Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seegerwas an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFolk Singer
Date of Birth3 May 1919
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I never intended to make a living from music. That's the funny thing. I wanted to be a journalist.
I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this. I would be very glad to tell you my life if you want to hear of it.
A good song can only do good, and I am proud of the songs I have sung. I hope to be able to continue singing these songs for all who want to listen, Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
Did you ever want something really bad and then when you finally got it all you could do was stand there and grin at it?
Anybody who wants to learn everything is pretty stupid. You learn what you can.
Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't
It was not going to be a graceful symbol of the past. It was going to try to restore the river.
Songs wont save the planet, but neither will books or speeches. Songs are sneaky things; they can slip across borders.
Throughout history, the leaders of countries have been very particular of what songs should be sung. We know the power of songs.
I know many beautiful songs from your home county, Carbon, and Monroe, and I hitchhiked through there and stayed in the homes of miners.
In a few lines of poetry he captured one of the great contradictions of the world: the heroism of people doing something, even knowing it was a crazy something. And he showed how the establishment has used music for thousands of years to support its way of thinking.
When you play the 12-string guitar, you spend half your life tuning the instrument and the other half playing it out of tune.
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.
John Hammond persuaded Columbia to put it out as a single, and it was the only one I ever had that sold more than 20,000.