Well worth having a look at this piece in the Nation magazine http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/432096?rel=hp_picks on Pete Seeger the America folk musician and political activist who turns 90 this week.
Also worth a look is a You Tube clip from a recent program on Pete Seeger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh0elZi0KG4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fvid
taken from AMERICAN MASTERS Pete Seeger: The Power of Song aired February 27 on PBS. For more information, visit http://www.pbs.org/americanmasters
Seeger's most recent claim to fame was in in January this year when he was the oldest person to perform at Barrack Obama's inauguration festivities on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Seeger's songs were also given a new lease of life by Bruce Springsteen in his 2006 CD We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions http://www.amazon.com/We-Shall-Overcome-Seeger-Sessions/dp/B000EU1PNC and his live CD Live in Dublin.
Seeger's life is a reminder of a very different political time and also of a time when many musicians were driven by their political commitment. Rather than rub shoulders with the rich and powerful, seek fame, stardom, worship and adulation, and accumulate massive wealth, Pete Seeger, like my great hero and inspiration Paul Robeson, suffered the consequences of taking a political stand. Somehow I could not imagine Bono doing that!!!
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