From left: Lee Hayes, Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman
When I was in high school around 1955 when "stereo hi-fi" became the next high tech thing I decided that I had to have a stereo set. I saved money from working all summer in a grocery store and a gas station and bought myself an inexpensive stereo system with dual 6” speakers, a combined monaural/stereophonic amp/pre-amp, an AM radio, and a turntable, in a blond wood case. A few years later I learned that it was pretty inadequate, but it was a whole lot better than what I had before, which was a portable RCA 78 rpm “record player.” So now I had the equipment; but I had no records in the new "stereophonic sound."
Now I could play my "old" 78 rpm records, 45 rpm records, and the "new" 33 rpm albums, including albums recorded in stereo. To that point I had only two “albums,” and those were literally “albums,” large cardboard folders with heavy paper pages, each page holding 78 rpm singles. (Actually, each "single" was a double, with a "flip" side.) One album held eight 78 rpm "records," 16 tunes in all. One was an early Sinatra and the other was the Tommy Dorsey Band, both handed down to me from my grandmother’s collection.
After buying my “stereo set” I had enough money left over to buy one album. The album I bought was by a folk group that I loved on the AM radio and had two of their 45s.
The group was The Weavers: Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hayes and Fred Hellerman. [After Seeger left the group in 1958 he was replaced first by Eric Darling, then Frank Hamilton and finally Bernie Krause.] I loved the group and played that album incessantly.
Over the years I gave away all of my old vinyl records, a mistake that too many of us made. Today I have one CD of the group called "The Weavers Greatest Hits." (Vanguard VCD-15/16) It is a great album, containing 25 songs, 64 minutes of music, and most of it recorded live in concert. For me folk music demands a live audience that not only appreciates but contributes to the singing, which the Weavers always encouraged.
After their 15th anniversary two night concert at Carnegie Hall in NYC in 1963, it was only a short time before they decided to disband. In 1964 the Weavers gave a farewell tour. They played the D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, and somehow I got tickets, in the 10th row. There I was and there they were! What a feeling of love I had for that group and they were standing there right in front of me, performing and giving me an emotional roller coaster ride!
I was so glad to be able to hear them live and so incredibly sad that they were breaking up. But, truth be told, they lasted far longer than most groups and endured more hardship for the music they sung than most other musical groups in this country. They were hounded by the HUAC, by McCarthy, by the FBI and by right wingers in the fifties. Parts of the entertainment industry blacklisted them.
Ironically, while the right wing hounded them the left wing press derided them for not singing some of the most political protest songs, claiming that they had sold out for success. If so, this so called "success" was so poor that they could not make money as a group and toward the end were mostly playing only small venues, sometimes going weeks between bookings.
This kind of problem had hounded them from the beginning. Right wing complaints and accusations during the hyped up “Red” hysteria after WWII led to their breakup in 1952, but they reuniting again in 1955 as the communist witch hunting was fading.
It was at the time of their reunion and a highly successful concert at the Carnegie Hall that yielded a Vanguard record of that concert. And that recording was the that first 33 rpm album that I was so hooked on. That recording led to a long term contract with Vanguard which gave them some financial stability and allowed them to remain together another 9 years.
Some of their best songs are not available on YouTube, and there is essentially nothing by them on Playlist, but the songs below will give you an idea of their singing. If you like it I strongly suggest that the “Greatest Hits” album I cite above is a wonderful summary of their best work. Amazon has the album, but I imagine you can get it many other places as well.
I hope you enjoy this tribute post to a wonderful pioneering singing group who, led by Pete Seeger and then continuing the folk tradition after he left to pursue a solo career, was the inspiration for so many of the folk groups that flooded the air waves in the late 50s and on through the late 70s, the heyday of popularity for American folk music.
[I would be remiss if I did not remind you that we have here on Open Salon one of the true experts on American folk music in Bruce Hayden, known here as “folkmuse.” While he does not post often he really is at the heart of the current folk music scene in this country and continues his lifelong promotion of the genre. If you love folk music he is a fabulous resource, and a warm and wonderful human being.]
Bay of Mexico
“Around the World” Medley
The Erie Canal
The Battle Cry of Freedom
When The Saints Go Marching In
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
[The Weaver’s always scheduled an intense number of concerts during the holiday season and ended those concerts with this song during that time, rather than with their traditional sign off song, “Goodnight Irene.”]
Weavers (Re-union at Carnegie Hall) - Wimoweh
And, finally, their beloved closing anthem.
Goodnight Irene
Links to general historical information on The Weavers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weavers
http://folkmusic.about.com/od/artistsaz/p/TheWeavers.htm
http://folkmusic.about.com/od/artistsaz/p/TheWeavers.htm
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Comments
Karin: I think I finally got the damned composer to take the vids, after about 10 tries. It is working for me now, so take another look, and let me know if you still can't access them.
Monte
I can remember falling in love with their rendition of that old Quaker hymn, "How Can I Keep from Singing?".
Lovely.
R
I wish he would get the Nobel Peace prize while he's still with us.
Ah, wschanz: Those were the days. It wasn’t like we were rolling in money then. So you had to really prioritize. But I think I appreciated an album so much more when I finally could afford it.
Dirndl skirt: it must be great to have him for a neighbor! He performed at the Lincoln Memorial in 2009 and I caught him on TV. He was so vital and alive. It gives you goose bumps. We are indeed humbled to have him as a national treasure.
I haven’t seen that Seeger documentary on Netflix, Maria, but am going to check it out tonight. I am always moved by his vocals on wimoweh. “A call to life” is a great way to express that song.
Thanks, Jonathan. Justice indeed. The Weavers certainly stood up for it during troubled times.
Hi, Dave. Thanks for commenting. Yes, many people sang the song “If I had a hammer.” PP&M was the most popular rendition. But it was written by Seeger and Hayes, first recorded by the Weavers.
PWRD: yes, he is still with us. Born in 1919. Still spry and with all his faculties and bright as a new penny.
Luminous Muse: That must have been a treat, and you were old enough to have real memories of the event. I wish Seeger would get such an award too. He has won many awards for his efforts. All those came later in his life because of the whole Red Scare stuff early in his career. Once you are tarred and feathered it takes a generation to die out before people can once again look with some objectivity at what one really stands for.
Hi, Anne. We can associate a lot of folk music with simpler times, and many of the songs do focus on that theme. But many of the songs Seeger wrote and the Weavers sung were protest songs, as were many other folk tunes that arose out of slavery, the lives of the poor, and the rural destitute. Many were, like “If I had a Hammer” (which was written by Seeger and Hayes) written in a kind of “code” in order to get around censorship. The hammer, the bell, and the call for justice and love were in reaction to the hate mongering of HUAC and the FBI; and later it was played in defiance of the McCarthy witch hunts. It was a call to the nation to wake up and spread the alarm against the attacks against justice, focusing rather on what mattered: brotherly love.
Thanks to you all for reading, listening and commenting.
Monte
rated
Hey, Walter. I also would like to see a more popular revival of folk music. It is still being sung all across the country, more a niche genre now, as it was before the Weavers. Bruce Hayden spends his life promoting it and it is people like him who help keep the music going. Bruce is “folkmuse” here on OS. Take a look at his blog sometime.
Much appreciated, all.
Monte
Thank for re-posting.
Monte
Monte