Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - L to Z»Artists - P
    Artists - P Music - 1950s Music - 1960s 3 Mins Read

    Pete Seeger

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Born on 3 May 1919, and immersed in music by his parents – Charles Seeger, a musicologist, and Constance de Clyver Edson Seeger, a concert violinist – Pete Seeger got his big break in 1940.

    His parents were helping famous folk team John and Alan Lomax to transcribe songs recorded in the south.

    Woody Guthrie was persuaded to come to Washington to record them and Seeger accompanied him in the studio.

    The results were eventually published as a book: Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People.

    “I went out west with Woody,” says Seeger. “He taught me how to sing in saloons, how to hitch-hike, how to ride freight trains. Then I went out on my own.”

    peteseeger

    Guthrie, he says, taught him how to busk. “He’d say put the banjo on your back, go into a bar and buy a nickel beer and sip it as slow as you can. Sooner or later, someone will say, ‘Kid, can you play that thing?’ Don’t be too eager, just say, ‘Maybe, a little.’

    Keep on sipping beer. Sooner or later, someone will say, ‘Kid, I’ve got a quarter for you if you pick us a tune.’ Then you play your best song.”  With that advice, Seeger supported himself on his travels.

    Seeger, Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman started working together as The Weavers. They were signed to Decca Records by Gordon Jenkins, who was the company’s music director and an arranger for Frank Sinatra.

    The group recorded a repertoire that stretched from If I Had a Hammer to a South African song, Wimoweh (the title was Seeger’s mishearing of “Mbube”, the name of a South African hit by Solomon Linda).

    Another of Seeger’s songs, Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, became an antiwar standard and in 1965, The Byrds had a #1 hit with a folk-rock version of Turn! Turn! Turn!, Seeger’s setting of a passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes.

    peteseeger

    In 1955, at the age of 36, Seeger was subpoenaed to appear before the American House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC).

    He refused to talk to the Committee and was indicted on 10 counts of contempt of Congress and convicted.

    The conviction was overturned on a technicality, but the hearing’s effect stretched long in to the future, both for Seeger personally, and for the folk music movement he represented.

    In 1959, Seeger was among the founders of the Newport Folk Festival. The Kingston Trio‘s version of his Where Have All the Flowers Gone? reached the Top 40 in 1962, soon followed by Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of If I Had a Hammer, which rose to the Top 10.

    Although he recorded dozens of albums, Seeger distrusted commercialism and was never comfortable with the idea of stardom. He invariably tried to use his celebrity to bring attention and contributions to the causes that moved him, or to the traditional songs he wanted to preserve.

    Seeger died in January 2014 in New York. He was 94.

    Related Posts

    • Dion (& The Belmonts)
      Dion (& The Belmonts)
      Born in the Bronx area of New York on 18…
    • Dinah Lee
      Dinah Lee
      In the 1960s Dinah Lee was the most successful female…
    • Bob Dylan
      Bob Dylan
      After dabbling briefly in rock music as pianist for Bobby Vee,…
    • Judy Collins
      Judy Collins
      Judy Collins was born in 1939 in Denver, Colorado, daughter…
    • Byrds, The
      Byrds, The
      In 1964, Jim (later Roger) McGuinn, David Crosby and Gene…
    • Arlo Guthrie
      Arlo Guthrie
      The son of Woody Guthrie started singing professionally in 1966.…
    • Gene Pitney
      Gene Pitney
      Gene Pitney was born in February 1940 of Polish origin…
    • Spinners, The
      Spinners, The
      This folk group from Liverpool, England, formed in September 1958…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticlePeter Tosh
    Next Article P.F. Sloan

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Further Adventures of Oliver Twist, The
      1 9 8 0 (UK) 13 x 30 minute episodes This ATV series carried on […]
    • Mighty Baby
      From the blazing psychedelia of their blistering self-titled […]
    • Fine Romance, A
      1 9 8 1 – 1 9 8 4 (UK) 26 x 25 minute episodes Laura […]
    • Gough Whitlam
      Born in 1916, Edward Gough Whitlam was elected to the Australian […]
    • Moon Landing (ITV)
      1 9 6 9 (UK) The televised coverage of the Moon landing was […]
    • Hot Dog
      1 9 7 0 – 1 9 7 1 (USA) Hot Dog debuted on NBC’s […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.