PETE SEEGER
Pete Remembers Woody
Appleseed
There have been
many worthy recording projects released in 2012 to mark the centennial of Woody
Guthrie’s birth on July 14, 1912. Among the most interesting is certainly Pete
Remembers Woody, a 2-CD collection mostly made up of stories told by Pete
Seeger about the friend he met in New York City in 1940 and their times
together. The stories are punctuated by songs, most of them written by Woody
Guthrie, most of them previously released, sung by a variety of artists, both
contemporary and historical.
The album was assembled
by David Bernz, a member of Work O’ the Weavers, a group dedicated to
preserving the legacy of the Weavers, the folk music group Pete was a part of
in the late-1940s and ‘50s. Over a period of years dating back to the 1990s,
David made living room recordings of Pete talking about his history and these reminiscences
of Woody are drawn from those recordings.
Although I’ve
heard Pete tell some of these stories before – on stage and in various
interviews, including several interviews with me – it’s still fascinating to hear
all of these stories collected into this aural history. From his first meeting
Woody, through their travels together, to stories of how some of the classic
songs came to be written, to his last visit with Woody, it is an essential
collection for any student of Woody and/or Pete. And, frankly, anyone who wants
to understand the development of folk music in the 20th century should be a
student of both Woody and Pete. There is much for any lover of folk music to
appreciate in Pete’s stories.
Some of Pete’s
stories are told on top of music beds variously played by Pete himself, Cathy
Fink, Ralph Storm and producer David Bernz.
And, as noted,
there are songs spread throughout the two CDs punctuating Pete’s stories. A
couple of the tracks, Woody and Cisco Houston singing “New York Town” and the
Almanac Singers – a group that included both Pete and Woody – singing “The
Sinking of the Reuben James, are from the 1940s. The rest date from recent
years and include several each by the Work O’ the Weavers, the Vanaver Caravan,
and Steve Kirkman (one of them with Fred Gillen, Jr.). There are also recordings
by Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Pete & Arlo Guthrie and David Bernz.
As well as the
Woody Guthrie songs, there is also a version of Pete Seeger and Lee Hays’ “If I
Had a Hammer,” performed by Work O’ the Weavers, and David Bernz also sings an
original song, “Woody’s Ghost,” inspired by Woody. “Woody’s Ghost” is heard in
three parts at the beginning, middle and end of the project.
PETE SEEGER & LORRE WYATT
A More Perfect Union
Appleseed
Singer and
songwriter Lorre Wyatt is best known for such songs as the anthemic “Somos El
Barco/We are the Boat,” which has been recorded by such artists as Pete Seeger
and Peter, Paul & Mary, and for a number of songwriting collaborations with
Pete dating back to the early efforts to clean up the Hudson River. In 1996, Lorre
suffered a debilitating stroke that kept him on the sidelines for about 15
years. He has recently begun making music again and is again writing songs with
Pete, who, at the age of 93, remains a remarkably vital musical artist.
The 16 songs on
A More Perfect Union include 15 co-written by Pete and Lorre, as well as a new
version of Lorre’s “Somos El Barco/We are the Boat.” Ten are performed by Pete
and Lorre together, some with contributions from significant guest artists, and
there are three songs performed by Pete without Lorre and three more by Lorre
without Pete.
The tone of the
album is established on the first song, “God’s Counting On Me…God’s Counting On
You,” a new anthem for these times about communal responsibility for fixing
what’s wrong with our contemporary world. The verses are variously sung by
Pete, Lorre, Bruce Springsteen and the Rivertown Kids, the group of Beacon, NY
school kids who sang with Pete a couple of years ago on Tomorrow’s Children, while a choir of
singers harmonizes on the chorus. It’s an inspiring song destined to join the
long list of Pete’s essential classics.
The communal
spirit of “God’s Counting On Me” continues to be felt on such songs as “A More
Perfect Union,” sung by Lorre, Pete and Tom Morello, “Wonderful Friends” and “A
Toast to the Times.”
Other highlights
include the gorgeous version of “Somos El Barco/We are the Boat” sung by Pete,
Lorre and Emmylou Harris, again with a choir of singers on the chorus, and
quietly compelling “Bountiful River,” the 10-minute opus which ends the album.
That Lorre was
able, 15 years after his stroke, to return to making vital music again, and
that Pete has continued to be such a force of nature, music making and
songwriting well into his 90s, is nothing less than inspiring.
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