Pete Seeger - American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3

Pete Seeger has long set the standard for interpreters of American traditional and topical songs. Armed with a silken, irresistible voice, bold faith in the power of song and a five-string banjo or twelve-string guitar, he offers up his music not just as entertainment, but as a means of making the world a better place. This third volume in a series of compilations of songs from the Folkways Records classic American Favorite Ballads series of the 1950s and 1960s again features Pete Seeger interpreting some of the classic songs from America’s history. These are the songs that children sing at camp and learn at school like their parents before them. This recording includes extensive notes on the history of these songs. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon. Album Description

pete finds his roots and ours

Since my youth I have had an ear for roots music, whether I was conscious of that fact or not. The original of that interest first centered on the blues, then early rock and roll and later, with the folk revival of the early 1960's, folk music. I have often wondered about the source of this interest. I am, and have always been a city boy, and an Eastern city boy at that. Nevertheless, over time I have come to appreciate many more forms of roots music than in my youth. The subject of the following review is an example.

I have done reviews of Pete Seeger's more political albums and need not address those issues here. These volumes of American classics with Pete and banjo are the songs you learned mysteriously in your youth, apparently by osmosis. As each song goes along you find yourself singing along to at least part of the song. These songs go deep into the popular culture and the roots of what makes those of us who were born here conscious of the musical influences that formed our lives. You may not like every song but the total effect will grab you. The Titanic and No Irish Need Apply stand out in this volume. June 26, 2006

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