Seeds: The Songs of Pete Seeger Vol 3: CD
This final, GRAMMY-nominated installment in the Appleseed label's trilogy of celebrations of Pete Seeger's music ("Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "If I Had a Song" are the first two volumes) is a 2-CD set that opens with Pete's first disc of new recordings since his 1996 Grammy winner, Pete. On disc one, 84-year-old Pete, family members
This final, GRAMMY-nominated installment in the Appleseed label's trilogy of celebrations of Pete Seeger's music ("Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "If I Had a Song" are the first two volumes) is a 2-CD set that opens with Pete's first disc of new recordings since his 1996 Grammy winner, Pete. On disc one, 84-year-old Pete, family members (grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and half-sister Peggy) and musical friends (Arlo Guthrie, Anne Hills, and Tom Pacheco, among others) perform songs he wrote, adapted or adopted. Several pro-peace songs here were recorded even as the U.S. was invading Iraq, including an updated version of the Vietnam-era "Bring Them Home" featuring guest vocalists Billy Bragg, Ani DiFranco and Steve Earle. Other songs on disc one range from the lighthearted ("English is Cuh-ray-zee," "Maple Syrup Time") and optimistic ("A Little a' This 'n' That," "Over the Rainbow") to pained political outrage ("Estadio Chile") and social commentary ("Take It from Dr. King," "Visions of Children"), concluding with the autumnal tranquility of "Sailing Down My Golden River.”
The second disc presents exclusive recordings of Seeger-related songs by a diverse assortment of highly respected folk musicians. Janis Ian, Tom Paxton, Natalie Merchant, Pete's fellow ex-Weaver Ronnie Gilbert, Holly Near and many others explore some of the lesser known entries in Seeger's repertoire. Highpoints include Pat Humphries' cover versions of Pete's meditations on the circle of life ("Old Devil Time" and "To My Old Brown Earth"), a slow, almost psychedelic rendition of "Bells of Rhymney" by Dick Gaughan, Natalie Merchant's fierce "Which Side Are You On," and Janis Ian's quietly bitter take on "Who Killed Norma Jean."
Both discs are interspersed with spoken comments by Pete, and the packing includes a 28-page booklet with extensive liner notes by Pete himself detailing the inspiration behind many of these songs.
Released 2003.
Note: The two songs Pat sings are the ones she sang to Pete at his bedside, as he passed in 2014.
CD 1 Track Listing:
Oh Sacred World
Bring Them Home (If You Love Your Uncle Sam)
Trouble at the Bottom / with Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
The Dove
English is Cuh-Ray-Zee
A Little a' This 'n' That / w/Arlo Guthrie, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
Maple Syrup Time / with Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
Odds On Favorite
Estadio Chile
Flowers of Peace / with Anne Hills
Dr. King on Violence
Take It from Dr. King
Sower of Seeds
Visions of Children / with Anna Crusis Women's Choir
Over the Rainbow
Sailing Down My Golden River
CD 2 Track Listing:
A Lucky Musician / Pete Seeger
Old Devil Time / Pat Humphries
Mrs. Clara Sullivan's Letter / John McCutcheon
Who Killed Norma Jean / Janis Ian
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring / Tony Trischka & Jennifer Kimball
Bells of Rhymney / Dick Gaughan
Turn! Turn! Turn! / Martin Simpson & Jessica Radcliffe
From Way Up Here / Michele Greene
Times A-Getting Hard, Boys / Tom Paxton
One Man's Hands / Carolyn Hester
Sacco's Letter to His Son / Magpie
Spider's Web (Natural History) / Peggy Seeger
River of My People / Herdman, Hills & Mangsen
When I Was Most Beautiful / Last Forever
Tomorrow is a Highway / Magpie with Kim & Reggie Harris
Which Side Are You On / Natalie Merchant
Precious Friend / Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert
To My Old Brown Earth / Pat Humphries
50/50 Chance / Pete Seeger