Recent related releases include Pete Seeger Remembers Woody and A More Perfect Union (with Emmylou Harris, Dar Wiliams, Steve Earle, and Bruce Springsteen), and a new documentary film called Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation. Below is a rare poster for a benefit concert held in my backyard in Mill Valley, California in the late 1960s. Note the quote by John F. Kennedy. Other musicians supported Democratic candidate Phil Drath during the era, including the Grateful Dead and Joan Baez.
My eye on the early-mid 1960s has been particularly fascinated with the folk and blues boom. Not only is it interesting to see how youth culture embraced players like Pete Seeger, the music itself was powered by deep storytelling, humor, history, and topical concerns of the era. Pete Seeger was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, so maybe to that paranoid establishment, this was REAL "spy music." Spy Vibers might enjoy the video clips below of Pete Seeger. The Power of Song illustrates Seeger's commitment to bettering the world through music and captures some of the larger issues of the early 1960s. His song, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, was performed on the Smothers Brothers show in 1967, but cut from broadcast by the censors. A campaign by the brothers pressured the network to finally air the footage, and Seeger was able to share a tune that showed his patriotism, empathy for those facing combat, and a larger questioning of war at the height of Vietnam. Written on his banjo were the words. "This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender."
Another way to appreciate this area of music is to remember how important it was to the development of other styles. To stretch a quote by the great blues composer Willie Dixon, folks like Dylan, Seeger, Guthrie, Muddy Waters, Skip James, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Terry, Lonnie Donegan, New Lost City Ramblers, etc were "the roots", and The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Kinks, and Led Zeppelin were "the fruits". Maybe the folk crowd didn't sport Mod or Space-Age fashion, but they were true rebels of the period who stood for the things that really matter. One of the most memorable moments I've ever seen on TV was Pete Seeger on Hugh Hefner's Playboy's Penthouse (1959). Pete had a great talent for getting a crowd singing, and it was sweet to see a room of sophisticates huddled around him singing along. Hefner, a huge music fan himself, sat close to Pete and joined in. The guests were movers and shakers of the new cultural revolution, but unified in humanity by that banjo.
Spy Vibers interested in seeing another side of the early-mid 1960s should check out the great documentary, The Power of Song. The film offers a context to this man and his music that is quite moving. The spirit of Seeger's songs transcend time because they embody universal, human emotion and experience. I encourage all Spy Vibers to spend some time with characters like Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Alan Lomax. Dive into the Smithsonian Folkways site. Listen to traditional music from around the world and discover your inner folkie. Pete Seeger Appreciation page here. Below is a rare photo of 2-year-old Pete with his musical family. Thanks to archivist and pal Rich Remsberg for the images. Seeger obituary at the New York Times here. Stay tuned for our spotlight on album design at Folkways. 
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