s easy to understand why one would assume no one wrote them, that they were always there in the air, ie “traditional”. Excellent analysis as usual. 👍
Pete Seeger was one of a kind. Politically active almost until his dead bed. Banned during the McCarthy eara but never silent. He always encouraged his audience to sing along. That helped him when he lost his voice in his 80s. He simply had to speak the first two words of a line and the audience took over.
Not sure it relates to this video much but a really mellow song that I’ve always loved is Don McClean’s “Starry Starry Night” or maybe it’s called “Vincent.” Such an emotional and beautiful song.
Thank you Fil! I would like to draw attention to what Harry Bellafonte had to say about Pete Seeger on his introduction to RR Hall of fame (a funny thing isn't it, this inarguation?), and to what Joan Baes said about Pete (and only him!) at her inarguation (also a bit funny by itself). There is also a video on the one time reunion of the Weavers on TH-cam which I strongly reccomend. Fil couly you eventualyl analyse Turn, turn, turn (togetrher with Joni Mitchell perhaps?) or We shall overcome? I would be greatful.
Growing up during the VN war, my older siblings had many friends who went off to war. My brother was fortunate enough to be sent to Germany instead. But this song brings back memories of that time. ✌️
He was also a very kind and gentle soul with a rather droll and witty sense of humor. The only 'threat' Pete Seeger posed to this country, was a constant threat to highlight the toxic nature of American war hawks, and racists.
Great idea. I wonder if there are any videos of Jerry Garcia playing banjo with David Grisman or Old and in the Way. Not that there aren’t plenty of other great banjo players, but I just love Jerry’s acoustic side.
Very good analysis I congratulate you ..... also a very good selection devedte great musician infused with social commitment until his death. The so-called protest music was toa a worldwide musical era; wpoca dw gradwa social changes around the world ..... I congratulate you and thank you for your analysis and video...👌👌👌🎸🎸👍👍👍👏👏👏👊🤘
Let me just jump in here Fil! I can tell you exactly where everyone went in this song.Just as soon as Pete began to sing , some a****** pulled the fire alarm and all the young men and all the young women and all the young men in the uniforms scooped up all the flowers and exited the building in a calm single-filed line!
Yes people, don't live in fear. Live, get outside and pick those flowers. Smell them,mask free! You can't smell them with a mask. It's good it's not specific (the lyrics)because you can apply it to your current situation.
Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army." These lines were taken from the traditional Don Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1934). Seeger found inspiration for the song in October 1955 while he was on a plane bound for a concert at Oberlin College, one of the few venues which would hire him during the McCarthy era. Pete Seeger and the Weavers were blacklisted because of their radical political ideas. When "The Hammer Song" was composed in 1949 by Seeger with lyrics by Hays, "only 'Commies' used words like 'peace' and 'freedom'," according to Seeger.
I have seen Pete Seeger a few times in concert as a kid. He was a great . Different politics but live him. Please react to the Weavers. No he was a gentle radical. The Weavers wrote great music and their lead female Ronnie Gilbert was phenomenal.
Too bad you couldn’t find him singing the entire song as it was originally written (soldiers, graveyards, and back to flowers). He thought if you used an electric guitar, it wasn’t folk music anymore. He was right.
I have a problem with Pete Seeger in that, whilst he is an artist of great merit and a champion of lots of folk musicians, he also tends to have a 'curator' mentality like Cecil Sharp and this tends to obstruct change. He also seems very proprietorial which comes through quite strongly when you see him sitting and staring at other artists whilst they work. Alan Lomax, though not an artist as such, has brought much more pleasure to me by just finding wonderful music, recording it and sharing it without seeming like he wants to either preserve or change it.
Pete is one of my heroes both musically and in the realm of social justice. There are many wonderful videos of him singing with the Weavers available free here on TH-cam.
I came of age on folk music; Pete Seeger was a story teller and advocate for justice first and foremost; music was his medium. If you know what a hootenanny is you are likely in my age group (senior).
I remember Pete's appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968, his first TV appearance since the blacklisting. CBS still didn't want him on but the Brothers leaked the controversy to the news media and were able to force the issue. On the show he sang several mostly noncontroversial songs but then ended with Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, ostensibly about a group of American soldiers on training maneuvers whose captain leads them deeper and deeper into a swamp until he drowns. "We were waist deep in the Big Muddy, And the big fool says to push on". But of course everyone knew the "big muddy" was Vietnam and the big fool was President Lyndon Johnson. Due to this and other political controversies, the Smothers' show was abruptly canceled despite its popularity, but Seeger's career was finally revived.
Have you seen/heard any of the performances by Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert of The Weaver's? What happened in the 50's/early 60's was the McCarthy era with blacklists. Horrible period of our Country's history! We still have issues w racism, etc.
If you've got Pete, you must have Arlo Guthrie. What about "Can't Help Falling In Love?" Arlo can't sing a song without an amusing story. You can tell Pete was not in the best of health, but he joins in.
Good pic Brother Fil. You gotta see interview with Robbie Kreiger when hetalked about he + Seeger both were at the concert when Dylan went electric! Seeger went bonkers! Ha . Maggie's Farm on 10 would do it! P.S. your singing on the x factor? sounded powerful Good Bro!!! Tell Frank that your ready to be their lead singer. Ha! Later Bro. Rock! (Take that TV show judges!)
Pete helped my mother pick out her first acoustic guitar. It was a Harmony Sovereign. He was friends with the Kingston Trio. They were signed to Trident records, and recorded at Trident Studios. Frank Warber owned Trident records and Trident Studios and later he would own the Trident restaurant in Sausalito California. Frank lived on Silva Island. My father Ed Heine designed Trident Studios Frank's house and the Trident restaurant. It was through my father Ed Heine and Frank Warber that I first met Carlos Santana. Carlos taught me how to clean the seeds from weed using a cigar box. Frank and Carlos then shoved the weed into a tampon wrapper and smoked it. Carlos was going to roll it up in newspaper. I think it was 1969 I was 10 years old.
Frank helped a lot of Bay Area bands make it. Frank Warber was friends with Bill Graham. Bill Graham was a major concert promoter in California. Pete Seeger was a decent honest simple guy. He helped a lot of people believe in World Peace,
He was an ecologist and a conservationist.
Pete Seeger did what many said was impossible he organize a cleanup crew with his wife to save the Hudson River in New York from pollution and filth he was part of the hands on effort as well. the world lost a great humanitarian, songwriter, musician, singer, author on January 27 2014 when Pete Seeger pass away.
Sorry, didn’t read your comment before making mine. He was a beautiful man who learned to carry on through adversity.😊
He was a courageous man to be one of the singers that sang protest songs so early. He paved the way for a ton of bands/singers for years to come. And he was a great entertainer as well!
So many people seem to have forgotten what courage and strength actually are.
Oh, shoot...I started crying at one minute eleven seconds... iconic. He lived his heart's truth for his whole life, reminds me of somebody!
Me too!
Karen Nyere , me, three. 😂
Huge respect to Fil for covering Pete Seeger. Although the folk genre is not that well known today, in its heyday it rivalled rock and roll for popularity and was seen in a more serious light than the frothiness of early rock & roll. One of its greatest proponents was Woodie Guthrie who wrote songs during the depression that reflected and captured the emotions and themes of suffering that afflicted the working class. Pete Seeger carried that torch with his political activism in the civil rights movement and wrote songs with a social conscience. Significant artists from that era also had roots in folk music. Of course the best known is Bob Dylan. But there were many other artists whose roots and influences came from folk. A short but significant list include The Mamas and Papas, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. These artists carried those influences into the pop and rock mainstream which enabled those genres to also be taken more seriously as musical art forms.
Excellent summary!
@Karen Nyere / Thanks! But also thanks again to Fil for showing this and providing an opportunity to learn about some significant music history.
Another artist that few have paid attention to in addition to the ones mentioned was Phil Oche
Arthur Rubiera Yes, Phil Ochoa was one of my faves. There But for Fortune go you and I
He's a giant in the folk music world. Dylan, Peter Paul Mary, Don McLean, and many other disciples. Even John Cash had many things in common in those days. Burl Ives was another guy back in that era who was a folk giant. There's a great clip of John Cash performing with Pete circa 1962 on Pete's TV show.
He was a big enough influence in the music world in general, that Bruce Springsteen put out an entire album of Seeger music: The Seeger Sessions
My brother's inspiration and hero, along with Woody Guthrie, these voices and sentiments rang throughout my childhood. Thank you for this video, brought my brother's musical journey back to me. Although our musical paths diverged, I was always grateful for the opening of my musical mind and heart. Sid passed away in 1994, his last lyrics about freedom as seen through the eyes of an eagle. Peace xxx
This sweet and gentle song takes a stinging jab at injustice. It makes me uncomfortable because I am guilty of turning a blind eye to the seemingly unending wars and conflicts and suffering throughout the world. It isn't fashionable to care about things that don't affect us personally. No one wants to sacrifice anything to help some nameless, faceless stranger. Pete's message is so deep, and yet so simple. Yes, it does make me ask, "What do I really believe?" and "Do my actions reflect what I say I believe?".
"When will we ever learn,when will we ever learn..." This song was inspirational to a large part of my generation... ❤
I love how it's obvious you're thinking deeply about what this song means to you. I was busy doing that while looking out of my window. Wishing mostly that more people understood that compassion = strength, when I looked back at the screen to see you deep in some of your own thoughts too. I bet many more here were thinking and feeling something similar to that.
He was Woody Guthrie's heir apparent. Both branches on the same tree. Pete's influence on music was huge. Always loved the sticker on Woody's guitar. This machine slays fascists. Regards.
kills, not slays
@@johna1160 In my defense l did not put quotation marks on my comment but you are right. I will assume that kills and slays are synonymous. Regards.
@@michaelrice500 l remember that and yes, l could not agree more. Best regards.
This machine kills fasists
Fascists
I was so lucky to have seen him live in the 60’s. He was an incredibly moving artist , musician, social , racial justice and environmental activist. His boat, the Clearwater, and activists cleaned up the Hudson River in NY. He wrote the great melodies for Turn, Turn, Turn and The Bells of Rhymney. His weekly TV show had just about every great folk/ rock artist on as guests. Those shows are on YT. He was blackballed in show business during the McCarthy era - because he was labeled a Communist and refused to name names. He performed at Dr King’s March On Washington. A great great man. The Smothers Brothers show got cancelled after Pete sang an anti Vietnam war song on it. Thanks for showcasing him.
If you haven’t already- Arlo Guthrie is another fantastic performer still touring to this day. “ City of New Orleans” was his big hit.
I was also lucky enough to see him then, but I am not sure if it was in concert or in a coffee house. Between concerts and Georgetown bar scene we had all the great folk groups. My favorite group was Chad Mitchell Trio,
@ Karen Nyere : _"because he was labeled a Communist"_
Why does that phrase sound so familiar to me? o_e
Aylbdr Madison The McCarthy era was one of terror here- and we’re in it with the current administration again.
I believe the song that got The Smothers Brothers cancelled was 'Waist Deep in the Big Muddy". Lot of guts for them to stand up to the censors, but really too bad and beyond ridiculous, as they were the best show on TV at that time by far, imo.
R N You are right! “ and the big fool says to push on!”
I love Pete Seeger, his music and all he stood for. Thanks so much for keeping his music alive. Well done, Fil!
You didn't mention one of Pete's life long friendships and frequent collaborators Woody Guthrie and his son Arlo Guthrie. In his later years he often performed and toured with Arlo. Pete was like a father to Arlo.
Great analysis Fil! Such an emotional performance, he was so influential.
I love Peter, Paul, and Mary's version of this song. Check it out.
I loved his voice and messages. Thank you for covering this.
I remember this song when I was a kid. I always loved it because it was simple and to the point. I actually understood it... and at 15, I didn’t understand a lot! 🙂. Thank you, Fil
I adore folk music! Love Peter Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, Arlo Gutherie and Pete Seeger! Meaningful songs!! ❤️❤️
Stunningly simple and beautiful. This was one of my favourite songs in singing class at school in 1971. A lovely journey down memory lane.
My age group, the older age group, listened so closely to the message in the songs and words. We lived in a truly combustible world. Great song!!!
Finally, Pete Seeger!!! What a great singer, song writer. Fil please do Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome" one of the most important songs of the 20 century.
Such a prolific songwriter/singer for peace. Great choice, Fil.
In the mid 60s I learned Peter, Paul and Mary's version of "Where Have all the Flowers Gone". This was one of my favorite songs to perform for many years. If I remember correctly, the cords that I played were C, Am, F, G7. I think that I must have transposed it to those chords to better fit my vocal range.
It's a pity that when I took music in high school, they didn't explain it the way you do.
I wish my piano teacher was as good. I might have tried harder if I had been taught to appreciate the talent behind the music.
Thanks Paul!
Patricia Snyder , my piano teacher was so old. She used to come to my house and fall asleep. I thought she was dying so I banged really loud on the piano to wake her up. Lol. What an inspiration.. 🤣. In her defense, she didn’t snore. And she was pretty sweet when she was awake.
I just stumbled across you, yet you literately bring tears to my eyes. Thank you for your passion, information and dedication.
Yes, such an insightful analysis. He is making you ask questions, not telling you that to think. Brilliant!
Thanks Fil for bringing up Pete Seeger. I heard his music often as a kid in the 50s-60s. Once again my dad was eclectic and where as he hated "teen music", he loved "beat" music,jazz and anti war music. So unlike many my age I heard a lot of it in my formative years, being a 60s long haired protester seemed natural to me. Pete Seeger, the Seekers, Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Barry McGuire, Joan Baez, the Smothers Brothers, Tom Paxton, Peter, Paul and Mary, Counter Joe McDonald, and of course Arlo Guthrie were all in my collection. Thanks again for highlighting Pete, the Granddad of them all. I stillisten to them all. They were risking their careers and lives in some cases to tell us what they thought. You'll be damned hardpressed to find many nowadays with that conviction.
Thank you for doing Pete, one of the most important artist/activists of our times. If there was a Mount Rushmore for American musicians who most positively changed the world through their life and music it would have Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan as the initial three members.
Hey, you are cheating ön Harry Bellafonte!
I have never heard this song sung/played with such color and texture from the voice and from the instrument. Really wonderful meanings come forth. So appreciate your analysis, Fil.
Thanks!
Wow Fil...this really takes me back! My mum adored Pete Seeger and this song! So l was so lucky to have been introduced to such great talent! Cheers Mario! 😀👌👍
I have his instruction book for learning banjo. Someone gave me a banjo along with the book. Not very good but is an honor trying and learning about the music. I'm getting to the age where the banjo rolls are good for keeping my fingers. The trick for me is working the melody into the rolls.. Thank you for talking about his music. So much a part of my musical history.
Real class, not manufactured. No effects, no flashing lights, no gimmicks. These songs are timeless. It sounds just as great today as it did then. Thanks Fil.
I was a nut in high school in late 60's - I sold lunch bags with my own silk screen design of Ché Guevara on them for 25¢ a piece (the irony); then living in Mystic CT I caught Pete on one of his trips around the LI Sound on his Clearwater boat when he stopped in Mystic - got his autograph. What a beautiful summer night that was with him playing to a sunset and a few people on the coast outdoors. Things seemed more serious back then - but then you look around today and realize maybe those WERE the good ol' days. 🎸
Thank you for covering Pete Seeger. He was so important to society, encouraging people to unionize and to recognize we are all brothers and sisters. For that the government went after him, as it was during the time of the paranoia of the red scare. They blackballed his band, The Weavers, but he carried on. He was so self reliant and up for any job. He built his house himself. Years later, when the Hudson River was polluted with PCBs, he sailed a sailboat up and down the river, cleaning as he went. The ship, the Clearwater is still sailing , teaching young people about pollution and the importance of clean water. Pete Seeger is responsible for The Clean Water bill being passed. Quite a man.
Brings back such good memories, thank you Fil
Pete Seeger a huge artist in the folk music world. This songs lyrics touch a nerve. Love it. Pete was such a good songwriter, always thought provoking. One of the early masters. Appreciate his artistry. Excellent analysis and demo Fil! Thanks! 🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦
TIME STAMPS -
0:33 Performance
3:26 Analysis Start
9:44 Guitar
13:55 Career Background
Still so relevant today.
Hello Fil, Great song, artist, and, social commentary as only Pete Seger could. Always great analysis and interpretation. Informative and a pleasure to watch and listen. Best regards from Oregon, C.
We used to sing this song at church camp in the summer. My dad was a very progressive Methodist minister. It's an anti-war song. I knew this song best from the Peter, Paul & Mary version. Dylan's manager put them together to cover Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" and it became huge. Helped make Dylan famous. PP&M played Blowing in the Wind at Martin Luther King's speech on Washington DC.
Another great review. You make us all appreciate musical performances even more. Please check out the Rolling Stones’ 1966 performance of “Paint in Black” on the Ed Sullivan show. It’s begging for your review.
Thank you Fil, probably the first song I learned on my red tiger striped Stella at 13....thank you for sharing I've never seen this video of Pete before. Great history.
Pete's show had many brilliant folk singers. That is where I first saw Richard and Mimi Farina, great singers, song writers, and musicians.
Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Johny and June Cash!
"What Have They Done To The Rain?" (the version by The Searchers). I remember Pete Seeger very well. Likewise for The Kingston Trio. This is a truly great anti-war ballad. Thanks Fil! You broke down this tune in a technical and in a somewhat personal way. You're the mate!
Hi Fil! One of the biggest songs of the sixties! There were so many artists that did this one! I saw Peter, Paul, and Mary in concert, and they did this one beautifully! Loved hearing Pete do it....a poignant song! Thanks for doing this one! ✌️
Nice job again, Fil. I enjoyed Pete and Arlo together back at Ontario Place all those years ago. Like Phil Ochs sang "he sure [got us] singing those songs." This one was a favorite of ours for sing-a-longs in a friends basement when we were skipping high school.
Love this song, and this performance. He can really tell a story.
I learned this when I was about 6 years old. My oldest brother, 8 years older than me, played it non stop. Even at that age I understood the meaning.
Pete got me into the banjo and now I am the only I know who plays it in Texas but for a few people. It is a dying art!
Another gem of an analyses Thanks for this Cheers!
Many versions , many done too fast.. superb choice of songs Phil. Thanks for posting and analysis.
Enjoyed this. Petes version of Guantanamera is a favourite of mine. Would be interested to see you do a vid analysis on Bert Jansch / John Renbourn / Pentangle. Stars of the 1960s UK folk music scene
I definitely agree with Paul Strauss below. If schools were to adopt your approach to analyzing songs, more students would appreciate the meaning and importance of music to the body politic. Thank you for yet another great analysis of a song that speaks volumes.
Powerful meaning to this song
Thanks, Fil! Great analysis 🖤🤘🏽
Great analysis Fil as always. ❤
Thanks Fil. Great analysis as usual
Love that Pete brought up Marlene Dietrich's singing. I'm going to have to listen to Falling in love Again, and Laziest Girl in Town, lol.
Thanks for covering Pete. What an inspirational musician he was. The Weavers were my introduction to music, which led to so many other styles and genres. Their music and Pete's brought "World Music" to our ears many decades before that concept was known. His concerts were 30% Pete singing and 70% the audience singing. Nothing like it before or after. A music historian of the highest order who contributed himself to the history of music.
Love the Matrix shirt you got there Fil. Thanks for the video. You are as I always say "The Best'
These last 3 and a half days have been very stressful but your tape was just what I needed to
relax. I remember reading about this song in grade 6
I often conflate “Blowing in the Wind” with “Where have all the Flowers Gone” to the point where I actually forgot that Pete Seeger wrote it. Have to look back and see whose came first. By now, both songs have become such a part of eternity that it’s easy to understand why one would assume no one wrote them, that they were always there in the air, ie “traditional”. Excellent analysis as usual. 👍
Thank you very much for all the research you did for this video, and indeed for all your videos. I appreciate it.
Pete Seeger was one of a kind. Politically active almost until his dead bed. Banned during the McCarthy eara but never silent. He always encouraged his audience to sing along. That helped him when he lost his voice in his 80s. He simply had to speak the first two words of a line and the audience took over.
Awesome analysis.
Thanks, Fil. I didn't know of his miliary service or that he was blacklisted. Gutsy!
I'm not much into heroes, but if I was, Pete Seeger would be up there with the best of them! 💚☮
Not sure it relates to this video much but a really mellow song that I’ve always loved is Don McClean’s “Starry Starry Night” or maybe it’s called “Vincent.” Such an emotional and beautiful song.
Beautiful song. I think artists were very brave to speak out against war .
Thank you Fil! I would like to draw attention to what Harry Bellafonte had to say about Pete Seeger on his introduction to RR Hall of fame (a funny thing isn't it, this inarguation?), and to what Joan Baes said about Pete (and only him!) at her inarguation (also a bit funny by itself). There is also a video on the one time reunion of the Weavers on TH-cam which I strongly reccomend. Fil couly you eventualyl analyse Turn, turn, turn (togetrher with Joni Mitchell perhaps?) or We shall overcome? I would be greatful.
Growing up during the VN war, my older siblings had many friends who went off to war. My brother was fortunate enough to be sent to Germany instead. But this song brings back memories of that time. ✌️
He was also a very kind and gentle soul with a rather droll and witty sense of humor. The only 'threat' Pete Seeger posed to this country, was a constant threat to highlight the toxic nature of American war hawks, and racists.
Great vid Fil. How about another exploration of a Banjo!?
Great idea. I wonder if there are any videos of Jerry Garcia playing banjo with David Grisman or Old and in the Way. Not that there aren’t plenty of other great banjo players, but I just love Jerry’s acoustic side.
I would like to hear you review “ Bridge over troubled water “ by Elvis that was remixed with the Royal Philharmonic.
Very good analysis I congratulate you ..... also a very good selection devedte great musician infused with social commitment until his death. The so-called protest music was toa a worldwide musical era; wpoca dw gradwa social changes around the world ..... I congratulate you and thank you for your analysis and video...👌👌👌🎸🎸👍👍👍👏👏👏👊🤘
Pete Seeger and Shane MacGowan may be the greatest song writers of the 20th C .
peace x
Let me just jump in here Fil! I can tell you exactly where everyone went in this song.Just as soon as Pete began to sing , some a****** pulled the fire alarm and all the young men and all the young women and all the young men in the uniforms scooped up all the flowers and exited the building in a calm single-filed line!
Yes people, don't live in fear. Live, get outside and pick those flowers. Smell them,mask free! You can't smell them with a mask. It's good it's not specific (the lyrics)because you can apply it to your current situation.
Thanks Fil,
I'd like to see you analyze
Mountain Dew - The Stanley Brothers, good singing and playing...
This is a song which anybody can sing and the message is universal, sadly we have not learnt anything, we just have more gadgets.
Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army." These lines were taken from the traditional Don Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1934). Seeger found inspiration for the song in October 1955 while he was on a plane bound for a concert at Oberlin College, one of the few venues which would hire him during the McCarthy era. Pete Seeger and the Weavers were blacklisted because of their radical political ideas. When "The Hammer Song" was composed in 1949 by Seeger with lyrics by Hays, "only 'Commies' used words like 'peace' and 'freedom'," according to Seeger.
I have seen Pete Seeger a few times in concert as a kid. He was a great . Different politics but live him. Please react to the Weavers. No he was a gentle radical. The Weavers wrote great music and their lead female Ronnie Gilbert was phenomenal.
There is a video ön TH-cam ön the reunion concert of the Weavers. I strongly reccomend it tó everybody.
Too bad you couldn’t find him singing the entire song as it was originally written (soldiers, graveyards, and back to flowers). He thought if you used an electric guitar, it wasn’t folk music anymore. He was right.
I have a problem with Pete Seeger in that, whilst he is an artist of great merit and a champion of lots of folk musicians, he also tends to have a 'curator' mentality like Cecil Sharp and this tends to obstruct change. He also seems very proprietorial which comes through quite strongly when you see him sitting and staring at other artists whilst they work.
Alan Lomax, though not an artist as such, has brought much more pleasure to me by just finding wonderful music, recording it and sharing it without seeming like he wants to either preserve or change it.
Pete is one of my heroes both musically and in the realm of social justice. There are many wonderful videos of him singing with the Weavers available free here on TH-cam.
I came of age on folk music; Pete Seeger was a story teller and advocate for justice first and foremost; music was his medium. If you know what a hootenanny is you are likely in my age group (senior).
I remember Pete's appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968, his first TV appearance since the blacklisting. CBS still didn't want him on but the Brothers leaked the controversy to the news media and were able to force the issue. On the show he sang several mostly noncontroversial songs but then ended with Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, ostensibly about a group of American soldiers on training maneuvers whose captain leads them deeper and deeper into a swamp until he drowns. "We were waist deep in the Big Muddy, And the big fool says to push on". But of course everyone knew the "big muddy" was Vietnam and the big fool was President Lyndon Johnson. Due to this and other political controversies, the Smothers' show was abruptly canceled despite its popularity, but Seeger's career was finally revived.
Have you seen/heard any of the performances by Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert of The Weaver's? What happened in the 50's/early 60's was the McCarthy era with blacklists. Horrible period of our Country's history! We still have issues w racism, etc.
That’s a campfire song, sung by lots of people, deeply believed by a generation.
Wow x... a year ago and we have war again. No one ever learns.
Pete is the only one that could play "Ode to Joy" on banjo and sound great.
If you've got Pete, you must have Arlo Guthrie. What about "Can't Help Falling In Love?" Arlo can't sing a song without an amusing story. You can tell Pete was not in the best of health, but he joins in.
Mon ami fil...Mr. Pete is da bombditty of all entertainers. Sing with me
Hi Fil 😊
Pete Seeger made banjo playing cool. He was a powerful voice for anti war and discrimination protests.
Please react to Praxis Maggot Brain by Buckethead🔥
Much slower than most of the covers, I'll have to remember that when I'm trying to learn. It may make my chord changes easier!!
Good pic Brother Fil. You gotta see interview with Robbie Kreiger when hetalked about he + Seeger both were at the
concert when Dylan went electric! Seeger went bonkers! Ha
. Maggie's Farm on 10 would do it!
P.S. your singing on the x factor? sounded powerful Good Bro!!! Tell Frank that your ready to be their lead singer. Ha! Later Bro.
Rock! (Take that TV show judges!)
THOUGHT IT MESSED UP HIS HEARING AID
AXE TO THE WIRES
I know he wrote this song. My favorite version is The Kingston Trio's.