[afraidfortherepublic]

[dfwgator]

Seeger’s (and Guthrie’s) notion of folk music had less to do with actual American sources than with a Communist-inspired Yankee version of Proletkult.

Same goes for that other fraud, Bruce Springsteen.

[2ndDivisionVet]

My wife tells me that Mario Batali got all teary-eyed on The Chew over the passing of the communist.

[Fightin Whitey]

Thanks for the post.

I went through a rebellious lefty phase when I was young but even then I thought Seeger sounded phony, trite and possibly damn mean-spirited if you caught him wrong.

My sense was that he was in it, one, for the money and, two, (same as me) for the loose hairy chicks.

Thank God I grew out of it and in time for me to let my parents know how right they always were.

[Born to Conserve]

Those commie organizers systematically scoured the country, stealing every folk tune they could lay their hands on. They especially like taking Christian songs and replacing the words with communist propaganda.

May they rot it hell.

[miss marmelstein]

Wow! The author thinks that Brecht wrote the funniest song of the 20th Century. Guess Comden & Greene and all the other American musical comedy geniuses just can’t compete with a good German humorist...

[bmwcyle]

Peter was another mason for brick laying on the road to hell with all his good intentions.

[Blogatron]

Congrats, Pete. You have finally been stricken from my Liste d’Merde. I leave you for The Ages to hate.

[RichInOC]

Spengler...dude...don’t hold back. Tell us what you really think.

[muir_redwoods]

Seeger was a presence at all sorts of demonstrations including somethat cold and did get violent. From their birth on, he always took his kids putting them in danger. An adult may choose to assume such a risk but the kids had no choice.

[Huskrrrr]

I’m sure he’s now with his pals Marx and Lenin.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Seegar and the Weavers put out the most stooped and insipid version of “Goodnight Irene!”
Leadbelly sang it with some vengeance!. The weavers sang “I’ll see you in my dreams,” Leadbelly sang “I’ll GET you in my dreams. The original is filled with violence and suicidal thoughts. Ry Cooder has the best modern version. Here’s the original. Not a happy-go-lucky love song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmQXmqbZ3Pc

Here’s Ry and Flaco. “I’m sorry you ever was born”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MMGT8DgM4k

The Weavers version borders on the sacrilegious/ A total distortion

[JPG]

You will listen to Seeger, or else.

[Revolting cat!]

I’m willing to forgive Seeger his Stalinism

Then you just don't get what it is all about.

[tflabo]

I saw Pete Seeger in the mid 70’s sometime in Central Park giving a free concert. I don’t hold any animosity toward him or other leftist musicians. They are for the average person/citizen but they embrace a wrong philosophy of failure especially married to. big government solutions. Their leftism is based on feel good emotions and jellied up with their music - some of it being very good. RIP Pete Seeger, you weren’t evil, just on the wrong track to the path of truth.

[wardaddy]

Excellent

[jocon307]

LOL, afraid - I just posted a link to your posting of the Podhoretz “review” of ‘saving mr. banks” without realizing this was your thread too. You are doing a good job of keeping us posted to heartfelt rants!

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

The BEST commentary on Folk Music was John Belushi in my favorite ever movie “ Animal HOuse” when he walked down the stairs at their Frat party and smashed the guitar of a folk-singing guy on the stairway! summed it all up!

[Repeal 16-17]

Pete Seeger finally did something right: he dropped the f**k dead.

He was a propagandist for Stalin in particular and Communism generally. His death should be celebrated, not mourned.

[Scoutmaster]

I trusted the author up until the point where he said he didn't much care for Bob Dylan.

Saving Grace, by Bob Dylan

If you find it in Your heart, can I be forgiven?
Guess I owe You some kind of apology
I've escaped death so many times, I know I'm only living
By the saving grace that's over me
By this time I'd-a thought I would be sleeping
In a pine box for all eternity
My faith keeps me alive, but I would still be weeping
For the saving grace that's over me
Well, the death of life, then come the resurrection
Wherever I am welcome is where I'll be
I put all my confidence in Him, my sole protection
Is the saving grace that's over me
Well, the devil's shining light, it can be most blinding
But to search for love, that ain't no more than vanity
As I look around this world all that I'm finding
Is the saving grace that's over me
The wicked know no peace and you just can't fake it
There's only one road and it leads to Calvary
It gets discouraging at times, but I know I'll make it
By the saving grace that's over me

[Colonel Kangaroo]

There is no such thing as an American “folk.” We are a people summoned to these shores by an idea, not common ties of blood and culture.

I disagree strongly with what he says here. Despite current conventional wisdom, there was a core of an American nationality established here by the start of the 19th Century. Despite the impression you might get from TV shows, America did not begin at Ellis Island.