Seeger, (R. Peter) Pete

(1919– ) folksinger, songwriter; born in New York City. As a son of Charles Seeger, the musicologist, and stepson of Ruth Crawford-Seeger, the composer, he was raised in a home devoted to American folk music. He studied sociology at Harvard (1936–38) but left to pursue his interest in singing and painting. Influenced by Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie, he formed (with Guthrie) the Almanac Singers in 1941, one of the first such groups to give voice to social issues. In 1949 he joined the Weavers, the first commercially successful folk music group; although it had formally separated by about 1960, it occasionally regrouped for special concerts. Seeger performed for the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1950s and 1960s (and at one point fell afoul of the U.S. government for his antiwar actions). His best-known original is "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (1961). By the 1980s he was lending his voice and reputation to the environmental movement. In addition to performing he wrote scholarly articles on folk music.

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References in periodicals archive

When I first wrote about Pete Seeger more than 40 years ago, I concluded by citing Antony's Shakespearean elegy for Brutus, and I have no qualms in doing so once more: 'His life was gentle and the elements/ So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up/ And say to all the world, 'This was a man!''

Struggling singer

(14.) Pete Seeger's father-in-law who directed campers in the building of a stone amphitheater at the camp.

Camp Woodland memories inspire a poem

40-48, reprinted in The Pete Seeger Reader, Ronald Cohen and J.

The History Boy: Innocence and History in the Life and Music of Pete Seeger

Songs of protest by Richie Havens, Buffy Saint-Marie, Tom Paxton, and Pete Seeger are also shown.

Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation

The plaque posthumously bestowed to Pete included the following citation: "The Society for American Music Lifetime Achievement Award is given to Pete Seeger in recognition of his towering and multifaceted achievements in furthering progressive causes through his timeless songs, unforgettable performances, and selfless acts of character."

Lifetime Achievement Award for 2014: Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger recorded the song the following year, and it was one of the more challenging offerings on 60s radio.

Song with a message has me singing in the rain

Pete Seeger made it into the Welsh equivalent of Buddy Can you Spare a Dime?

Remembering Idris Davies and the sad bells of Rhymney

How sad it was to hear about the death of folk legend Pete Seeger at 94.

You text; Letters

Author Studs Terkel once called Pete Seeger "America's tuning fork," and that was a fine summary of the man - a tuning fork of not only the folk music that celebrated the essence and beauty of this country, but also of its social conscience.

America's conscience

London, Jan 29 ( ANI ): Current US President Barack Obama and former US President Bill Clinton have paid tribute to legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, who died aged 94 after a short illness.

Obama, Clinton pay tribute to late iconic folk singer Pete Seeger