Pete Seeger Concert

General Note/Comment

• Two reel to reels. Recording of a free concert at the Stephen Foster Center, and sponsored by the Florida Folklife Program, by famed folk singer Pete Seeger. Born in 1919 in New York City, Seeger began collecting folk songs in the 1930s. After a stint at Harvard where he was studying journalism, he worked with Alan Lomax as an archivist with the Library of Congress's folklife collection. Befriended by singer Woody Guthrie, they soon formed the Almanac Singers in 1940. Later in the 1940s, he formed the Weavers, whose biggest hit was the Seeger-penned song, Good Night Irene. Seeger spent his career writing and promoting folk songs, working for labor unions, marching for civil rights and environmental causes, and recording dozens of albums. In 1977 at White Springs, he sang a mix of his own and others' folk songs, including Woody Guthrie and Florida's songwriter Will McLean (who was present in the audience.)