Peter Seeger is Dead

[Phil D. Rolls]

Can't say I'm a massive fan, but he was a big figure in American music, and activism. Just a pity about that incident when he tried to cut Dylan's electric guitar off, with an axe.

[heretoday]

He wasn't the trendiest of singers but the guy sure had guts. Imagine joining the Communist Party in USA!

[ACLeith]

Harry Chapin (RIP himself since 1981) wrote a song in the last few years of his life about Pete Seeger - "The Old Folkie". Summed him up very well, PS may have long finished being trendy even back then, but he seemed to retain his personal integrity throughout his life.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Harry Chapin (RIP himself since 1981) wrote a song in the last few years of his life about Pete Seeger - "The Old Folkie". Summed him up very well, PS may have long finished being trendy even back then, but he seemed to retain his personal integrity throughout his life.

I quite like his songs. I think, though, that one of his failings was inability to fully understand the views of others.

It could have been this that made him so determined to do what he thought was right. The other side of it seems to have come out in the way he and others tried to "own" the people's music.

Look at the way the reacted to Dylan when he dropped "trad" folk in favour of electric blues. It was if they had set themselves up as arbiters of what was good for the ordinary persons soul.

In a way, they maybe drove a lot of people away from their cause by these entrenched attitudes. Like a lot of middle class radicals, Seeger had a patronising view of working people, IMO.

I quite like Chapin's view though. In his heart, I believe Seeger did care - he was maybe too naive to make a difference though.

[ACLeith]

I quite like his songs. I think, though, that one of his failings was inability to fully understand the views of others.

It could have been this that made him so determined to do what he thought was right. The other side of it seems to have come out in the way he and others tried to "own" the people's music.

Look at the way the reacted to Dylan when he dropped "trad" folk in favour of electric blues. It was if they had set themselves up as arbiters of what was good for the ordinary persons soul.

In a way, they maybe drove a lot of people away from their cause by these entrenched attitudes. Like a lot of middle class radicals, Seeger had a patronising view of working people, IMO.

I quite like Chapin's view though. In his heart, I believe Seeger did care - he was maybe too naive to make a difference though.

One thing that does bug me is musical "purists", who see music as being compartmentalised into genres that shouldn’t mix. Admittedly, some cross-overs are better than others, but music is all about opinions, as long as you have the same tastes as me of course!

The reaction to Dylan about 50 years ago sums that up, though I don’t know if Seeger’s views mellowed over the years? His music was simple and idealistic but I think he will be remembered as someone who stood up for what most people thought was right at a time when it needed done.

[wpj]

The counter argument to the Dylan incident was that the sound was so bad on Dylan' vocals he wanted to take an axe to the cable, not that he was plugged in. Guess we'll never know