The Smiley Smile Message Board

A true American icon, and a towering musical presence for more decades that I can remember. God bless.

He lived a long life, and did amazing things in music. He was even nominated for a Grammy this year, which speaks for itself given his age.

RIP.

R.I.P.

Did everyone the favour of putting his name on the deaths list on the 2014 Wikipedia page.

Also, could someone move this to the General Music Discussion?

I'd say keep it here:

1952: Seeger, Lee Hays and the other Weavers, learning a Jamaican folk song from an anthology Carl Sandburg put together, record (in Hays' arrangement):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CvTloNDFFg

1958: The Kingston Trio record the song after learning it from the Weavers' version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8NVY0INJFk

1965, after Al plays the Kingstons' version to Brian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUQQGX_RWCg

On that basis alone I'd say Pete's on topic.

Bonus clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ON2O4UTUI

Yes, I didn't get how Pete Seeger relates to all things BBs. As a long-time poster, Mr. Doe should have known that we've got special place for non-Smiley stuff here.

I vote to leave it here: rn57's post explains the significance.

Much as I respect rn57 & enjoy his great recollections, I disagree that Mr. Seeger should stay on the main board. Al is a folk fan but does it mean we must bring every famous folk musician who somehow made an influence on Al here?

Agreed 100%.

With this mentality we should add the Four Freshmen and the Beatles to the General On Topic Discussions!

A very significant passing - RIP, Pete Seeger; a great innings and a great and far reaching legacy.

He was such a beautiful spirit.  I had the great fortune to be able to see him at his 90th Birthday celebration concert in New York City in 2009.  He looked very frail and he wasn't able to sing very well but his spirit still shined through and I believe it will continue to shine and I hope his powerful message will continue to resonate.

R.I.P.

AGD already posted about it, albeit in the wrong section:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17109.msg428314/topicseen.html#msg428314

Yeah, sorry. Didn't see that. I just came online and posted it without looking at the other sections.

Well, no worries. This is the place for this kind of thread. Now e have lost two great icons, Phil Everly and Pete Seeger.
My Mom would always say 'the greats' die in threes. Hope she is wrong and these are two major losses to our musical heritage.

Beautiful. Cherish that experience for me.

I saw something similar with Peter Yarrow last summer, who appeared at the Oregon Country Fair with his son and daughter (his son sounds like Paul, his daughter like Mary) and I know exactly what you mean by 'his spirit shined through.' There was so much crying at that show, it was really something special. And they played If I Had a Hammer, of course, written by Pete Seeger.

Gosh, Pete has died.  It seems like you're getting up every other day to another death.  Pete had a long and good life.  One can only hope to live that long.  His wife, Toshi died last July.  I think this happens often when someone loses a long-time partner.  The will to just keep pushin' lessens.God Bless that spirit.  Rest in peace, brother Pete. 

Seeger's American Folk Song collection was also, part of the school music curriculum.  He had vast influence, overall.  RIP

Let's not make a big deal about where it's posted.

RIP, very sad. :( He lived a long and fruitful life.

Read his testimony in contempt of HUAC if you never have.  It is awesome.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6457

Al just posted at Facebook:

"Pete Seeger was the guiding light for a generation, for post-war America and he had a way of connecting with his audience unlike any other artist with his call and response style. He encouraged people to get involved in politics and his music was celebrated by so many other artists like The Kingston Trio and The Byrds. He was such a big influence on my songwriting and I especially loved his children's songs. Pete was a wonderful human being and I will miss him. My thoughts go out to his family. "

RIP

Obituary and tribute:

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/pete-seeger-rip.html

:(

He in one way or another influenced about 90% of the musicians and music that has enriched my life and given me countless hour of pure happiness and joy. For that, I humbly say thank you, Mr Seeger. If you are a fan of music from the 1960's, you can't help but to hear Pete Seeger's influence. Every time you hear Bob Dylan, you also hear Pete Seeger. The same goes for Roger Mcguinn and The Byrds, CSN, Buffalo Springfield, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Neil Young, etc.

Thanks to Smile-Holland for placing Mr. Doe's topic in here! Pete Seeger belongs to the General Music, it's so weird to read about him on the main board.
This will serve as a good lesson for Mr. Doe not to ignore the rules & that EVERYONE is equal before them.

Would you give it a rest about the topic location and provide your tribute re Pete Seeger's passing if you have one...

I'm just trying to be fair, for the board being a convenient place for everyone to see. Admit, Mr. Doe did the wrong thing posting it on the On Topic Discussions. Why advise Woodstock to move here & no one does the same to The "Legendary" AGD? That's an example of double standard, if there ever was one. Anyway, all the goodness to Pete Seeger & the survived family members. Luckily, he lived long & creative life. R.I.P.

Nicely done  :lol

Why bring this mockery stuff? What I've said is right, don't you think so?

:lol No mockery, my dear, quite the opposite - you relentlessly stuck to your convictions/opinion about AGD's initial post ,AND, offered a sweet on topic something to the memory of Pete Seeger and his family. Good job!!! :rock

Whenever I see that crazy laugh smiley, I usually think it's for ridiculing purpose. Sorry for not catching it. And, generally, I'd like to say sorry for this little off-topic on the death news of the Father of folk music. Continue on.

WOW.. Pete Seeger RIP.. He actually was friends with Woody Guthrie.. He was the last living link I think to that era.... Arlo doesn't count..

http://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/online/pete-seegers-last-letter

This goes to show what a true gent Pete was. A lot of 94 year olds, going into the hospital for the final time, would just gather the family around for goodbyes and forget about the rest of the world.  But Pete saw it as an opportunity to catch up on his mail. 

He was always good that way.  A friend of mine - who, as it happened, predeceased Pete by a couple months - was working for years on a biography of William Lindsay Gresham, known for writing the book Nightmare Alley that was made into a movie starring Tyrone Power, and also for being the first husband of CS Lewis's wife Joy Davidman.

Gresham, as it happened, had been a folksinger in Village cafes before settling down to writing - he was doing this long before Woody or the rest of the Weavers came on the scene - and he befriended Pete when the latter came down to NYC from Harvard in '39.  My friend wrote to Pete about it and a letter came back in which Pete described learning a lot of Appalachian songs from Gresham.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6JhTSzZXzg

Hard to pass up an excuse to post the Byrds doing a song they learned from Pete....the other one besides Turn Turn Turn. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gIhFYPqIxA

A good interview from Amy Goodman's Democracy Now program where Pete looks over his career.

the laugh smiley stands for LOL.  If you hover over each smiley with your cursor, it will tell you what each one means.  LOL to me means laugh along with me.  Or literally laugh out loud.