Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (2007)

Pete Seeger: the power of we

I've seen Pete Seeger on a number of different stages, in Australia at the aptly named Union Theatre at Sydney University, in St Kilda in Melbourne and in London at the Albert Hall. His ability to get an audience to form itself into a veritable choir was evident each time. For over 45 years I've listened to his records, and some I still play like his American Industrial Songs, or an LP he made in London during the Miners Strike in Britain. I learned from his book and record to play the banjo. Seeger is part folklorist, part entertainer, as well as an extraordinary song writer. Where Have all the Flowers Gone? Turn Turn Turn! Big Muddy. He was influential in the US folk revival of course, but his influence spread across the seas to other folk revivals in Britain, in Australia and elsewhere. He always warned young singers not to regard him as a tradition singer, but as someone who learnt from traditional singers, telling them to learn from the people he learnt from.

Finally to get to the film, I saw it a couple of months ago at the Sydney Film Festival. I found myself joining in his choruses again (quietly enough I hope!) a thing I've rarely been roused to do in a cinema. I wanted to write something about the film but found it hard to know where to start. It's a fascinating story of folk revivals, of people using songs and making songs in their desire for a better, more peaceful world. Folk music is not always regarded as political, but what is more powerful than the vernacular voices of those excluded from fundamental decision making in their world? The voices of we the people? Especially in a world where culture itself tends to be marketed as if it were a product of some global factory system.

Now the film is out on DVD I'm sure it will have another life, but if possible go and see it with a crowd in a cinema, demand that your local cinemas show it! It's what the film needs. August 17, 2008

An Excellent Music Documentary

"Pete Seeger: The Power of Song"

An Excellent Music Documentary

Amos Lassen

What a jewel we have in Pete Seeger. He is a true gentleman, an American patriot, an original who seems to be here to lift our spirits. Director Jim Brown gives us a wonderful look at Seeger in "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song". Seeger is one of the finest American singer/songwriter of modern times. Because of him, we had the folk revival of the 60's and 70's and he wrote some of America's most loved songs including "The Hammer Song", "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Turn, Turn, Turn.
The movie has interviews with the big names of folk music--Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, and Arlo Guthrie. Most of the film is archival footage from the various stages of the singer's career and is infused with song. It gives a full picture of Seeger's life and spends time on the long period that he was blacklisted because of his political views and we see how he refused to yield to the demands of the House Un-American Activities Committee to take a loyalty oath to the American nation. In the film he tells us that he was a card carrying member of the Communist Party until 1948.
The film has scenes of Seeger (now 80 years old) in the home he built himself and we see his wife, Toshi, and his children. There is footage of performances of the octogenarian with Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez. Seeger also sings with the groups he formed, The Weavers and the Almanac Singers.
Seeger's singing is, of course, the highlight but is his politics that are fascinating. He is a true humanist but, above everything is his music and I found myself singing along with Seeger's reedy voice. His is the voice that influenced a generation and this movie shows how. Perhaps it will influence yet another generation. Seeger is not at all "ticky tacky" and not at all "just the same".
August 15, 2008

Fabulous documentary on the "Great Communicator" of Folk Music

Last Spring the new documentary Pete Seeger: The Power of Song opened a limited run around the country. It was great and I recommended it to friends. Now it's coming out on video and even more folks will get the chance to see it. Plus there's some neat bonus features.

The 90-minute film features not only interviews with Pete but his son and daughters and one of his brothers as well as his well-known sister Peggy. There's great archival footage from the 1950s that I've never seen elsewhere and quite a few full performances as well. Director Jim Brown did his research well and Pete's lifelong wife Toshi is Executive Producer, which helped access some family archival materials.

Ronnie Gilbert makes some brief comments but Fred Hellerman (still living in CT) is surprisingly missing.

You'll learn new things about Pete (he subscribes to The Wall St. Journal!) as well.

There are one or two "celebrity" folks interviewed like Bonnie Raitt. But the strangest is Bruce Springsteen. There are three sections where Bruce expounds on Pete (never mentioning the "Seeger Sessions" at all). And every time he refers to Pete in the past tense! Speingsteen says: "He had.....", "He was....". It's like Pete is gone!

Sadly Pete was not a choice for the Nobel Peace prize this year. (I agree with Al Gore as a choice but this should have been Pete's year!) If there ever was a way to communicate to the Nobel Committee that Pete deserves the award, this film would certain make the strongest case. I wonder if they've seen it? Anyway, you should.

When I saw the film upon it's release I hoped that the DVD would include as bonus features full performances of the brief excerpts included in the film. Sadly, none of these made it to the DVD but in it's place are five "Seeger Family Home Movies" - about 5 minutes each - which Pete and Toshi made for the Moe Asch's Folkways label in the early 1950s

This DVD is a wonderful tribute to Seeger and is highly recommended!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic" July 25, 2008

Freedom, Justice, and Independence

If you ask anyone to make a list of five American Ideals, most likely Freedom, Justice, and Independence will be there.
It seems the fight to preserve those Ideals and make sure American Ideals can apply to all Americans has always been a struggle.
Watching Pete Seeger/The Power of Song, I learned what a difference we can make when we band together, walk together, and sing together.
We all want our freedom, we all want our independence, and we desire justice.
The ironic thing is, sometimes we have to band together with our neighbors (whom we may not even know) to collectively voice our concerns and causes to preserve our liberties, freedoms, and independence.
Pete Seeger has helped people sing together all of his life. When he helped people sing for Unions, he helped the struggle for personal economic independence through better wages and benefits for workers.
When Pete Seeger helped people sing together during the Civil Rights Movement, he helped in the struggle against racial discrimination, and the struggle to gain personal freedom, justice, and independence for all Americans.
When Pete Seeger helped people sing together and band together for the common good, the Hudson River was made clean again.
Pete Seeger was blacklisted from commercial television for 17 years. In those 17 years, our own freedoms and justice were comprimised. Thank you, Tom and Dick Smothers, for helping to set things right.
There are some great clips of Seeger being honored at the Kennedy Center for his Lifetime Achiement Award, in 1994.

This is an excellent program. We may appreciate, not underestimate, the power of song. June 1, 2008

An American Classic

Marvelous documentary about Pete that aired on PBS not so long ago and now is available on DVD for anyone who didn't obtain a copy as a Public Television "donation premium." One part I liked best is when Pete says what he didn't like much about the film is that it didn't show "all the stupid things I've done," or words to that effect. Pete Seeger is an American treasure, one everybody (on the left and even over on the right) can rightly cherish. May he be with us forever. May 31, 2008

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