Sunday Review: Pete Seeger in His Own Words (book review)

From the archive

By Tom Lowe

I saw Pete Seeger in concert once, over thirty years ago. If you’ve been to his concerts or seen him on TV, you’ve gotten the sense that Pete is a graceful, articulate communicator who respects his audience and seeks to expand their horizons. Coming from a family of folklorists and academic music teachers, he set out early in his performing career to educate as well as entertain. Most of his writing has been in song books and a column for Sing Out! Magazine, which gave a sense of his thinking, but didn’t reach the depth I wished for. Then I found a book to satisfy my desires.
    Pete Seeger in His Own Words is a fascinating deeper glimpse into the thinking of an American original. Rob Rosenthal and Sam Rosenthal, father and son, spent around two years going through Pete’s “Barn,” the archive of writings and letters accumulated over seventy years. They talked him out of editing-rewriting in the light of experience, a temptation most people yield to in this situation. “Don’t make me out a saint,” was Pete’s request, so the inconsistencies, the contradictions are all here—to the gain of us readers. Also, the Rosenthals have included footnotes—to clarify historical and biographical points—which are of considerable value to readers who didn’t live through the decades involved. Pete’s voice and thoughts come through clearly, and movingly.
    The simplest way to give a sense of the book’s range is to list its chapters:

Growing Up (1919-1934)
Becoming a “Folk Singer” (1935-1947)
Mentors and Influences
What Is Folk Music?
The Labor Movement, the Communist Party, and the Blacklist
The Civil Rights Movement
The Movement against the War in Vietnam
The Environmental Movement and the Ship Clearwater
Reflections on a Life in Movements
Other Struggles of the 20th Century
Travels Abroad
Musics of Other Countries
A Philosophy of Making Music
Participation
Commercialism, Popularization, Authenticity, and the Star System
Reflections on a Life in Music
Balancing Work and Family Life
Other Writings
Other Correspondence
Philosophical Musings and Utopian Visions

    What you come away with is the articulateness and generosity of this “simple” man. Whether writing to another musician or to the chairman of one of the witch-hunting committees of the nineteen fifties, Seeger treats his correspondents with respect and assumes their intelligence. The thought and reflection behind his words are the product of his engagement with ordinary working people, and the desire to raise the dialogue. He has never been considered among America’s public intellectuals, and would be embarrassed to be described that way, but that’s a failure of understanding that reading this volume should correct for many people.
    345 pages are barely enough. You begin to get an understanding of the richness of Pete’s thinking and passions, the influence he has on American music and progressive politics, and the courage and determination required to live the life he has lived. If you’ve not had the opportunity to experience him in person, Youtube has a couple hundred clips of his work, albums of his music are available from most libraries, and the usual suspects (Amazon and Netflix) can also provide goodies like Bruce Springsteen’s “The Seeger Sessions.”
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Copyright © 2013 by Tom Lowe

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