While the neophyte might be better advised to start with the 20-track 1972 Columbia compilation The World of Pete Seeger, this collection would make a good second purchase to hear the highlights of Seeger's major-label sojourn. Eschewing such favorites as "Little Boxes" (Seeger's sole chart single) and "If I Had a Hammer" (which Seeger co-wrote), but including many other familiar performances (among them "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"), the set is thematically organized into story songs, political songs, biographical songs, and children's songs.
This first authorized film biography poetically documents Pete Seeger’s unique experience and contributions to folk music and society. Seeger (May 3, 1919 – Jan. 27, 2014) introduced America to its own folk heritage, got a whole generation passionate about playing the guitar and picking the banjo, and got them singing together and using music as a force for social change. He deeply believed in the power of song, convinced that individuals can make a difference. Largely misunderstood by his critics, including the U.S. government, for his views on peace, civil rights and ecology, Seeger went from the top of the hit parade to the top of the blacklist — banned from commercial television for more than 17 years. Seeger’s inspiring, but not always easy, story is told by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Maines (the Dixie Chicks), Tom Paxton, Arlo Guthrie, and Seeger himself, through a remarkable historical archive.
Peter Seeger (born May 3, 1919) almost universally known as "Pete Seeger", is a folk singer and political activist. … He is perhaps best known today as the author or co-author of the songs "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", "If I Had a Hammer", and "Turn, Turn, Turn", which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and which are still sung all over the world…