Pete Seeger - A report from a friend on his recent concert

I attneded my first Pete Seeger concert when I was around eight or nine. It was probably at Mandel Hall at the University of Chicago. I do not know how many of his concerts I attended over the years, perhaps a half a dozen. Some were fund raisers for the secular, South Side school of Jewish Studies (for several years we were located in a YMCA) which I attended.

Each one was fresh and and exciting.

When PBS broadcast the American Masters program last February, Pete Seeger, The Power of Song, I regretted that I had not seen him in concert in over thirty years.  I figured I would never get an opportunity to see him perform again.

Yesterday I got a message from friend Vicki Gabriner who was Miss Sifting and Winnowing at the 1967 Dow Demonstration. Vicki mentioned that she had seen Seeger, who will be ninety in May, in concert. 

I told her that when I saw him perform, on at least one occasion, he chopped a log as he sang a chain gang song.

I asked Vicki to share her thoughts:

No axes or chopping wood but there's still that essential Pete Seeger-ness, his optimism, good humor, good politics, smart lyrics, ability to pull the audience along with him even though his voice is nothing like it used to be. My favorite song was AMAZING GRACE, holding note after note for a long time, feeling the vibrations of the notes. And amazingly, he ended with BLUE SKIES (nothin' but Blue Skies do I see . . . ) and OVER THE RAINBOW.

I missed Woodstock, Dylan at Newport, great performances at Monterey, and I missed one more Pete seeger concert. Drats. And it would have been fun to see him with old friends. That is the way life should be.

Also from the New York Times: Pete Seeger, Still Singing His Message at 89

Comments

[Vicki Gabriner]

Since Pete will be 90 this May '09, my guess is there will be Seeger celebrations happening in the US of A. I'm going be on the lookout. It's worth a drive or even an airplane flight somewhere to hear him talk and sing -- again or for the first time!

[xoff]

I was in Newport for the folk festival about five years ago, and the night before it started there was a Woody Guthrie tribute show called "Ribbon of Highway," with a big cast of musicians, including Jimmy LaFave and Woody's granddaughter Sarah Lee.

About halfway through the program, Pete Seeger walked out onto the stage, announced that they had skipped a verse in the last Guthrie song, and proceeded to sing it, raspy voice and all. To that audience, it was like being in church.

Also have to recall that in 1986, when I was managing Ed Garvey's US Senate campaign, I wrote Pete, pitching him about my candidate and begging him to do a benefit. (How many of those do you think he gets?) He did it, traveling through a blizzard to make it to the old Capitol Theater just in time to walk onstage. He said he was old and tired and would only do a couple of songs -- and then proceeded to do a 45-minute set.

[Oliver Steinberg]

Not sure if anyone will see this comment ten days after the post, but you can see and hear Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen singing "This land is your land" at the pre-inaugural outdoor concert. Go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/19/21846/2058/231/686246 ---unless HBO wipes it out before you get there.