Click On Title To Link To A Pete Seeger Appreciation Web Site.
CD REVIEWS
Darling Corey and Goofing-Off Suite, Pete Seeger, Smithstonian Folkways, 1993
This review is being used to describe several of Pete Seeger’s recordings. Although I have listened to most of his songs and recordings these are the CDs that best represent his life’s work.
My musical tastes were formed, as were many of those of the generation of 1968, by ‘Rock and Roll’ music exemplified by the Rolling Stones and Beatles and by the blues revival, both Delta and Chicago style. However, those forms as much as they gave pleasure were only marginally political at best. In short, these were entertainers performing material that spoke to us. In the most general sense that is all one should expect of a performer. Thus, for the most part that music need not be reviewed here. Those then who thought that a new musical sensibility laid the foundations for a cultural or political revolution have long ago been proven wrong.
That said, in the early 1960’s there nevertheless was another form of musical sensibility that was directly tied to radical political expression- the folk revival. This entailed a search for roots and relevancy in musical expression. While not all forms of folk music lent themselves to radical politics it is hard to see the 1960’s cultural rebellion without giving a nod to such figures as Dave Van Ronk, the early Bob Dylan, Utah Phillips, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others. Whatever entertainment value these performers provided they also spoke to and prodded our political development. They did have a message and an agenda and we responded as such. That these musicians’ respective agendas proved inadequate and/or short-lived does not negate their influence on the times.
As I have noted in my reviews of Dave Van Ronk’s work, when I first heard folk music in my youth I felt unsure about whether I liked it or not. As least against my strong feelings about the Rolling Stones and my favorite blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James. Then on some late night radio folk show here in Boston I heard Dave Van Ronk singing "Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies" and that was it. From that time to the present folk music has been a staple of my musical tastes. From there I expanded my play list of folk artists with a political message, including, obviously, Pete Seeger.
Although I had probably heard Seeger’s "Had I a Golden Thread" at some earlier point I actually learned about his music second-hand from a recording of “Songs of the Spanish Civil War” which included “Viva la Quince Brigada” a tribute to the American Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigades. Since I was intensely interested in that fight in Spain and in that “premature anti-fascist” organization I was hooked. While, like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger’s influence has had its ebbs and flows since that time each succeeding generation of folk singers still seems to be drawn to his simple, honest tunes about the previous political struggles and the ordinary people who made this country, for good or evil, what it is today.
This compilation is made of two early Seeger albums that reflect his early and on-going attempts to recapture the American folk heritage. He uses his signature banjo to great effect here. You will also find that since the release of these albums in the 1950’s many of these songs are now familiar and have frequently been covered by a whole range of later artists. Thank Pete for that. Think- “John Riley”, “Darling Corey”, “East Virginia Blues”, “Empty Pocket Blues’ and “Sally Ann” on that point.
Here are lyrics to "We Shall Overcome" made famous by Pete Seeger and others in the early 1960's part of the black civil rights struggle.
We Shall Overcome
Lyrics derived from Charles Tindley's gospel song "I'll Overcome Some Day" (1900), and opening and closing melody from the 19th-century spiritual "No More Auction Block for Me" (a song that dates to before the Civil War). According to Professor Donnell King of Pellissippi State Technical Community College (in Knoxville, Tenn.), "We Shall Overcome" was adapted from these gospel songs by "Guy Carawan, Candy Carawan, and a couple of other people associated with the Highlander Research and Education Center, currently located near Knoxville, Tennessee. I have in my possession copies of the lyrics that include a brief history of the song, and a notation that royalties from the song go to support the Highlander Center."
1.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
2.
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS
3.
We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day
CHORUS
4.
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
CHORUS
5.
We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day
CHORUS
6.
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS
7.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCES:
Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History, Second Edition (Norton, 1971): 546-47, 159-60.
The International Lyrics Server.. March 1998.
Donnell King, email message, 29 Nov. 1999.
JOHN RILEY
As I went out one morning early,
To breathe the sweet and pleasant air,
Who should I spy but a fair young maiden;
She seemed to me like a lily fair.
I stepped to her add kindly asked her,
"Would you like to be a bold sailor's wife?"
"Oh no kind sir," she quickly answered,
"I choose to lead a sweet single life."
"What makes you different from other women?
What makes you different from other kind?
For you are young, sweet, beautiful and handsome,
And for to marry you, I might incline."
"It's now kind sir that I must tell you.
I might have been married three years ago
To one John Riley who left this country.
He's been the cause of my overthrow."
"He courted me both late and early.
He courted me both night and day.
And when he had once my affections gained,
He left me here and he went away."
"Oh never mind for this Johnny Riley,
Oh come with me to the distant shore.
Why, we'll sail o'er to Pennsylvany,
And bid adieu to Riley forever more."
"I shan't go with you to Pennsylvany,
Or go with you to the distant shore.
My heart is with Riley, my long lost lover
Although I'll never see him no more."
Oh, when he saw that her love was loyal,
He gave her kisses one, two, and three,
Saying, "I'm the man you once called Johnny Riley,
Saying "I'm the cause of your misery."
"I've sailed the ocean, gained great promotion,
I've laid my money on the English shore,
And now we'll marry, no longer tarry,
And I shall never deceive you any more."
sung by Pete Seeger
DARLING COREY
Wake up, wake up, Darlin` Corey.
What makes you sleep so sound?
Them revenue officers a`commin`
For to tear your still-house down.
Well the first time I seen Darlin` Corey
She was settin` by the side of the sea,
With a forty-four strapped across her bosom
And a banjo on her knee.
Dig a hole, dig a hole, in the medder
Dig a hole, in the col` col` groun`
Dig a hole, dig a hole in the medder
Goin` ter lay Darlin` Corey down.
(above verse frequently used as chorus)
The next time I seen Darlin` Corey
She was standin` in the still-house door
With her shoes and stockin`s in her han`
An` her feet all over the floor.
Wake up,wake up Darlin Corey.
Quit hangin` roun` my bed.
Hard likker has ruined my body.
Pretty wimmen has killed me mos` dead
Wake up, wake up my darlin`;
Go do the best you can.
I`ve got me another woman;
You can get you another man.
Oh yes, oh yes my darlin`
I`ll do the best I can,
But I`ll never take my pleasure
With another gamblin` man.
Don` you hear them blue-birds singin`?
Don` you hear that mournful sound?
They`re preachin` Corey`s funeral
In some lonesome buryin` groun`
CD REVIEWS
Darling Corey and Goofing-Off Suite, Pete Seeger, Smithstonian Folkways, 1993
This review is being used to describe several of Pete Seeger’s recordings. Although I have listened to most of his songs and recordings these are the CDs that best represent his life’s work.
My musical tastes were formed, as were many of those of the generation of 1968, by ‘Rock and Roll’ music exemplified by the Rolling Stones and Beatles and by the blues revival, both Delta and Chicago style. However, those forms as much as they gave pleasure were only marginally political at best. In short, these were entertainers performing material that spoke to us. In the most general sense that is all one should expect of a performer. Thus, for the most part that music need not be reviewed here. Those then who thought that a new musical sensibility laid the foundations for a cultural or political revolution have long ago been proven wrong.
That said, in the early 1960’s there nevertheless was another form of musical sensibility that was directly tied to radical political expression- the folk revival. This entailed a search for roots and relevancy in musical expression. While not all forms of folk music lent themselves to radical politics it is hard to see the 1960’s cultural rebellion without giving a nod to such figures as Dave Van Ronk, the early Bob Dylan, Utah Phillips, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others. Whatever entertainment value these performers provided they also spoke to and prodded our political development. They did have a message and an agenda and we responded as such. That these musicians’ respective agendas proved inadequate and/or short-lived does not negate their influence on the times.
As I have noted in my reviews of Dave Van Ronk’s work, when I first heard folk music in my youth I felt unsure about whether I liked it or not. As least against my strong feelings about the Rolling Stones and my favorite blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James. Then on some late night radio folk show here in Boston I heard Dave Van Ronk singing "Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies" and that was it. From that time to the present folk music has been a staple of my musical tastes. From there I expanded my play list of folk artists with a political message, including, obviously, Pete Seeger.
Although I had probably heard Seeger’s "Had I a Golden Thread" at some earlier point I actually learned about his music second-hand from a recording of “Songs of the Spanish Civil War” which included “Viva la Quince Brigada” a tribute to the American Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigades. Since I was intensely interested in that fight in Spain and in that “premature anti-fascist” organization I was hooked. While, like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger’s influence has had its ebbs and flows since that time each succeeding generation of folk singers still seems to be drawn to his simple, honest tunes about the previous political struggles and the ordinary people who made this country, for good or evil, what it is today.
This compilation is made of two early Seeger albums that reflect his early and on-going attempts to recapture the American folk heritage. He uses his signature banjo to great effect here. You will also find that since the release of these albums in the 1950’s many of these songs are now familiar and have frequently been covered by a whole range of later artists. Thank Pete for that. Think- “John Riley”, “Darling Corey”, “East Virginia Blues”, “Empty Pocket Blues’ and “Sally Ann” on that point.
Here are lyrics to "We Shall Overcome" made famous by Pete Seeger and others in the early 1960's part of the black civil rights struggle.
We Shall Overcome
Lyrics derived from Charles Tindley's gospel song "I'll Overcome Some Day" (1900), and opening and closing melody from the 19th-century spiritual "No More Auction Block for Me" (a song that dates to before the Civil War). According to Professor Donnell King of Pellissippi State Technical Community College (in Knoxville, Tenn.), "We Shall Overcome" was adapted from these gospel songs by "Guy Carawan, Candy Carawan, and a couple of other people associated with the Highlander Research and Education Center, currently located near Knoxville, Tennessee. I have in my possession copies of the lyrics that include a brief history of the song, and a notation that royalties from the song go to support the Highlander Center."
1.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
2.
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS
3.
We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day
CHORUS
4.
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
CHORUS
5.
We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day
CHORUS
6.
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS
7.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCES:
Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History, Second Edition (Norton, 1971): 546-47, 159-60.
The International Lyrics Server.
Donnell King, email message, 29 Nov. 1999.
JOHN RILEY
As I went out one morning early,
To breathe the sweet and pleasant air,
Who should I spy but a fair young maiden;
She seemed to me like a lily fair.
I stepped to her add kindly asked her,
"Would you like to be a bold sailor's wife?"
"Oh no kind sir," she quickly answered,
"I choose to lead a sweet single life."
"What makes you different from other women?
What makes you different from other kind?
For you are young, sweet, beautiful and handsome,
And for to marry you, I might incline."
"It's now kind sir that I must tell you.
I might have been married three years ago
To one John Riley who left this country.
He's been the cause of my overthrow."
"He courted me both late and early.
He courted me both night and day.
And when he had once my affections gained,
He left me here and he went away."
"Oh never mind for this Johnny Riley,
Oh come with me to the distant shore.
Why, we'll sail o'er to Pennsylvany,
And bid adieu to Riley forever more."
"I shan't go with you to Pennsylvany,
Or go with you to the distant shore.
My heart is with Riley, my long lost lover
Although I'll never see him no more."
Oh, when he saw that her love was loyal,
He gave her kisses one, two, and three,
Saying, "I'm the man you once called Johnny Riley,
Saying "I'm the cause of your misery."
"I've sailed the ocean, gained great promotion,
I've laid my money on the English shore,
And now we'll marry, no longer tarry,
And I shall never deceive you any more."
sung by Pete Seeger
DARLING COREY
Wake up, wake up, Darlin` Corey.
What makes you sleep so sound?
Them revenue officers a`commin`
For to tear your still-house down.
Well the first time I seen Darlin` Corey
She was settin` by the side of the sea,
With a forty-four strapped across her bosom
And a banjo on her knee.
Dig a hole, dig a hole, in the medder
Dig a hole, in the col` col` groun`
Dig a hole, dig a hole in the medder
Goin` ter lay Darlin` Corey down.
(above verse frequently used as chorus)
The next time I seen Darlin` Corey
She was standin` in the still-house door
With her shoes and stockin`s in her han`
An` her feet all over the floor.
Wake up,wake up Darlin Corey.
Quit hangin` roun` my bed.
Hard likker has ruined my body.
Pretty wimmen has killed me mos` dead
Wake up, wake up my darlin`;
Go do the best you can.
I`ve got me another woman;
You can get you another man.
Oh yes, oh yes my darlin`
I`ll do the best I can,
But I`ll never take my pleasure
With another gamblin` man.
Don` you hear them blue-birds singin`?
Don` you hear that mournful sound?
They`re preachin` Corey`s funeral
In some lonesome buryin` groun`
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