Yup, I’m another person in her 50’s who knows who Pete Seeger is.
Pork Rind, thanks for posting that. I wish I’d seen it.
I voted “yes.” I knew he was a folk singer, but couldn’t remember any of his songs before reading the spoiler. I’m 39.
Ha! I grew up in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York State, a few train stops from Pete’s house, in a family that loves folk music, children’s singalongs, antiwar protests, and labor unions. When I was 4 years old, the LPSs I played over and over were Revolver, Pet Sounds, Free to Be…You and Me (then brand new), and Pete Seeger’s Greatest Hits.
I was disqualified from the only jury I came close to sitting on, probably because I named Pete Seeger as my “hero” in the voir dire.
I came close to naming my son Peter (50% for Seeger, 50% for another important Peter in my life), but it wasn’t on my wife’s short list, so it didn’t happen.
I’m 45.
Well, I do now, but until reading that thread…
…I probably still would have said yes, but I’d have been thinking of Bob Seger.
Though I did know the three songs listed, I had no idea who wrote If I Had a Hammer, thought Peter Yarrow (the Puff guy, again) wrote Where Have All the Flowers Gone, and somehow got it in my head that Turn, Turn, Turn was written by the Byrds (checking, I see now they weren’t even the first band to cover it). [Edit - 38, seeing my Jack Benny moment looming in the near distance.]
Yup. My folks loved his stuff, so I grew up listening.
Why the question?
I’ve known who Seeger was all my life because my dad used to listen to him. I was also in a sing-along with him once at a festival not long before he died.
Know of him, seen him in concert, have albums by him, have albums of people covering his songs.
Yes, he was a folk singer and Stalinist. I remember him chanting “Split wood, not atoms” on one or another of his albums.
Regards,
Shodan
The lyrics to “Turn, Turn, Turn” are actually from a much older source.
My dad loved him and considered him a revolutionary because of “This Land is Your Land” – which was widely considered some kind of communist anthem.
Nope. I’ve heard of Bob Seeger, never heard of Pete Seeger. 40 years old, FWIW.
Most of them are, but Ecclesiastes wasn’t given to inserting verbal ticks into his sentences. (Also the final verse is not a direct quote, either.)
I was a great fan of all his stuff, including solo and when he was with The Weavers.
I’m actually a bit surprised (and gratified) by how many people here know of him. But this board does skew a bit older.
“This Land is Your Land” was not by Seeger but by Woody Guthrie. And the rarely-sung last two stanzas aren’t exactly a ode to capitalism…
Of course. I grew up in a family of old-fashioned lefties. My mom had met Pete a few times through mutual friends and various left-wing causes. We had tons of his records, including obscure albums of Pete and the Almanac Singers. I heard him in concert only once but it was very memorable. He was a wonderful singer and a great ambassador for American folk music. And he was a true progressive who was committed to his principles even when it caused him personal hardship (the blacklist, etc.).
I’m heartened to see that most people who responded to this poll do know who Pete Seeger was.
Yes, he was the Peter in Peter, Paul and Mary.
NOT!
I do know who he was and I don’t get him mixed up with Bob… although in my youth I did have the idea that the one was the other’s son.
I remember him particularly for Little Boxes and Solidarity Forever
I am a member of one of the environmental groups he founded (Clearwater) and met him a few time. He was the definition of a cool old guy when I met him. His passing was mourned by myself and many of my friends and many in my family.
He can probably honestly be given credit as the primary reason the Hudson River was cleaned up. His impact on music was significant though I think less than Woody’s in the end.
He was no Stalinist Shodan. He was indeed a member of communist party of the US but left it before the damn McCarthy witch hunt and still suffered for it. He loved this country and fought for it. But despite his love he was critical of discrimination, unchecked capitalism and pollution. That hardly makes him a Stalinist. Really disrespectful to say it. He was actually from what I know and understand very much against the Russian form of communism and indeed did at least one and probably more fund raising concerts to Support Poland’s freedom movement.
Today of all days I think a little respect should be shown to a veteran of WWII by a staunch Republican like yourself.
No one remembers “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”?