5.5.2009 12:09 AM
The Voice on the Hudson
Pete Seeger's 90th birthday party and my Kumbaya moment.

It was Tommy Sands, the Irish folk singer who earlier in the night applied the phrase I associate with journalism to folk singing: "Long live Pete Seeger," he said, "and long live the songs that comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." For myself, I've been a reporter and editor long enough that observation and questioning comes naturally. I've felt proud about the impact some of the stories I've written have had, and felt satisfied that I had meaningful work and a meaningful place in a community. But though you could fit almost three of my lives in the space of Pete Seeger's years, I know the meaning of my life couldn't fill this man's pinkie toe.

The Daily Green was conceived, in part, to help people live the type of environmentally conscious lifestyle inspired by Pete Seeger without having to engage with the likes of Pete Seeger. It's a place for those of us who feel uncomfortable singing folk songs in crowds, and that's in large part why it's valuable. Not everyone would scream out "Arlo!" or "Joanie!" gleefully, as if to old friends, as the younger Guthrie or Joan Baez took to the stage. Not everyone would attend that show. And yet, we all have to embrace the values of environmental stewardship if we're going to maintain life as we know it on Earth in the face of global warming, the onslaught of toxic chemicals and engineered foods and other threats. There will always be people, too, like the girl in front of me Sunday, who checked her cell phone before swaying dutifully to the civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome," and people like the guy a few seats over in the Pearl Jam sweatshirt who looked heartbroken that Eddie Vedder was a no-show but -- who knows? -- maybe took something unexpected away from the night's performances. Nothing wrong with any of that. I've spent my life sitting on my hands sweating out the singalongs as a Hudson Valley boy who can't help but end up at these kinds of concerts. (Truth is, I was blown away by Sunday's concert first because of the music: it was unexpectedly awesome, beyond my expectations by far.)

Even if the idea of singing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore," makes us cringe, we can each still do our part. I've always done my part, I felt, sitting on the outside of Pete Seeger's movement looking in, translating it -- if you will -- for those who couldn't or wouldn't attend the rally. I've stood by while Pete Seeger tried to inspire crowds to sing. I've felt at times moved, and I've felt at times saddened: It's been decades, I've thought, since crowds were really inspired to sing folk songs in groups, decades since that singing would have meant something. The denizens of the digital age don't sing Kumbaya. For the record, neither did anyone on Sunday -- but the movement was there: Aging hippies, yes, but others too, and all ages. Pete Seeger's been trying in every way he can think of -- and certainly in ways that no one has ever thought before him -- to inspire more people to be a part of his movement. Whatever it takes, and whatever might just work: Songs, sloops, river pools, or standing alone holding a "Peace" sign at an intersection outside a mall in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "Pete has been standing at that intersection all his life," the actor and activist Tim Robbins said, "teaching us that change doesn't happen with a movement, but with a person."

Pete Seeger can hardly sing these days. When he talks, his voice is strong; when he walks, he carries his tall frame lightly; and when he plucks his banjo, the tunes are crafty and artful. His grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, gave him a playful shove at one point Sunday night, and Pete Seeger just danced away. But his singing voice is a shadow of that clear bell it was even a few years ago; its the one part of him that seems 90 years old, that seems like its been weathered by its history singing through the Dust Bowl and the March on Washington. Just listen, though, as he mouths the words to "Amazing Grace" -- that song of redemption penned by a repentant slave ship captain, when he was, like me, in his early 30s. Listen as a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden fills in the verses and the chorus, "slower than you've ever heard it sung before," as Seeger asked for it -- "How... sweet.... the sound... That.... saved... a wretch... like me..." That chorus of thousands is Pete Seeger's voice. You can't not be inspired. You can't not sing. You can't help leaving the performance feeling that you are a part of something -- and that you have a responsibility to live more thoughtfully, more compassionately, more honestly, more humanely, more courageously. I did. And I know every time a silent breeze kicks up off the Hudson, whether Pete is in Beacon or not, I'll hear his big voice on it.

Live Review: 
Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday (The Clearwater Concert) 
at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

By John Voket / LiveDaily Contributor

It wasn't just the near sold-out crowd of 18,000-plus who came to pay tribute to the music, environmental stewardship or the politics of a lanky, lucid banjo player by the name of Pete Seeger [ tickets ]. Many of the dozens of performers who took the stage at Madison Square Garden Sunday (5/3) to honor Seeger on his 90th birthday also were moved in some way by this man who is regarded by many as something of an American treasure.

For John Mellencamp [ tickets ], "If I Had A Hammer (The Hammer Song)" was the first tune he ever learned to play on guitar. For Dave Matthews [ tickets ], it was the childhood memory of a Seeger performance--the first concert Matthews ever attended along with his mom when they lived in the suburbs of Westchester County, NY.

For Bruce Springsteen [ tickets ], it was the three-hour ride he shared with Seeger on the way to Barack Obama's inauguration, during which Seeger shared deep background about how "We Shall Overcome" morphed from a labor song to one of the preeminent and uniting civil-rights anthems.

For British folkie Billy Bragg [ tickets ], it was Seeger's plying him to script a new verse to the popular labor ballad "The Internationale," which Bragg said now appears alongside the original lyrics in the Industrial Workers of the World's Little Red Songbook.

And for Sesame Street's Oscar the Grouch, it was a chance to emerge from his trash can long enough to help Tom Chapin drive home the point of Bill Steele's song "Garbage"--with an emphasis on Seeger's final verse, which resonated with extreme contemporary relevance:

"There stocks and their bonds--all garbage!
Garbage! Garbage! Garbage! Garbage!
What will they do when their system goes to smash
There's no value to their cash
There's no money to be made
But there's a world to be repaid ..."

Secondary to the celebration was the real reason why Seeger, who prefers small gatherings, weathered the four-and-a-half-hour love-fest of songs and stories with appropriate candor: proceeds from the show all went to sustain the work of his Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a nonprofit activist and educational organization that he co-founded in 1966, and its namesake single-masted vessel, which helps police protect the once terribly polluted Hudson River.

While the list of guest performers was formidable, leaving one to wonder how all these folks could possibly enjoy a moment in the spotlight, the clever use of clusters of musicians left precious little time for any of them to take the stage alone.

In fact, only Mellencamp and Matthews, along with Joan Baez [ tickets ], Richie Havens [ tickets ], Seeger's sister Peggy and the guest of honor himself enjoyed a few brief moments alone on stage. It was Peggy Seeger who called for a round of applause for the backstage crew, who appeared to work magically, shuttling the many clusters of performers on and off the stage while leaving no more than a minute or two in between.

And it was among those clusters that most of the night's magic happened.

Slide-guitar wizard Warren Haynes [ tickets ] and banjo prodigy Tony Trischka [ tickets ] were on stage often, lending their instrumental talents. Early in the first set, Trischka also joined Bela Fleck [ tickets ] for a banjo medley of Seeger ditties, and later lent some gumbo flavored authenticity to "Oh Mary Don't You Weep," with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, US Rep. John Hall (of No Nukes and Orleans fame), Arlo Guthrie and Del McCoury.

Meanwhile, Haynes pitched in vocals on "Maggies Farm," along with Havens, Kris Kristofferson, Taj Mahal, Keller Williams and Rambling Jack Elliott.

Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello also was a conspicuous supporting player on a half-dozen numbers, most notably accompanying Springsteen on "The Ghost of Tom Joad," and Taj Mahal on the seminal anti-war ballad, "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy," which Seeger has credited with helping end the war in Viet Nam.

Other high points of the show included Tommy Sands and His Irish Band performing the full version of "Little Boxes," which many fans of the cable series "Weeds" became familiar with after it was adopted as the opening theme.

Kristofferson and Ani DiFranco looked like they were having a blast taking the tune "Hole In The Bucket" full circle; Band of Horses lent Ben Bridwell and Tyler Ramsey to back Roger McQuinn on "Turn, Turn, Turn," which featured the only apparent technical gaffe of the night when McGuinn's electric 12-string guitar remained turned off during the song's trademark solo; and the red-vested New York City Labor Chorus was never far from the stage, lending their collective voices to many of the performances.

Non-musicians including actor Tim Robbins and Ruby Dee took appropriate turns paying tribute at the microphone, while Norman Lear opened the second set reading from a congratulatory letter to Seeger from President Obama.

But the most affecting moments of the evening happened when Seeger took to the stage.

From the haunting opening notes he played on recorder while the Native American Cultural Alliance backed him on indigenous instruments, to his inspiring conducting of the entire audience singing "Amazing Grace," to the full cast of players surrounding him to sing "This Land Is Your Land" and an impromptu "Happy Birthday," it was clear to all that, like the single mast supporting the sails of a mighty schooner, one man has made a difference, and will continue to do so long into the foreseeable future.

To learn more about Pete Seeger's favorite cause, go to clearwater.org.

 

 

Tommy Sands, with daughter Moya and son Fionan, whose new cd "Let the circle be wide" has just gone to number 25 in the American Radio Folk charts has been invited by Pete Seeger to perform at the "concert of the century" in Madison Square Garden New York on May 3rd.

It will be Pete's 90th Birthday party and others on the bill include  Bruce Springstein, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, Steve Earl, Arlo Guthrie, Eddie Veddar, Emmy Lou Harris and Rambling Jack Elliott.

Here's the huge cast of characters who will be performing:

Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, John Mellencamp, Juanes, Ani DiFranco, Arlo Guthrie, Bela Fleck, Ben Bridwell, Ben Harper, Billy Bragg, Billy Nershi, Bruce Cockburn, Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Keller Williams, Kris Kristofferson, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Michael Franti, Patterson Hood, Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Del McCoury, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Richie Havens, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Tom Morello, Warren Haynes, Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Dar Williams, Guy Davis, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Larry Long, Mike & Ruthy, Native American Indian Cultural Alliance, NYC Labor Chorus, Scarlet Moore, Silvio Rodriguez, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, Tom Chapin, Tom Paxton, Tommy Sands, Tony Trischka, and Toshi Reagon.

Der Tommy Sands-Song Co. Down ist in London im Rahmen der BBC Awards 2004 als "Best Original Song Of The Year" ausgezeichnet worden. 

"Co. Down" - Tommy Sands (performed by Danú)
Tommy Sands is one of Ireland's most powerful singer-songwriters. Sands' songs have been recorded by major artists, translated into many languages and included in the syllabus of German schools. In 2002, The University of Nevada awarded Sands an honorary doctorate for his outstanding work as musical ambassador for peace and understanding. His song "There Were Roses" was nominated for last year's award.


Joan Baez und Robin Cook (r.) gratulieren 
Tommy Sands (l.)anläßlich der Überreichung 
der Auszeichnung in London durch die BBC.

Tommy Sands wird in der Zeit vom 08.-15.10.2004 auf Einladung der Indian Peoples Theatre Association, West Bengal beim Festival Mass Song Fair 2004 in Calcutta / Indien mitwirken.
Das Festival musste wegen anstehender Wahlen in Indien kurzfristig von März auf Oktober 2004 verlegt werden. Dadurch bedingt hat auch die für Deutschland geplante Solo-Tournee des Künstlers eine neue Terminierung erfahren.