Sunday, May 06, 2007

To Hear Your Banjo Play

( Naar de Nederlandse vertaling.)

When I was preparing my blog contribution about Sonny Terry and Browny McGhee, titled Hootin' The Blues ,I found a lot of nice film fragments of the two blues legends featuring the banjo player Pete Seeger, presenting his TV program Rainbow Quest. Pete Seeger presented these programs ( there were 38 different programs ) for WNJU Network between 1965 and 1966 where he presented famous and sometimes long forgotten folk artists.

Pete Seeger is, although a gifted musician on the banjo and a great artist in popular music ( he is now 88 years old and still active on his instrument I believe), his career took place outside my field of view, but aroused my interest in his music. Pete Seeger learned to play the banjo and ukulele when he was a child and learned to play the folk songs by travelling around the country. During the 1940s he beame a member of The Weavers and The Almanac Singers, a group that included Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays and Millard Lampell. As he was active at political demonstrations he became blacklisted by the authorities. His concerts were, most of the times, sold out and he became very popular in those days. In this period he made a beautiful documentary, titled To Hear Your Banjo Play and I found a fragment of that documentary that I love to share.
As Pete Seegers career and life as musician, teacher ( he wrote a lot of courses how to play the banjo ), protest singer and environmental activist is so extensive and many-sided I'm not going to describe it. I'd love to present you some fragments of the 1946 film To Hear Your Banjo Play. Pete Seeger plays the banjo and sings in this very early film and provides some narration. Also seen are Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
Enjoy it.
Part one:


Part two:


The following records in my collection are interested due to this subject:

  • The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
  • Good for What Ails you - Music of the Medicine Shows
  • country-blues 78s/1924 - 1940
  • Guy Van Duser-Billy Novick/Lovely Sunday Afternoon
  • Hot String Bands/Farewell Blues - 1936-1941
  • Six & Seven Eights String Band of New Orleans
  • Sunshine Special/(jug- and stringbands)
  • Roy Smeck/plays hawaiian guitar, banjo, ukulele and guitar-1926-1949
  • Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee/Whooping The Blues - Quadromania (4)
  • and more

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

To my last contribution


MY TURNTABLE
john coltrane/the atlantic records - 1 (bags & trane) (giant steps) = young lions/vee jay recordings = rhythm rascals-swing rhythm boys-sid phillips/1935-1936 = hot dance bands from okeh/1923-1931 (2) = miles davis/round about midnight

Keep Swinging Oscar Aleman Flexible Records Choro Music Hit of the week - Durium

Nederlands ( To the English translation )

Toen ik bezig was met de voorbereiding van de blog over Sonny Terry en Browny McGhee, getiteld Hootin' The Blues . stuitte ik op een aantal filmfragmenten waarop de twee blueslegenden te zien en te horen waren met banjospeler Pete Seeger, muzikant en presentator van het TV programma Rainbow Quest. Pete Seeger presenteerde dit programma ( in totaal 38 stuks) voor WNJU Network in de jaren 1965 en 1966. In het programma speelde hij met bekende en al lang vergeten folkartiesten. Pete Seeger is, hoewel een evaren muzikant op de banjo en een populaire protestzanger bij een groot publiek geliefd, buiten mijn belangstellingswereld gebleven. Hij is nu 88 jaar oud en, voorzover ik weet, nog steeds actief in de muziek. Een filmpje, To Hear Your Banjo Play, maakte me nieuwgierig naar zijn muziek. Pete Seeger leerde de banjo en ukulele bespelen als kind en trok later rond over het platteland waar hij de folkmuziek leerde kennen. Eind jaren veertig speelde hij bij The Weavers en The Almanac Singers, een groep met onder andere Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays en Millard Lampell. Aangezien hij ook politiek actief was viel dat in slechte aarde bij de autoriteiten en werd hij op de zwarte lijst gezet. Desondanks waren zijn concerten uitverkocht en had hij heel wat hits met zijn platen. De schitterende documentaire To Hear Your Banjo Play dateert uit deze periode. Het is ondoenlijk om Pete Seeger's carriere en leven als muzikant, leraar ( hij schreef heel wat banjo-cursussen), protestzanger en milieuactivist in deze korte blog te beschrijven; anderen hebben dat uitgebreid op internet gedaan. Wel wil ik graag twee fragmenten uit die schitterende documentaire uit 1946 laten zien, To Hear Your Banjo Play. Pete Seeger speelt de banjo en zingt in deze vroege film en vertelt over de banjo in de folkmuziek in Amerika. Verder komen ook Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry en Brownie McGhee in beeld.
Veel plezier ermee.
Deel één:


Deel twee




Meer platen uit mijn collectie die interessant kunnen zijn i.v.m. dit onderwerp zijn:
  • The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
  • Good for What Ails you - Music of the Medicine Shows
  • Country-blues 78s/1924 - 1940
  • Guy Van Duser-Billy Novick/Lovely Sunday Afternoon
  • Hot String Bands/Farewell Blues - 1936-1941
  • Six & Seven Eights string band of New Orleans
  • Sunshine Special/(jug- and stringbands)
  • Roy Smeck/plays Hawaiian guitar, banjo, ukulele and guitar-1926-1949
  • Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee/Whooping The Blues - Quadromania (4)
  • and more

Keep swinging

Hans Koert


keepswinging@live.nl

Naar mijn laatste bijdrage !

MIJN DRAAITAFEL

john coltrane/the atlantic records - 1 (bags & trane) (giant steps) = young lions/vee jay recordings = rhythm rascals-swing rhythm boys-sid phillips/1935-1936 = hot dance bands from okeh/1923-1931 (2) = miles davis/round about midnight

Keep Swinging Oscar Aleman Flexible Records Choro Music Hit of the week - Durium

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2 Comments:

Blogger Jo said...

Thanks a lot, Hans, for this contribution on a true American hero that played his banjo and sung his way to the hearts of millions during the heyday of folk revival. Pete Seeger remains an icon, like Woodie Guthrie, and his songs and actions to fight injustice anywhere will be remembered by any serious historian in future.
Thanks for the great videos also!

Jo

10:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Hans

thanks for posting and for giving links to those marvelous monuments of authenticity and
transcendent music.

keep on swinging!
cheers from Brazil

Tito M.

8:51 AM  

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