Pete Seeger, one of the most important musicians in history, died on Tuesday morning at New York-Presbyterian Hospital from natural causes. He was 94.
Close friend Arlo Guthrie wrote a touching goodbye to the legend which he posted on his Facebook:
I usually do a little meditation and prayer every night before I go to sleep – Just part of the routine. Last night, I decided to go visit Pete Seeger for a while, just to spend a little time together, it was around 9 PM. So I was sitting in my home in Florida, having a lovely chat with Pete, who was in a hospital in New York City. That’s the great thing about thoughts and prayers- You can go or be anywhere.
I simply wanted him to know that I loved him dearly, like a father in some ways, a mentor in others and just as a dear friend a lot of the time. I’d grown up that way – loving the Seegers – Pete & Toshi and all their family.
I let him know I was having trouble writing his obituary (as I’d been asked) but it seemed just so silly and I couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound trite or plain stupid. ‘They’ll say something appropriate in the news,’ we agreed. We laughed, we talked, and I took my leave about 9:30 last night.
‘Arlo’ he said, sounding just like the man I’ve known all of my life, ‘I guess I’ll see ya later.’ I’ve always loved the rising and falling inflections in his voice. ‘Pete,’ I said. ‘I guess we will.’
I turned off the light and closed my eyes and fell asleep until very early this morning, about 3 AM when the texts and phone calls started coming in from friends telling me Pete had passed away.
‘Well, of course he passed away!’ I’m telling everyone this morning. ‘But that doesn’t mean he’s gone.
His well known political commitment may have been in his genes. Before Pete was born, his father, Charles, was fired from his position at the University of California, Berkely, where he established their music department, over his outspoken pacifism to World War I.
Music was an integral part of his upbringing. At 18 months, he traveled the American south with his parents while they performed music to try and “lift the spirits” of the downtrodden and working poor. His parents divorced when he was seven and his father married Ruth Crawford (Seeger) who was deeply interested in folk music and went on to be a major composer. Seeger’s four step-siblings, Peggy, Mike, Barbara and Penny, took that influence and also went on to become folk performers.
Pete’s first instrument was the Ukulele but, at the age of 16, he heard his first banjo and gravitated to the instrument. In 1939, he went to Washington to work with Alan Lomax at the Library of Congress’ Archive of American Folk Song. Lomax mentored Seeger’s performing and eventually added Pete to his weekly radio show which also starred Burl Ives, Josh White, Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie.
Seeger was politically involved from an early age. In 1939, he helped form The Almanac Singers who concentrated on music that reflected their views including that of the union movement. Eleven years later, the group became The Weavers who went on to become one of the most successful folk music acts ever. They were responsible for bringing many folk music standards back into the public eye and had one of the biggest hits of 1950 with their recording of Lead Belly’s Goodnight Irene.
The Weavers career crashed in 1953 when they were blacklisted with radio stations becoming too scared to play their music. Associated with the communist movement early in his career, he began to question their views in the late 40’s. That didn’t stop him from being a major player in the red scare of the 50’s and, in 1955, was subpoenaed by congress where he pointedly refused to name other members of the party or answer questions. Two years later, he was indicted for contempt of congress and was sentenced to ten years in jail which was overturned on appeal.
During the late 50’s and early 60’s, Seeger mad ends meet teaching in schools and summer camps. During this same time, Pete’s songs began to become popular among folk performers including such classics as Turn Turn Turn, Where Have All the Flowers Gone? and The Bells of Rhymney. He is also credited with popularizing the southern hymn We Shall Overcome during his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s. He also had a major hit in Australia in 1963 with Malvina Reynolds’ Little Boxes.
Seeger was blacklisted from performing on television for more than a decade because of his political views, appearing on only local programs. It took the Smother Brothers, whose CBS show was always associated with controversy, to break the blacklist but not before a great deal of controversy. CBS censored his September 1967 appearance when he sang his Vietnam protest song Waste Deep in Big Muddy. He finally appeared on their show on February 25, 1968.
In June 1969, he launched one of his biggest project, the Hudson River sloop The Clearwater, which has brought music and messages of environmental concerns all through the region over the ensuing 45 years.
As a recording artists, Seeger has released over fifty studio albums and twenty live albums dating back to 1953’s American Folk Songs For Children. His last was 2012’s Pete Remembers Woody. In recent years, he has won Grammys for Best Traditional Folk Recording (Pete (1996) and At 89 (2008)) and Musical Album For Children (Tomorrow’s Children (2010).
Seeger continued to perform regularly during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and was given a long list of major honors including induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1972) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence (1996) and receipt of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys (1993) and the National Medal of Arts (1994).
Seeger and his wife, Toshi, were married until her death last year just short of their 70th anniversary. He is survived by a son, two daughters, he half-sister Peggy and half-brother Mike.
Read more at VVNmusic.com
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Follow Noise11.com on Facebook and Twitter
