Pete Seeger: American Legend
I get two channels that come in clearly on my television because I don't have cable. While I curse when primary debates are on CNN or MSNBC or when Celtics games are playing on ESPN, usually I'm just fine watching Jim Lehrer on the PBS evening news program and many of the other programs on PBS (Ming Tsai's cooking program and Norm Abrams' Yankee Workshop to name two). In addition to those, PBS often has fantastic documentaries on and one of these included a biography on Pete Seeger. I knew nothing about him and didn't really set out to put the time aside to watch it, but found myself with nothing better to do and since PBS is usually on, I ended up watching it.



I never had even remembered hearing of Pete Seeger, let alone realizing how influential he is. This guy has influenced Bob Dylan and has performed with Woody Guthrie and Paul Robeson. He has been very involved in the movement for civil rights. He is part of the evolution of American folk music which helped to inspire many people including Bob Dylan.

The man was blackballed by the mainstream media and could not appear on television, simply because he sang about peace. Peace! Doing that's gonna fuck up the economy! We need more bombs!



This is a guy who was part of a very popular folk group, called The Weavers and who had a #1 hit on their resume but quit at the height of their success...because they had agreed to do a song for a cigarette company.

He wrote "If I Had a Hammer" and "Turn, Turn, Turn" among many other influential folk songs. He wrote an instructional book on how to play the banjo which was important for many musicians. He also made additions to the conventional banjo and invented his own banjo.

He met Woody Guthrie early in his life and they toured together and performed together as "The Almanacs". The Almanacs and The Weavers were just two of several folk groups that Seeger helped to form. Seeger helped to popularize Woody Guthrie's music through relentless touring and through that helped to start a large protest movement in the United States in the 1950's and 1960's and toured many colleges.

Pete Seeger's banjo. Inspired by Woody Guthrie, whose guitar was labeled "This machine kills fascists," Seeger's banjo was emblazoned with the motto "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender."

Seeger used to be part of the Communist Party but dropped out in 1950 but became a strong activist for labor unions and workers' rights. Seeger even spent a year in jail for "contempt of Congress" when he refused to give any personal information as to how he voted in elections or to name any personal affiliations he was part of to the House committee on un-American activities. This conviction finally was overturned however. After 17 years on the mainstream media blacklist, Seeger performed on The Smothers Brothers show. Still, he performed a song, "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy", that satirically attacked Lyndon Johnson and America's involvement in the Vietnam War. This performance was not shown until great pressure forced its broadcast later.

Seeger is still active in promoting environmental projects and other causes. He is 88 years old now and before this PBS documentary, I basically had no clue who he was. However, there is no question that he is an American legend, and more people should know about Pete Seeger.