Pete Seeger was an influential American folk singer and social activist, known for his commitment to social justice through music.
He received the National Medal of Arts, recognizing his significant contributions to American culture and music.
Seeger was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating his enduring impact on the music industry.
Biography
Early Life
Pete Seeger was born on May 3, 1919, in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, into a family deeply rooted in music and social activism. His father, Charles Louis Seeger Jr., was a composer and musicologist who established the first musicology curriculum in the United States, while his mother, Constance de Clyver Seeger, was a concert violinist. Growing up in a household that valued music, Pete was encouraged to explore his musical talents, eventually gravitating towards the ukulele and later the five-string banjo, which he first encountered at a folk festival in North Carolina.
Career
Seeger's career took off in the 1940s as a member of The Weavers, a folk music group that achieved significant success with hits like "Goodnight, Irene." However, the group faced blacklisting during the McCarthy Era due to their political affiliations. In the 1960s, Seeger re-emerged as a prominent figure in the folk music revival, using his platform to advocate for civil rights, environmental causes, and anti-war movements. His music often reflected his commitment to social justice, and he became known for songs like "If I Had a Hammer" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"
Personal Life
In 1943, Seeger married Toshi Aline Ohta, who played a crucial role in his life and career. The couple had four children, including musician Tao Rodríguez-Seeger. Seeger was known for his spiritual reflections, often expressing a connection to nature and a belief in the power of music to inspire change. His legacy is marked by numerous awards, including the National Medal of Arts and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, highlighting his impact on American music and culture.
Legacy
Pete Seeger passed away on January 27, 2014, leaving behind a rich legacy as a folk singer and activist. His contributions to music and social movements earned him recognition as "America's tuning fork," with many artists and public figures acknowledging his influence on their work and the broader cultural landscape. Seeger's belief in the power of song to effect change continues to resonate with audiences today.
Collected from open sources (4) · facts link to sources · AI-processed
Discography
American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 41961
- 1.Banks Of The Ohio3:30
- 2.You Are My Sunshine1:46
- 3.Ballad Of The Boll Weevil3:52
- 4.Where The Old Allegheny and the Monongahela Flow2:44
- 5.Oh, How He Lied1:42
- 6.Froggie Went A-Courtin'4:28
- 7.Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier2:26
- 8.Go Down Moses2:56
- 9.America The Beautiful1:39
- 10.Hole In The Bucket2:17
- 11.The Erie Canal1:44
- 12.Monsieur Banjo2:11
- 13.No More Auction Block1:56
- 14.What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor2:17
- 15.Gee But I Want To Go Home2:03
- 16.Sweet Betsy From Pike3:28
- 17.All My Trials3:08
Gazette, Vol. 21961
- 1.Tomorrow Is a Highway3:32
- 2.The Dying Miner4:57
- 3.Bourgeois Blues2:07
- 4.The Literacy Test Song1:32
- 5.Fayette County3:04
- 6.Moorsoldaten (Peat Bog Soldiers)3:23
- 7.Hold the Line4:38
- 8.When a Fellow Is Out of a Job3:08
- 9.The RAND Hymn2:08
- 10.The Crow on the Cradle2:24
- 11.I Come and Stand at Every Door2:26
- 12.The Easter Marchers4:01
- 13.The Jack Ash Society3:59
Songs of the Spanish Civil War, Vol. 1: Songs of the Lincoln Brigade, Six Songs for Democracy1961
- 1.Jarama Valley
- 2.Cookhouse / The Young Man From Alcala
- 3.Quartermaster's Store
- 4.Viva la quince brigada (Long Live the 15th Brigade)
- 5.El quinto regimiento (The Fifth Regiment)
- 6.Sí me quires escribir
- 7.Los cuatro generales (The Four Generals)
- 8.Die Thaelmann-Kolonne (The Thaelmann Column)
- 9.Hans Beimler
- 10.Das Lied von der Einheitsfront (Song of the United Front)
- 11.Lied der internationalen Brigaden (Song of the International Brigader)
- 12.Moorsoldaten (Peat Bog Soldiers)
Champlain Valley Songs1960
- 1.Seneca Canoe Song
- 2.Isabeau S'Y Promeneau
- 3.The Valiant Soldier
- 4.Elder Bordee
- 5.John Riley
- 6.The Banks Of Champlain
- 7.Fife Tunes: Roslin Castle-Boyne Water
- 8.Un Canadien Errant
- 9.Once More A-Lumbering Go
- 10.The Shantyman's Life
- 11.Les Raftsmen (Mother Gauthier's)
- 12.Lily Of The Lake
- 13.Vive La Canadienne
- 14.How're You On For Stamps Today?
- 15.Clara Nolan's Ball
- 16.Young Charlotte
- 17.John Brown's Body
Rainbow Quest / Where Have All the Flowers Gone?1960
- 1.Colorado Trail; Spanish Is a Loving Tongue; From Here on Up; Texas Girls; Swarthmore Girls; We Pity Our Boss's Five; The Scabs Crawl In3:34
- 2.Open the Door Softly; Road to Althay; Why Do Scotsmen?; Hold Up Your Petticoat; Oh, There's Two on Me Back2:20
- 3.Seek and You Shall Find; Fare Well, Little Fishes; Where Have All the Flowers Gone?; Never Again Shall We Allow Another Atom Bomb to Fall; Step by Step; Joe Hill's Last Will; Seek and You Shall Find9:23
- 4.Oh, Had I a Golden Thread3:23
- 5.There's Better Things to Do2:28
- 6.The Dove3:16
- 7.Five Fingers2:37
- 8.To Everyone in All the World1:32
- 9.We Are Moving on to Victory (From Montgomery Bus Boycott)1:34
- 10.Don't You Weep After Me3:58
Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Fishes (Little and Big): Animal Folk Songs1960
- 1.The Little Black Bull
- 2.Leatherwing Bat
- 3.The Keeper and the Doe
- 4.The Darby Ram
- 5.Mole in the Ground
- 6.The Fox
- 7.Turtle Dove
- 8.Old Paint
- 9.The Elephant
- 10.The Foolish Frog
- 11.Little Dogies
- 12.Bear Hunt
- 13.Old Blue
American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 31959
- 1.John Brown's Body3:00
- 2.The Girl I Left Behind1:11
- 3.Oh, Mary Don't You Weep2:28
- 4.St. Louis Blues2:22
- 5.My Good Man2:39
- 6.Clementine3:07
- 7.Dink's Song2:40
- 8.New River Train3:00
- 9.Swanee River3:01
- 10.Camptown Races1:31
- 11.Swing Low, Sweet Chariot2:38
- 12.Goodnight Irene3:43
- 13.Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child4:31
- 14.Wimoweh3:01
- 15.The Farmer's Curst Wife3:07
- 16.When I First Came To This Land2:44
Folk Songs for Young People1959
- 1.Skip to My Lou2:20
- 2.Blow the Man Down1:10
- 3.Weave-Room Blues0:41
- 4.The Farmer Is the Man1:10
- 5.Wood-Chopping Song2:34
- 6.Four Pence a Day1:15
- 7.Vignid a Fremd Kind1:02
- 8.Way Down Yonder in the Cornfield2:59
- 9.Pepsi-Cola0:59
- 10.Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child3:17
- 11.Joshua Fought the Battle of Jerico2:03
- 12.Oh Worrycare5:32
- 13.On Top of Old Smokey1:27
- 14.Goodnight, Irene2:18
- 15.John Henry4:30
- 16.Dayenu1:36
- 17.It Could Be a Wonderful World2:46
Nonesuch and Other Folk Tunes1959
- 1.Meadowland3:12
- 2.Nonesuch (Morris Dance)2:05
- 3.Ragtime Annie1:56
- 4.I Know My Love2:09
- 5.Rye Straw1:48
- 6.Lady Gay3:10
- 7.Blues6:37
- 8.Singing in the Country2:28
- 9.Lord Randall2:18
- 10.Chaconne3:33
- 11.Pygmy Tune (Africa)2:23
- 12.Pretty Little Widder3:02
- 13.My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains2:59
- 14.The Battle of New Orleans2:46
Gazette1958
- 1.Pretty Boy Floyd
- 2.Banks of Marble
- 3.TVA Song
- 4.Martian Love Song
- 5.Forty Two Kids
- 6.State of Arkansas
- 7.Declaration of Independence
- 8.The Wild West Is Where I Want to Be
- 9.The Ballad of Sherman Wu
- 10.Roll on Columbia
- 11.Reuben James
- 12.Then We'll Have Peace
- 13.The Scaler
- 14.Newspapermen
- 15.Talking Atoms
- 16.Teachers Blues
- 17.Demi Song
- 18.Battle of Maxton Field
- 19.Doctor Freud
- 20.There Is Something Nasty Happening in This Land
Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry at Carnegie Hall1958
- 1.Goofing-Off Suite- Opening Theme / Kumbaya / Twelve Gates to the City (Oh, What a Beautiful City)7:14
- 2.Coal Creek March / Pay Day at Coal Creek / Roll Down the Line / Arkansas Traveler8:47
- 3.Fox Chase / Right on That Shore/ Pick a Bale of Cotton4:57
- 4.Rozhenkes Mit Mandlen / In Tarrytown/ Clean-O / Ladies Auxillary8:57
- 5.Bells of Rhymney / Sinking of the Reuben James / There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly / Study War No More (Down by the Riverside)15:26
- 6.Passing Through4:42
American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 21958
- 1.Oh, Susanna4:33
- 2.The Riddle Song2:28
- 3.Beautiful City2:58
- 4.Sally Ann1:33
- 5.The House of the Rising Sun2:36
- 6.Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn1:15
- 7.Midnight Special2:54
- 8.Careless Love3:08
- 9.Hard Travelling2:47
- 10.Poor Boy2:19
- 11.Black Girl (In The Pines)2:34
- 12.Alabama Bound2:22
- 13.Stagolee2:15
- 14.Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair2:31
- 15.Go Tell Aunt Rhody3:17
- 16.The Water Is Wide3:36
- 17.The Fox1:49
- 18.The Keeper and the Doe2:14
American Ballads1957
Tracklist not collected yet.
American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 11957
Tracklist not collected yet.
American Industrial Ballads1956
Tracklist not collected yet.
Love Songs for Friends & Foes1956
Tracklist not collected yet.
Goofing-Off Suite1955
Tracklist not collected yet.
The Folksinger's Guitar Guide1955
Tracklist not collected yet.
The Pete Seeger Sampler1954
Tracklist not collected yet.
American Folk Songs for Children1954
Tracklist not collected yet.
Frontier Ballads1954
Tracklist not collected yet.
Frontier Ballads Volume I: Immigrants, The Trek1954
Tracklist not collected yet.
How To Play The 5-String Banjo1954
Tracklist not collected yet.
Darling Corey1950
Tracklist not collected yet.
The Original Talking Union & Other Union Songs1941
Tracklist not collected yet.
Gallery
Label
- Record label
- Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
- Record label
- Fast Folk
- Record label
- Folkways Records
Achievements
- Award
- National Medal of Arts
- Award
- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
- Award
- War Resisters League Peace Award
- Award
- Library of Congress Living Legend
- Award
- Kennedy Center Honors
- Award
- Paul Robeson Award
- Award
- Schneider Family Book Award
- Award
- Eugene V. Debs Award
- Award
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Groups
- The Almanac Singerscurrent
- Union Boyscurrent
- The Weaversbanjo, tenor vocals · 1948–1952
- The Weaverstenor vocals · 1955–1958
- The Weaverstenor vocals · 1980–1980
Played together with
- Bernie KrauseThe Weavers · 1963–1964 · tenor vocals
- Erik DarlingThe Weavers · 1958–1962 · tenor vocals
- Frank HamiltonThe Weavers · 1962–1963 · tenor vocals
- Fred HellermanThe Weavers · 1948–1952 · baritone vocals, guitar
- Fred HellermanThe Weavers · 1955–1964 · guitar
- Fred HellermanThe Weavers · 1980–1980 · guitar
- Lee HaysThe Weavers · 1948–1952 · bass vocals
- Lee HaysThe Weavers · 1955–1964 · bass vocals
- Lee HaysThe Weavers · 1980–1980 · bass vocals
- Ronnie GilbertThe Weavers · 1949–1952 · alto vocals
- Ronnie GilbertThe Weavers · 1955–1964 · alto vocals
- Ronnie GilbertThe Weavers · 1980–1980 · alto vocals
Similar artists
Archive
Passport
Identifiers & aliases
Also known as: Pete Seeger and Chorus, Peter Seeger
Peter Seeger was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and left-wing social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, especially their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, Seeger re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, workers' rights, counterculture, environmental causes, and ending the Vietnam War.
All links
Opinions of fans — not verified facts.
…