The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #153760 Message #3603015
Posted By: Stringsinger
19-Feb-14 - 07:49 PM
Thread Name: What Pete and Woody represent
Subject: What Pete and Woody represent
The motivation for the musical careers of both Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and the development of the singing group, The Weavers was born out of an intense interest in how music reflects social, topical and political views, causing much difficulty for these artists by reactionaries on the right. In fact, it's a badge of honor to be included in the expose by the John Birch Society, once headed by the father of the Koch Brothers, titled "Rhythm, Riots and Revolution" in an implication that folk music is somehow unAmerican and unpatriotic.
As we lionize Pete, Woody and others, it's good to remember that they were socially conscious in their musical and performing content and not given to selling jingoistic car commercials at the Super Bowl such as another notable folk performer who ostensibly sported a social conscience at the beginning of his career.
In fact, the "Great Folk Scare" was a result of the melding of the study of folk music, folklore and the Left wing views of Alan Lomax, Bess Lomax Hawes, Kenneth Goldstein, Archie Green,
and many other scholars and folk performers who blazed the trail for the co-opted commercialization of folk as pop. Every folkie I know of owes a debt of gratitude to Pete Seeger whose interest would not have been possible had Pete not taken a heroic humanitarian and political stand at the root of his career.
When contemplating Pete's role as a "communist with a small c", his love of community and social action melds beautifully with the humanism implied by the study of folk song. His father, Charlie, and mother, Constance made sure Pete was aware of the combination of social conscience with the interest in folk music. This was at the root of the "Folk Scare" leading to the success of the Kingston Trio and Peter Paul and Mary. Without these social, political and humanitarian values, we don't have a Pete Seeger or a folk song revival.