The impact of Pete Seeger's music, performances, and political activism has been enormous. In a league with Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Seeger lifted the torch of both traditional folk and the protest song in the 1940s, and kept it burning brightly for decades. THE ESSENTIAL PETE SEEGER sets itself the task of fitting the artist's most important recordings onto one disc. Naturally, a lot of significant material goes missing, but the 15 tracks here provide an excellent cursory overview of the man's accomplishments.
This 2005 collection kicks off with one of Seeger's best-known compositions, "If I Had a Hammer," an inspirational tune that became an anthem of struggle in the 1960s. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," another Seeger-penned classic, is also here, while his versions of traditional songs ("Barbara Allen" and "John Henry") prove that he is as gifted as an archivist and interpreter as a songwriter. Whether singing the music of his comrades Woody Guthrie ("This Land Is Your Land") and Leadbelly ("Goodnight Irene" with the Weavers) or inspiring the masses with "We Shall Overcome," the size of Seeger's legend is justly outlined. Excellent liner notes and testimonials from friends and fans (including Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, and Roger McGuinn) help make this a fine introduction.
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