This weekend, Pete Seeger celebrated his 90th birthday, and we'd like to tip our caps to him. There aren't that many greater living American icons. It's hard to even begin to list everything that he has done or been a part of, it sounds almost absurd, but just a precis: He worked with Alan Lomax; played with Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly; was part of an incredibly successful folk group, the Weavers, who were undone by their support of communism; served during World War II; was convicted of contempt of Congress by refusing to answer questions posed to him by HUAC; played and marched with Martin Luther King; founded an environmental group-Hudson River Sloop Clearwater-that has been instrumental in cleaning up New York's Hudson River; and played at Obama's inauguration. That's just a start.While we may no longer live in a time when Seeger's music can catalyze popular movements, as it did in the past, his birthday concert, which featured performances from a range of musicians from Bruce Springsteen to Dave Matthews as well as a message from President Obama, is just one small indication of his outsized influence on the American landscape. Here's just a few of the best of Seeger songs I could find with a quick look on YouTube. Happy Birthday, Pete. Hopefully we will see many more.:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnJVkEX8O4[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iAIM02kv0g&feature=related[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucczIg98Gw&feature=related[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYiKdJoSsb8&feature=related[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RL8ZcmLEB4&feature=related[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y2SIIeqy34And here is an excellent tribute to Seeger by Steve Earle.
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