Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27

Subject: Pete Seeger - The Power of Song
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 10:51 AM

I will be interviewing director Jim Brown on my radio program this coming Sunday, October 14th.   Jim is the director of the new documentary "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song". The film is currently touring the country and will open in NYC on October 26th. Click here - Pete Seeger - for information about screenings near you.

Jim Brown has a long history with Pete, starting when he met Pete as a teenager. Jim directed the film "Wasn't That A Time", a documentary on the historic Weaver's Reunion.   Jim has done a number of features concerning folk music - including a documentary on Peter, Paul & Mary.

Jim Brown will be heard on WFDU-FM's TRADITIONS between 3 and 6pm this Sunday October 14 over 89.FM in the NJ/NYC area - or listen in online at www.wfdu.fm

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger - The Power of Song
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 10:56 AM

I almost forgot the most exciting news - WFDU will be presenting a concert - Pete Seeger & Friends on November 9th.    As you know, Pete does not perform too often these days, but he will be appearing at FDU'S Wilson Auditorium for a special "awareness" concert for the School of the Americas Watch. He will be joined by Kim & Reggie Harris, Bethany Yarrow & Rufus Cappadocia, and John Dull - among others.   For more information visit our website at www.wfdu.fm

We are trying to arrange an opportunity to interview Pete before the concert. I will post a note if we can make this happen.

November 9th promises to be an historic evening of music. Tickets are on sale now and I would expect that we will sellout tickets for this concert.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger - The Power of Song
From: KT
Date: 10 Oct 07 - 01:57 AM

This sounds great, Ron! Maybe some of those Getaway goers could make it to the concert post-Getaway! I know I'd try to attend if I were going to be that neck of the woods! I heard Kim & Reggie Harris perform at Old Songs a couple of years ago. Spellbinding!

Thanks for the tip.

KT

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger - The Power of Song
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 10 Oct 07 - 10:53 PM

Hope you can make it KT!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger - The Power of Song
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 14 Oct 07 - 02:16 PM

Just a reminder - the interview will air at 4pm today on WFDU. You can listen in online at www.wfdu.fm

Subject: Pete Seeger's Power of Song
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 02:19 PM

The movie about Pete Seeger "The Power of Song" is going to be broadcast in US on PBS, on February 27th on some PBS stations.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song
From: topical tom
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 03:47 PM

Thanks heaps for the info, Guest,Guest.I sure hope our local pbs stations air it.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 03:54 PM

It is part of the American Masters series, if your PBS station carries it - you should be seeing it.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song
From: topical tom
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 04:00 PM

Super! I can't wait!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song
From: SouthernCelt
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 07:50 PM

They're already running promos for it here (on Mississippi Public Broadcasting) so I'll guess I'll get to see it. I usually miss a lot of the better stuff 'cause they don't promo every American Masters show.

SC

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 02:08 PM

I missed this thread, but I got a phone call from my brother in Oregon and an e-mail from Peter Ross in San Jose to remind me.

The show's tomorrow night - on the regular and high-definition PBS channel in San Francisco, and probably on most PBS stations in the US. I hope I get reception while the show is on. Sometimes I can, and sometimes I can't. San Francisco is almost a hundred miles from me.

Hey, this show is like the Super Bowl for us folkies. Guess I'd better stock up on pizza and beer.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 04:00 PM

We'll try to tape it, given that we're both attending special events.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Wesley S
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 04:01 PM

Yup - It's on tomorrow night here in North Texas too. I'm speadin' the news....

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Louie Roy
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 04:11 PM

Here in Oregon it will be on Direct TV at 6 PM and again at 10 PM

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 12:13 AM

Hey Wesley, don't turn off the recorder too soon. KERA is going to rerun the Woody Guthrie American Masters episode immediately after the Pete Seeger episode. Just might be the superbowl for folkies at that.
- Phil

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:00 AM

I knew that before I forgot it...so thank you for the reminder. In the Los Angeles area it is on KCET at 9:30pm tonight.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:40 AM

I'm going to have to tape it as I'm going out tonight. Thanks for the reminder, been looking forward to it.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 12:04 PM

It'll be on at 7p here, tonight, with a repeat later in the week. I see our PBS is also showing a "pub crawl" on March 2:

Historic Pubs of Dublin - Take an exciting and visually stunning tour of Dublin's most notable historic pubs, as well as the many places of interest that surround them. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes) serves as tour guide, providing valuable insight into Irish culture and history - and the significance the Irish pub plays in both areas. This program teaches future travelers how to make the most of their visit to Dublin.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 12:57 PM

I look forward to seeing and hearing this one. I remember Pete Seeger as a member of the Weavers, in the late 1940's and early 1950's. He has been a profound influence on unnumbered legions of performers and others over the past 70+ years. He is one of the last living connections to the era of the Great Depression and the labor and economic strife and struggle of that time which produced many folk artists such as Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives, Josh White and Pete himself.

One question about the broadcast. In a newspaper article touting the program, which I read this morning in the San Diego Union-Tribune, it credited Pete Seeger with the song "Little Boxes," which I had always attributed to Malvina Reynolds. It most accurately and cynically describes the multi-colored pastel hillside row homes of Daly City, just south of San Francisco. Verification, anyone?

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 01:27 PM

Guest TJ in San Diego is correct about Little Boxes.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Mark Ross
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 02:45 PM

LITTLE BOXES is by Malvina Reynolds, but Pete had a hit with it. In fact, I think it's the only time a song he recorded hit the Top Ten. I think it made #1.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 02:47 PM

Someone ought to write to the paper. They probably just know about Pete singing it and thought he'd also written it.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:21 PM

The program was an absolute delight. A great tribute program to a great man and a wonderful banjo player!

It felt very bittersweet watching it. I attended a private school in Peekskill way back in the day, and seeing the footage of the good old Hudson River again was a joy.

Remembering the times I've met & seen Pete perform over the years was also wonderful.

Nicely done.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:38 PM

I find myself agreeing with you on a number of things lately Janet and this is one more. A very well done program.....Loved the lady who came up and thanked him in the park........Excellent clips and interviews with others as well (Arlo, Paxton, Mary Travers, Tom Smothers, etc.)

Nothing new much but put together in the best way possible to get the depth and breadth of the man.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Neil D
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:57 PM

That was awesome! Perfect TV.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Ferrara
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:59 PM

Wonderful. Now I'm going to be looking for reruns so I can urge our son to see it.

IMHO this was a very well put together program. It focused on the whole meaning of what Pete has done and how he has lived, not just on biographical facts. They really showed a life well lived, full of meaning, integrity and far reaching impact.

Thanks, Guest, for the advance notice.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: 12-stringer
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:10 AM

Glad someone got to see this; our local PBS station broadcast dead air the whole evening!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 01:46 AM

We had some reception problems and I had to keep fiddling with the antenna, but we saw almost the whole thing. It was a wonderful show, but just once I'd like to see him in person. My wife has seen him, my brother has seen him - but somehow I've never had the chance.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,iancarterb
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 02:25 AM

I DID see the whole thing, perhaps my first intentional 90 minutes of TV since retiring six months ago from 35 years as a Broadcast Engineer in commercial television. It reminds me of how I was gulled into thinking circa 1970 that television had some actually useful possibilities. It does, but there are FEW day jobs that involve the useful possibilities. That aside, it also reminded me that the best gig I ever had was six years of volunteer music at my daughter's school from kindergarten through sixth grade, getting kids to sing, learn to read the words off big posters, and years later having the occasional burly post-adolescent tell me that it made a real difference to them and was a valuable memory, and even knowing that some 23 year old fiddler, moved to Nashville, is carrying it on. I learned my first banjo and first poitical astonishment from Pete. I don't know him, despite some mutual friends, but I shook his hand once and that's a fine and adequate memory.
Carter

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 06:58 AM

Well, I would have liked more interviews with those who knew him best instead of just the snippets here and there. The best parts were his kids and grandkids talking.

Now as I understand it, Pete can be difficult and stubborn. Qualities that aren't greatly admired by most people. But the older I get, the more I realize how important it is as a human being who wishes to live a meaningful life, to be difficult and stubborn--so long as the heart is in the right place. That, in a nutshell, is the essence of Pete Seeger's life for me.

Of course, I'm so difficult and stubborn the moderators of this website keep blocking me from coming to this website--the ole 'access denied' messages keep coming up for me, my posts keep getting deleted. Yes, they even deleted my messages about what good movies I'd seen lately in the movie thread. No, I wasn't being nasty. But the Mudcat censors sure are. Hearts in the right place?

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: EBarnacle
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 08:58 AM

Pete and the Weavers also had a top 10 hit with Goodnight, Irene, as mentioned in the movie.

One of the things I especially enjoyed about the movie was that Rick Nestler and Rik Palieri were momentarily featured [about 1.5 seconds] in the film. I was just a reminder that Pete is not all about Pete. He has made a point of bringing other performers into the public eye for as long as I have known him.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 09:29 AM

"Now as I understand it, Pete can be difficult and stubborn."

Sounds like mis-information. While I do not know him as well as others, I've never heard anyone call him "difficult" or "stubborn" before. If anything, he is perhaps the one individual that I've ever met that best exemplifies the principles of getting people to work together. He has opinions and lives his life based on his morals, but he always puts himself in the other persons shoes and that helps him understand issues and how to reach people.

What you saw in that film was the real Pete Seeger. He walks the walk.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: bankley
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 09:41 AM

"This machine surrounds hate and makes it surrender"

back to basics..... excellent..









'tho I was wondering when Bob Seger was going to show up in a Chevy pick-up... heh, heh..

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 09:47 AM

Our PBS had it listed in their schedule, running at three subsequent times, last night. Every time I checked, they had on a marathon of Rick Steve's Europe, whilst they carried on fund-raising! They have it listed for a repeat on the 1st, so I hope to see it then.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:03 AM

Joe Offer ... didn't you buy one of those 40 some inch flat screen digital YV's last year?? ... and you get your reception via an antenna??

Now ... back to the subject of this thread ... it was a great documentary and I certainly did enjoy it ... it reinstated one trait about Pete that I admire most ... he is a man that sticks by and lives to his principles and morals. He walks the walk.

biLL

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:07 AM

What a wonderful, important show! It filled in so many blanks in my knowlege of Pete and his life. Now I have some sense of how his blacklisting actually happened and how HE reacted to it...and who stood up for him!

I had first heard Pete in person in 1961, and 'almost' got to meet him in about 1977....then last fall, was privileged to actually talk to him briefly and shake his hand. It was clear that, after all these years, he still cares about what music can do to make humans better.

The program is available to buy, and for the first time, I may actually spend money for a recording of a TV show.

It was strange, though....in the footage and discussion of The Weavers, I don't believe Fred Hellerman was ever mentioned by name.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:27 AM

"It was strange, though....in the footage and discussion of The Weavers, I don't believe Fred Hellerman was ever mentioned by name. "

I found that odd as well. I chalk that up to a production oversight rather than an intentional slight of Fred Hellerman.   I saw a preview copy of the film last fall and many of the supered titles were missing.

By the way, I have heard through the grapevine that this documentary might be released as part of a package with Jim Brown's other documentaries including "Wasn't That a Time" and "Isn't This a Time". I do not have that confirmed, but I heard it from a usually reliable source.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:36 AM

Anybody got this on disk? I'd pay... I don't have cable so I didn't get to see it!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:40 AM

It will be released on DVD Mrrzy

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:49 AM

Our local channel ran the American Masters program about Woody Guthrie right afterward Pete's story. A nice double feature.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 11:54 AM

At least one mention, above, was made of the fact that the program did not depict Pete Seeger "warts and all." In a preview article on the broadcast, Pete himself made mention of the fact that he had done some "stupid things" in his life and, in the interest of fairness and completeness, some of that should have been included as well. That was his only criticism of the final product. I think we may find a trace of lineal descent from Diogenes in this man.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:06 PM

"the fact that the program did not depict Pete Seeger "warts and all." "

I disagree, and I did not notice anyone else saying that.

They DID include some of the "warts" - such as his being a "visiting" father, his communist days, etc. Pete acknowledged this in the documentary, and he also talked about how he realized that Toshi did not get to pursue her own projects. They also interviewed one of the Peekskill protestors (Jim Brown had difficulty finding people who would speak on camera), and I think they did a very fair job.

Pete Seeger is not a saint, but his life was not the material of tabloids either. I'm not sure what other "warts" would be expected, but I think the documentary did a fair job of sharing the facts.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:19 PM

"his communist days" is a wart on Pete?

As he mentioned in the documentary, he was attracted by the communist party because it espoused racial equality, peace, and supported the unions. No other political party in the U.S. at that time did. Hell, when I young (or even im my old age as now) I would have probably joined back then.

biLL

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:20 PM

Guest above is me.

biLL

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: astro
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:24 PM

Saw this at an arts movie house in Los Angeles, but watched it again last night. I really enjoyed seeing Pete singing with Arlo and his grandson in New York. You could tell that he was really enjoying himself. Keep him singing....

astro in LA

(recorded this on DVR, but will buy the DVD when it comes out).

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:27 PM

Not exactly a "wart", but Seeger does acknowledge that they made mistakes and there were not enough questions asked about Stalin. His attraction to the party is not in question. I don't want to misquote Pete, better to listen to what he said in the documentary concerning those days.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 12:52 PM

Bill D commented, in part:

It was strange, though....in the footage and discussion of The Weavers, I don't believe Fred Hellerman was ever mentioned by name.

Nor was Millard Lampell, I think.

I also was a little surprised not to see any quote from Mike Seeger. Peggy was there, but not Mike. Is there static between Pete and Mike?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 01:04 PM

Dave - Millard Lampell was mentioned when the documentary talked about Lee Hays.   As for Mike, I'm not sure why he wasn't included - but remember this is a documentary and the director decides what footage is best to tell the story. It just might be that Mike did not have anything to say that the director felt warranted.   I do not think there is any friction, recently XM radio ran a special that featured Pete, Mike & Peggy together in the studio.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Don Firth
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 01:12 PM

Excellent!

I've seen Pete four times in concert and on two lucky occasions I had a chance to meet him, talk with him, and swap songs with him. He's for real.

I have never bought a tape or DVD of a television special, but I will be buying this one.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: astro
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 01:20 PM

Don,

That would be wonderful. I never had a chance
to see him. I wish I had....


Astro

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 01:25 PM

I dispute none of the responses to my "warts and all comment." I merely point out that Pete Seeger, himself, was quoted in the article as saying that more of the "stupid things" he had done in his life could have been mentioned in the final product. I have no earthly idea what they might be and don't really care. None of it diminishes either the man or his accomplishments.

I would respond specifically to the comment regarding his communist days. I lived through the McCarthy era. I saw the hearings on early TV and knew the paranoia that was generated by the "red baiting" of those times. Friends were hurt, many for years afterward, simply by associating with others who may or may not have been socialists or communists. Everyone was scared to death of "the bomb" and Joe McCarthy made a toxic career out of exploiting it. Pete Seeger was not the only one to suffer. Josh White's career was nearly ended by this nonsense. Writers, artists and performers who had survived the great depression and World War II had their careers ruined simply because, at some point in the desperation of their earlier lives, they saw socialism or communism as a way to relieve the suffering of the people. Pete, unlike some others, kept his cool and just kept doing what he thought he had to do.

If not for him, I don't know how many of us would have ever been exposed to folk music or realized the power of song to move people.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: PoppaGator
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 01:43 PM

Pete might have seemed "difficult and stubborn" to any promoter who wanted to put him on stage back in the 50s-60s, in any situation where he would first have been asked to sign that dreaded loyalty oath. A lot of people would consider doing so to be easy, and obviously the sensible thing to do; not nearly so many folks would sympathize with Pete's adamant and consistant refusal as a matter of principle. They wouldn't understand why anyone would refuse to comply with a "mere formality" when doing so would provide paydays not only for himself, but also for everyone who would be involved in putting on the show..

The only times I ever saw Pete Seeger in person were at a couple of Newport Folk Festivals. On at least one of those occasions, the festival was a big enough deal (and close enough to home, too, I suppose) for Toshi and the kids to come along instead of being left back at the homestead. While I never met or talked with Pete himself, one summer I had the opportunity to exchange a pleasantry or two with Mrs. Seeger and to spend a pleasant half-hour or so tossing a frisbee with two or three of their young children. (This was either '65 or '66, if I'm not mistaken. Frisbees were a very new thing at the time, incidentally.) I have no doubt that those kids grew up to become the adult children featured in the documentary.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Nancy King
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 10:21 PM

I thought the show was terrific, and I'm glad I was able to tape it. The only thing that bothered me was that quite a few of the interviewees referred to Seeger in the past tense, as if he were already dead. Don't know why, really. But that aside, I thought it was great, and I learned a lot -- such as why he left The Weavers (objected to doing a cigarette commercial). I liked Ronnie Gilbert's comment about their period of great success: "Pete hated the fancy hotels, but I LOVED them!"

Found myself humming "We are climbing Jacob's ladder," and "Guantanamera" all day today...

Nancy

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 11:56 PM

My local PBS chose to give us four hours of a Ball Room Dance competition. I got more culture from pasteurized yogurt.

Don

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Mike B.
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 12:49 AM

Great show, although a bit disappointing that they didn't spend more time on "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" (its origin and impact).

Unless it happened in the first ten minutes of the program, which I missed.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 07:09 AM

Did anybody tape this who would be willing to send me a copy? I'd happily pay all costs incurred. Please pm me. In my opinion Pete Seeger is one of the greats. I met him once, he spoke to me in a friendly manner as though we had known each other for years. His parting words to me were 'Keep on singing', which I intend to do. Burl.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 08:17 AM

Actually, I think what we got from the program was an extremely simplified version of 'why Pete left the Weavers'. It isn't exactly the same story others have told for why Pete left (I believe for some time there was a 'creative differences' story that floated around too). I thought the program glossed over that, probably to keep it light and editorially to make the McCarthy hearings & the blacklisting more front and center. Which is fine.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Alley
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 08:27 AM

Greetings from Florida. If you go to www.wedu.org you can check out the programming schedule. The Pete Seeger show is going to be shown three times in March. Saturday, March 15 from 2 am to 4 am. Same day from 11 pm to 1 am. Thrusday, March 27 from 11 pm to 1 am. Enjoy!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Don Firth
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 01:17 PM

Just a point. I don't think there has ever been a television program relating to folk music that many Mudcatters didn't find something to complain about, usually, "they didn't cover this," or "they hardly mentioned that."

The program had to fit into a 90 minute time slot. There simply was not sufficient time to cover everything that everybody would like to have seen covered. I recall a few years back, there was a whole mini-series—several nights in a row of two-hour shows—on blues. I was amazed at the number of people who, rather than being glad that the subject was covered at all, bitched, complained, and nit-picked.

There was a whole lot more that could have been covered about Pete Seeger, his work, and his life. But it would have taken a whole season of two-hour shows to really do justice to the man. I'm just grateful that he was include—and rightfully so—in the PBS "American Masters" series.

By the way, how is the campaign to have Pete awarded the Nobel Peace Prize coming?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: PoppaGator
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 01:26 PM

Don ~ Amen!

I thought the program was great, and it really reminded me, very strongly, of how important and truly unique this man's life has been. Sure, they had to leave a few things out; but then again, some of the material they included was new to me, since it occurred before I was born, or at least before I came to an awareness of American folk music and the culture(s) that came to embrace it.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: emjay
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 03:30 PM

As to referring to the man in the past tense -- I recently saw an excellent four-part program, The Legend of Liam Clancy, with very much the same past tense thing going on. As it ended, Clancy walked to the front of the room and with a broad smile said, "It sounded like a eulogy, but I am still here," or words to that effect.
The Pete Seeger program was wonderful and the only complaint I have is that it wasn't long enough.
I looked for Mike Seeger -- wasn't he a member of the New Lost City Ramblers? They were shown briefly. I am sure a lot we would love to have seen was filmed but wasn't shown due to length.
MJ

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Voice of Truth
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 06:45 PM

I too wish they had included more about his background, and different facets of his personality.   I would have particularly liked to learn more about Libba Cotton, his family's maid and how she came to be a performer and writer of some note. Still, there were anecdotes about his background that were new information to me and perhaps other viewers, and I found it overall an enjoyable movie. I was struck (not trying to start an argument here, though I suppose that may be impossible) that the Weaver's music seemed somewhat insubstantial compared to the energy of Pete's music on his own. And I was quite impressed that he left the Weavers because of not wanting to promote cigarettes; quite a forward thinking man for that time in many issues.

Pete is a complicated man, at times seeming rather odd in ways I cannot fully explain,but a great and exhuberant force in music. I found here, as I do in many biographies (whether it's Malcolm X or Einstein)that it's hard to really get to a place where one can understand what makes the man tick. Perhaps it's meant to be a mystery; unique figures like Pete rise above their pedestrian beginnings.

I don't always agree with his politics, but have high regard for his music and especially his work on the Hudson River. He actually cleaned the darn slimy thing up so fish will run and children can sing. What a legacy.

He also can lead a group in song like no other person on the planet. A man not afraid to speak his mind and a unifying force in music. A rare one.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 29 Feb 08 - 10:54 PM

Libba Cotton was not employed in Pete Seeger's household. Pete's father re-married and Libba worked in the home where Pete's step family grew up.This would have been in the late '30's or early 40's.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 08:16 AM

Voice of Truth, I agree with what you are saying. I really enjoyed this program a lot, for many of the same reasons you mention. Pete is quite the iconoclast, so the tribute format seems a bit odd and jarring to a certain extent. We tend to do hagiographies of the famous these days, and rail against any sorts of critical biographies--a format that can deliver more than just feel good feelings about a person, and give us real insight into a fascinating person like Pete.

I often wonder why it is that so many people are so uncomfortable with the critical biography format, and so much prefer the tribute. Maybe it's that tendency to applaud our own memories and feelings that is at the heart of it.

But for this particular film, I really enjoyed the walk down memory lane, superficial as it was, for all the reasons people have mentioned. I didn't expect anything more than that, as one of the producers is a member of the local film community where I live, and had said it was intended to be just that. It is fine for what it is. Nothing groundbreaking or earth shattering. Just feel good, nice stuff.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 08:29 AM

As well I wondered why Pete was not in this photo.
thread.cfm?threadid=109077&messages=5

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 12:38 PM

I loved the movie and turned on the television for the first time in three years to see it over again. I don't care for the 'worthy cause" type songs that Pete Seeger has been singing in the last couple of decades, but I admire him greatly and felt deeply moved by the movie, which covered the currents that shaped my life.
   Ron Olesko is ablsolutely right about Pete Seeger's qualities as a person. I can't claim to know him, but I have met him many times in connection with the Clearwater, his performances for the New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club, and the many many benefits he has done for all kinds of worthy causes. He is principled, generous, selfless, and totally charming. He has done more than anyone to get people singing.
   Those who think of the loyalty oath as a formality do not understand the horrors of the anti-communist actions. I was only a child and it would have been dangerous to speak in front of a child who might say something. Only in the 1970's did I start to learn about how it threatened my family and their friends. Someone my parents knew lost his job and could not be rehired, because he was seen in a photograph with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg whom he met only once - only at the party where the photo was taken. Someone else was investigated several times because he had joined some book group - years later someone decided that what they read was "subversive." People who joined their neighbors for a social group found themselves on lists. The Young People's Records which was extremely successful and a delight to many of us folkies who were kids in 1947-1951 was closed down as "subversive." One of my friends whose parents were actually involved told me that Burl Ives was the only one of the folk singers listed above who testified and named names. I will not give my name here, because it still feels dangerous to talk of these things openly.
   The movie did a good job of touching on the many problems that faced our society and the way Pete Seeger brought people together and brought out the best in people.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Mark Ross
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 12:44 PM

I think Pete was in the Army at that point.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Stringsinger
Date: 01 Mar 08 - 02:05 PM

The best part for me was when the young man said that he came to kill Pete, Toshi said,
"You've got to sit down and talk with him." For me, that was the most moving part
and explains Pete's success. Toshi, a great humanitarian behind him.

Frank Hamilton

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Chris Knudson
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 02:41 AM

Pete is the most noble human being that I have ever met. I have seen Pete and Arlo many times and lost track of the number of times I have seen Pete. I once drove from California to his home just to talk to him for a short spell.
I don't much buy into the idol thing, but if I had one, Pete would be it. My greatest inspiration on what really matters in life.
I saw the movie and enjoyed the show on PBS. It will show on the 8th, 12th and the 17th out here. "When you are involved with the good issues, means your involved with the good people, the people with the live hearts, the live eyes and the live heads." Pete Seeger

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Greg B
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 06:44 PM

"Difficult?" "Stubborn?"

One of the BEST things about my emigration from the West to the East
coasts has been getting to associate with this musician, whom I'd only
seen from the audience previously.

Now, there are a lot of people who's basic decency towards their
fellows seems to decrease in proportion to their talent and abilities.

Pete's the opposite.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Ferrara
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 08:11 PM

Re the question about whether there is friction between Pete and Mike, I certainly doubt it. This is hardly conclusive but Pete, Mike and Peggy Seeger did a (glorious) joint concert here about a year ago and IMO the way they interacted was quite wonderful to see. A whole lot of warmth and mutual respect, I thought.

Rita F

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 08:51 PM

When I said he could be difficult and stubborn, I was referring to people who found themselves on the opposite side of an issue to Pete, which was even mentioned by Arlo in the film. Perhaps instead of stubborn I could have said tenacious, but I don't think that is the right word. I think Pete can be a stubborn guy when it comes to what he thinks is right.

For instance, that whole Dylan going electric thing at Newport.

I remember one time hearing Arlo in an interview, when he was arguing with Pete about a folk song was (yeah--it doesn't just set people off here). As I recall, Arlo and Pete were at a festival in Denmark, I think. Arlo said it's a folk song if all the folks know the words and sing it together--or some such thing. And to prove he was right to Pete, he walked out on stage, and got a whole mess of Danes to sing along with him to "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You." You know--that Elvis song.

Now, who was being the most stubborn and righteous in their opinions in that one? Well, it was Arlo's story, after all....

Sheesh, people. The guy isn't a saint, so let us not get all sanctimonious about this. No one has said much of anything in this thread that doesn't make Pete Seeger COMPLETELY HUMAN!

And you know, that's OK.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 08:56 PM

I am calling our PBS station, tomorrow. Their schedule has listed this program several times; every time it is not on when they say it should be. They are doing fundraising stuff. The next possible time they have listed is next Friday at 11pm! Good grief!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,kennyusvi
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 09:07 PM

what a wonderful documentary. he makes me proud to be a human. thank-you, Mr. Seeger, for a lifetime of music, activism, patriotism. there is no leader in the U.S. government with half your swagger. cheers, man!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 09:11 PM

Besides it being a wonderful capture of Pete Seeger as all of Brown's films have been re; him, Weavers, etc; there is one scene that jumped out at me and made me recall an incident of some25 or 3o years ago---boy, do I have time compression syndrome.

It is the scene where a woman runs up to him and Toshi and yelled her thanks and gratitude for his "presence"--I forget the actual word. Pete walked away and left Toshi to speak with her---cult of personality not being his "shtik"

The many years ago that I spoke of was at the New School in NYC for an evening of rememberances of the Spanish Civil War. Long story shore--he sang, oldsters (then) joined in to fill in the words he forgot, a professor lectured and showed slides and afterwards some people said hello to Pete---one couple had an 8x10 glossy for an autograph---I will never forget this---he looked into space, signed it while saying something to the effect that music and photography can tell the stories and all else --inlcuding individuals--are unimportant.

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: EBarnacle
Date: 02 Mar 08 - 10:24 PM

re: GiGi's comment about Pete's definition of a folk song, Pete currently defines folk music as what people sing.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 12:20 PM

"Pete walked away and left Toshi to speak with her---cult of personality not being his "shtik" "

Watch the scene again, he doesn't actually walk away but is gracious and thanks her and then they all go their separate ways. The woman was not yelling either, just a typical New Yorker. He did look a bit uncomfortable, but he was gracious.

You are right though, he is not one to enjoy the cult of personality.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: PoppaGator
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 01:09 PM

By the way, a question for the trad-folk purists among us:

Pete Seeger wrote quite a few notable original songs that he has continued to perform throughout his life, and upon which a good portion of his fame and acclaim have been based. Does HE fall short of your definition of a folksinger; is HE a mere "singer-songwriter"?

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Big Mick
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 01:29 PM

Poppa, I think I disagree with the predicate you establish. You seem to imply that by virtue of being a "singer-songwriter", one is of less importance than a "folksinger". First off, I am not sure that one is exclusive of the other. Second, the singer-songwriter often writes songs that impact how folks view society, as well as influence how they think on a subject. As I have said before, Woody Gutherie was a singer-songwriter as well as a folksinger, or more appropriately a singer of folk songs. So is Gordon Bok. So is Pete. Singer-songwriter is such a broad term, and all it really denotes is that a person sings songs of their own creation. The term does not denigrate, nor build up, ones worth in the world of making music. I am not sure a purist, in the context you are using the term, really is influenced by whether a person sings songs of their own creation or not. But what they would object to is the classifying one as a singer of folk music that is singing solely songs of his/her own creation. To me that is the difference in how we should classify the artist. I believe a folksinger could also be a singer-songwriter sings songs written "in the tradition". But a singer of folk songs is a very specific title. I know very few of those.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: PoppaGator
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 01:57 PM

Mick,

Just to clarify: I don't think there is anything inferior about being a "singer-songwriter" ~ quite the contrary!

I do believe that some of our fellow Mudcatters share, and aggressively preach, the opinion that performance of one's own compositions disqualifies an artist from the exalted title of "folk artist." I most definitely disagree with this position, and was trying to undermine it by pointing out that the arguments put forward by this "purist" faction would, absurdly enough, exclude the great Pete Seeger from consideration as part of "folk music."

I guess I wasn't obvious enough to avoid being misunderstood.

I think you're probably onto something in contrasting singers who include both traditional and original songs in their repertoire versus those who traffic exclusively in their own compositions. That probably can serve to separate the true folkies from the pop pretenders in most cases, if not all of 'em.

But I think it's much more problematic to try classifying songwriters as either folk or non-folk based upon whether their songwriting is "in the tradition," a distinction that will always remain quite firmly in the eye of the beholder.

Also, the never-ending Mudcat "what-is-folk" controversy does seem to highlight differences between the two sides of the Atlantic. In the US, the "Folk Tradition" that many us feel a part of includes many elements, not only the Appalachian mountain tradition and the Delta blues tradition, but also the labor-organizer tradition, the peace-and-freedom-movement tradition, the beatnik-poet/bohemian tradition, and other relatively recent cultural phenomena. For many of our British cousins, "the tradition" includes only material retrieved from the pre-induustrial era.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Jeri
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 02:19 PM

Poppagator, I think you were making a pre-emptive anti-snob strike. I'm not sure which folk purists you're addressing, but from what I've seen they're overly fond of sneering.

They are idiots. I can understand not liking whiny diary-uh, but that's just bad music. It's not Ewan MacColl, Dick Gaughan, Allan Taylor, Woody, John Prine etc, etc, etc, and definitely not Pete.

He's a songwriter and he's a singer. He's no saint, but he's a hero to a lot of folks, and no matter how much someone dislikes that, it's not going to change. A friend of mine once told me, "Never meet your heroes. They'll always disappoint you." He was wrong. They only disappoint when you expect them to be gods: perfect, unblemished and never changing. I'm fascinated when people persevere and go on to become better than what people expect. I'll let others worship their gods with human faces, but Pete's sure worth my respect.

That load of opinion out for the way, the show airs here at 3AM and then (on another channel) next Sunday. I have a strange feeling I'm going to miss the 3AM one.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: PoppaGator
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 03:53 PM

"Diary-uh" ~ I like that!

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 04:17 PM

I used to call them singer-songwhiners, but I grew up.    While it is not my cup of tea, I can understand the attraction that some have to the self-absorbed pouring out of the writers soul.   There are brilliant singer-songwriters who do NOT do that, and they should not be lumped into a stereotype.

Singer-songwriters, folk singers, and singers of folk songs (as Pete Seeger calls himself)are all part of the U.S. Folk tradition of the last 100 years. Bless em all! I do not give a rat's patootie what you call them - the music is what counts.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: number 6
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 05:03 PM

Amen Ron !

biLL

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Mar 08 - 11:34 AM

? I didn't think that being a communist was a wart, nowadays...

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 04 Mar 08 - 12:25 PM

"? I didn't think that being a communist was a wart, nowadays... "

It really isn't. "Wart" is being taken out of context, again.   Pete opens up to the failings of the communist parties and discusses his mistakes.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Jon Bartlett
Date: 08 Mar 08 - 01:12 PM

I was impressed with the piece. I expected a much sloppier, more sentimental show and I was happily surprised.

I can't watch such historical shows without wondering about paths not taken, etc. One such: had the left organized during and following the First World War on behalf of American GI's (education, housing, retraining, health spring to mind) and used the Legion for that purpose, perhaps that body wouldn't have played such a large and negative role as a "Church and King" mob. Think of their role in the murder of IWW organizers such as Wesley Everett, their trashing of IWW offices, and their energetic support of the Palmer Raids. The same, of course, after the Second World War - Peekskill, "loyalty oaths", etc. Ironic that it was the army bureaucracy that brought down McCarthy, which was the beginning of the end to the years of anti-Communist hysteria.

Jon Bartlett

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Stringsinger
Date: 08 Mar 08 - 02:42 PM

Toshi did a wonderful job. My favorite part is when she tells Pete (after the young man professes wanting to kill him) "You've got to sit down and talk with him."

That's the real Toshi, a true humanitarian. (Now you know why Pete is successful).

The part left out: Pete revolutionized the Five-string banjo before Earl Scruggs did.
The long-neck banjo was his contribution to the Folk Revival.

His musical contributions could have been emphasized more but Toshi wanted it
to be more about family and society.

Frank Hamilton

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 13 Mar 08 - 07:55 PM

Curmudgeon and I watched the most of it last night. (Missed the beginning and actually REALY needed to turn out the light and fall asleep at 10:30 -- 5 a.m. comes very early.)

We rather saw it "accidently" -- since we haven't watched television since 1983. We had just finished watching a taped episode of the Sharpe's Rifles series, and while rewinding it, the Boston PBS station popped up before we shut the TV off. It was Pete -- so, of course, we HAD to watch it.

I'd love to see it again in its entirety. I think it was handsomely done.

And to my way of thinking, Pete is not "just" a singer-songwriter. Yes, he writes some wonderful songs which he also sings, but they are written "in the tradition" (as are those of Ewan MacColl, Stan Rogers, Dave Webber...). And they are songs the people can sing -- not the intensely personal songs that no one else will ever sing that I identify with the average "singer-songwriter". AND, on top of it all, he sings and has introduced many, many traditional (anonymously written) songs.

Linn

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: topical tom
Date: 13 Mar 08 - 10:13 PM

I don't think that I have commented on the programme as yet so here goes. It was, in my opinion, very well done and portrays Pete just as he is, an honest, optimistic singer-citizen of the world whose shining humanitarian ideology has never been dimmed by enemies or time. He is a shining example for us all. Thank God for Pete Seeger. He has made the world an easier, better place to live.

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: ChrisJBrady
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 05:05 AM

Apparently this can be watched for free at:

Cut and paste this into your post:

Power of Song

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 07:25 AM

I do hope we get to see it in the UK, such a great man of the world

Subject: RE: Pete Seeger's Power of Song-PBS, Feb 27
From: GUEST,Stan
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 04:55 PM

After finding this thread I went on youtube and found it. What a film, what a life, what a man.