One on the key characters in the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, is folk legend Pete Seeger who finds a place in my MUSIC TITANS – 250 GREATEST RECORDING ARTISTS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS. Here’s an excerpt from his profile—

Pete Seeger was born into a blue blood musical family—his father, Charles, was a famed musicologist; his mother, Constance, was a concert violinist; while his stepmom, Ruth Crawford Seeger, was a renowned modernist composer. Two half siblings, Mike and Peggy, both became award winning folk artists. No surprise, then, when Pete dropped out of Harvard to devote himself to a career in folk music. Working with Library of Congress folk archivist and family friend Alan Lomax, Pete met legendary artists Lead Belly, Burl Ives, and Woody Guthrie, and was soon performing alongside them. With an interest in social justice and radical change, from the start Pete was doing benefits for migrant and workers’ rights.

            In 1940, he formed the Almanac Singers with Guthrie and several friends. Their 1941 LP, Songs for John Doe, took a strong anti-war stance and was seen in some quarters as subversive. It didn’t help that Seeger joined the Communist Party in 1942 and the group was hounded out of existence. Though Pete did a World War II stint in the U.S. Army and quit the party in 1949, his radical past would catch up to him during the McCarthy era. First, though, came mainstream fame with the folk quartet The Weavers. Their cover of Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene” topped the pop charts for 13 weeks and was the biggest single of 1950. “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena,” originally a Hebrew song, and the traditional “On Top of Old Smoky” were also huge hits. But then came Congressional investigations, a Contempt of Congress conviction, and Seeger was blacklisted. With the folk revival of the early ’60s, Seeger came to be seen as a wise folk elder who paved the way for the likes of Baez, Dylan, and Springsteen. His compositions “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Turn, Turn, Turn” became hits for others, while he is also credited for helping to make “We Shall Overcome” the Civil Rights anthem. For Seeger, it was never about fame and success; music was always about growing conscience and moving society forward. 

Suggested Songs:

 If I Had a Hammer (w. the Weavers) (1949; 1997)

Goodnight, Irene (w. the Weavers) (1950)

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (1955)

MUSIC TITANS remains available and on sale at Amazon, at BookBaby, and at numerous other sites.