And, with some qualms, they toned down the overtly political aspects of the act (“On Top of Old Smoky” was a regular feature of their set-list in nightclub appearances “If I Had a Hammer” soon wasn’t). The work-shirted outfits the Weavers wore in the Village Vanguard were replaced by tuxedos for the men, and an evening gown for Gilbert. (Leventhal would go on to manage such folk stars as Joan Baez and Mary Travers, both of whom, like countless others, traced their interest in folk music to Weavers concerts.) A record contract, television appearances and a national tour followed. Wildly popular in the bohemian circles of Lower Manhattan, they acquired a competent professional manager, Harold Leventhal. But starting in late 1949, the newly formed Weavers began performing nightly at the Village Vanguard nightclub in Greenwich Village, for a weekly payment of $200 split equally among them, plus all the hamburgers they could eat. Improbably, and to their own surprise, they wound up releasing a string of hit recordings in the darkest days of McCarthyism, including “Goodnight Irene” and “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena,” and with “Wimoweh” they had an enduring classic.Īs a solo performer, and as a member of the left-wing Almanac Singers in the early 1940s, Seeger had performed mostly at political or labor gatherings. The group’s vocal repertoire, accompanied by Seeger’s banjo and Hellerman’s guitar, mixed folk, political and commercial influences. All shared the belief that music could be put to use, in the words of ”If I Had a Hammer,” an early Weavers song written by Hays and Seeger, to “sing out danger,” warning and love. ![]() Hellerman had been a teenage member of the Young Communist League and Gilbert was the daughter of a Communist activist Hays was a cranky, independent radical. Recounting Seeger’s experience with HUAC in “Wasn’t That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America,” Jesse Jarnow observes that both the red-hunting committee members and their victim “shared a common interest and belief in the power of song” - a belief also shared by the author.Ī journalist, disc jockey and musician, Jarnow has written an engaging account of the rise, fall, resurrection and legacy of the Weavers, the Greenwich Village-based quartet of left-leaning musicians founded near the end of 1948 that included Seeger as well as Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman. His conviction for contempt of Congress was finally voided in appeals court in 1962. Refusing to answer questions about his political associations, and doing so on First Amendment grounds (rather than taking the Fifth, which would have offered legal immunity), Seeger spent years under the threat of imprisonment for, in essence, singing the wrong songs to the wrong people. ![]() ![]() 18, 1955, t he folk singer Pete Seeger was interrogated by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) about his affiliation with the American Communist Party, which he had joined a decade and a half earlier, although drifting away from active involvement by the early 1950s. WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? 20th Century American History in 100 Protest Songs By James Sullivan Illustrated. WASN’T THAT A TIME The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America By Jesse Jarnow Illustrated.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |