My friend Marge Lev died in March, just before her 90th birthday. Her favorite folk singer was Pete Seeger. and her favorite Pete Seeger song was "To My Old Brown Earth." No doubt, we'll sing it at Marge's memorial service on Memorial Day weekend this month.

The song has been recorded many times, and there are lots of recordings on YouTube. I just came across this, which was posted by Graham Pratt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pM3cmV22mI

The song has a 1958 copyright, but the earliest Pete Seeger recording I could find of the song is on a 1964 Folkways album titled Broadsides: Songs and Ballads Sung by Pete Seeger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9OlsSxcu-8

Pete did a recording with the Cathedral Singers much later, and it appears on the 1996 album titled Pete:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eERiCgqyha4

I really love the way Pat Humphries sings this song. She'll be at the San Francisco Free Folk Festival on June 8. No doubt, she'll sing this and other Pete Seeger songs. Here's her recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu4P5xyky8o

I'm part of the group leading a Pete Seeger singalong at the Free Folk Fest, and Pat will be on the stage with us.

Hope you enjoy these recordings.

-Joe-