Pete Seeger, 1919-2014

He always seemed like more than a folk singer to me, he was simply a great American. He will be missed.

RIP!!

Who?

  On 1/28/2014 at 7:44 PM, Phoenix said:

Who?

Take 5 minutes and google him.

my mom told me i used to always listen to this guy when i was young. let the exploring begin

turn turn turn... there is a season, a time to die.

rip seeger

^

Such a fitting song for his life.

  On 1/29/2014 at 4:47 AM, yek said:

my mom told me i used to always listen to this guy when i was young. let the exploring begin

He's one of the few folk legends I've found immediately accessible, it's not exactly a genre I'm into, as historically important as it is. Great vocals and banjo playing for one, but there's also something really sincere and selfless in both his musicianship and activism. He lived at the same home (a trailer then a cabin) in Beacon, NY since 1949, his grandson said he was still out chopping wood 10 days before his passing. He has some very blunt angry songs about war and oppression, but he never resorted to gimmicks musically when performing them, it's all in the words. Lot of very tongue-in-cheek lyrics:

And of course he penned a lot of happy songs, he was very resilient and positive even after the red scare in the 1950s. I had come across his songs over the years - he covered the Sons of Pioneers song used in Raising Arizona years later (posted it above) and actually was the American who popularized the South African song "Mbube/Wimoweh" and was also the first to worry about it's original composer not getting credit. Of course he's best known for writing "Turn Turn Turn" which the Bryds popularized.