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11-24-08, 10:18 am
PETE SEEGER: AT 89
Appleseed Recordings, 2008
"...a time of peace, I swear it's not too late"
It's a busy Saturday afternoon on a main drag in New York's Hudson River Valley and Pete Seeger can be found standing vigil aside a flurry of traffic as he's done each week for five years. Gripping a "pace" banner, Pete is brightly smiling at speeding passersby who serenade him with a symphony of horn-honks. And though some of the passing cars instead sport angry drivers shouting pro-war, pseudo-patriotic slogans, Seeger has seen too much in his lifetime to falter. He quietly smirks at the rest of this peace vigil's participants and shakes his head. Pete's lived through union-busting assaults, the Peekskill Riot, HUAC, the Blacklist, agitated flag-wavers and violent Klansmen. He's seen a hell of a lot and usually comes out of the experience with a song.
While 'At 89' does not attempt to chronicle all of the folk legend's life, it certainly offers the listener an excellent overview of much of its most colorful moments. Starting with the powerful cover photos of elder statesman Seeger, captured in time by photographers Econosmith, here's a collection that offers a brilliant picture of how much one can accomplish in a near-ninety year period.
Featured prominently throughout this 32-selection CD is Pete's trademark 5-string banjo, an instrument he nearly single-handedly brought to light. But of course his renowned "split tenor," shakier than in previous decades but still earnest, remains what we most recall about Pete's stage presence. Not only as a singer, but as a speaker, and this disc also presents his recorded descriptions of how some of these songs came to be. To offer up an aural image of the classic Seeger concert, several vocal groups can be heard throughout much of At 89, including Work o' the Weavers (the group best described as the "Beatlemania" of Weavers' music), the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus (an offshoot of the Clearwater organization Pete founded), the After Hours Quartet and the Hudson River Sloop Singers. The extra voices allow Pete to be in his favorite element and of course help out with some of the high notes he has trouble with these days. But Seeger just cannot stop leading groups of people in song.
The selections included here are an interesting mix of the known and the little-known, as well as some brand new compositions. Song subjects include environmentalism, peace, family, sustenance and spirituality, but he throws surprises into this collection, as one would hope. Some of the songs are those Pete would probably prefer to not have to sing any longer, but in light of current times, he reproduces here "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" (the 1968 performance of which on the Smothers Brothers television show helped to break that damned blacklist), "Bach at Treblinka" (performed beautifully by Martha Sandefer, sounding like a latter-day Ronnie Gilbert) and "When I was Most Beautiful," his song written to a Japanese poet's post-Hiroshima piece, performed by his niece Sonya Cohen. There's also a spoken word selection given from the perspective of Native Americans responding to the original European settlers, a lesson unto itself, which includes music by the Menominee nation.
Throughout this album, Pete cites problems and solutions, challenges and celebrations. Naming a few villains along the way (including Rudolph Giuliani, infamous hawk and community garden destroyer), the songs remind us of why we fight. And long-time Seeger fans will rejoice at a new version of the Weavers' classic "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", performed by Pete and the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus. The original Hebrew lyrics are here but, complimented by Arabic words as well, this piece rings with soaring harmonies and the message of peace in the Holy Land.
At 89 allows listeners the chance to look into the heart of one of the very founders of the folk revival, to hear his latest compositions and some songs from over the generations, twenty-six of which are now recorded for the first time. Crystal production by David Bernz, another Beacon NY-based musician/activist, brings it all into the 21st century without struggle. Clearly, Pete Seeger remains a deeply relevant figure in 2008 and there's little opportunity for him to take that much-needed rest. Just ask the anti-war crowd at the Saturday peace vigil brandishing `Honk 4 Peace' signs. Better still, ask the malignant Archie Bunker clones flipping but half a peace-sign as they harshly screech by Seeger's non-violent revolution.
--John Pietaro is a labor organizer and cultural worker from New York – www.flamesofdiscontent.org
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