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American folksinger, composer, song collector,
and five-string banjo virtuoso Peter Seeger, b. New York City,
May 3, 1919, has been a leading force in the movement to revive
the FOLK MUSIC tradition in America. His father, Charles Seeger,
b. Mexico City, Dec. 14, 1886, d. Feb. 8, 1979, was a musicologist.
Pete's stepmother Ruth Crawford Seeger, b. East Liverpool,
Ohio, July 3, 1901, d. Nov. 18, 1953, composed her own music,
tightly organized atonal pieces, as well as transcribing and
arranging hundreds of folksongs from the Archive of American
Folksong. Half brother Michael, b. New York City, Aug. 15,
1933, is a folk-song collector and founder of the New Lost
City Ramblers. Half sister Margaret (Peggy Seeger), b. New
York City, June 17, 1935, sang as a soloist and with her husband,
the Scottish folk specialist Ewan MacColl (1915-89).
Pete Seeger left Harvard University during his sophomore year,
first to hobo around the United States, then to work in the
field with John and Alan Lomax , the song collectors. In 1940,
Seeger and Woody GUTHRIE organized the Almanac Singers; in
1948, Seeger helped to found The Weavers, a commercially successful
folk group and the inspiration for such later groups as the
Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Seeger recorded more
than 50 albums and, after the blacklisting 1950s, appeared
regularly in concerts and on television. The many famous songs
he composed include "If I Had a Hammer" (written
with Lee Hayes), "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," and
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone."
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