Pete Seeger on Sesame Street

[StreetScenes]

There have been a few mentions on the forum lately of Pete Seeger, who appeared numerous times on Sesame Street and released an album with them. I think he deserves his own thread, not least because he is turning 90 on 3 May and celebrating with a concert at Madison Square Garden.

I was listening to some of his albums today, and I watched the video of him leading "This Land Is Your Land" at the inauguration, and there was talk about how gutsy & symbolic & awesomely inspiring it was that he sang the lesser-known trespassing and relief office verses. He sang those verses with Big Bird, Maria and Susan on the Pete Seeger and Brother Kirk Visit Sesame Street album. That was equally gutsy, symbolic and awesomely inspiring. That he sang those verses--and that he encouraged everyone to write their own verses--on the Sesame Street album is the very essence of what both Pete and Sesame Street model: treating all people--including kids--as intelligent and important, and daring to bring people together by celebrating both their differences and their commonalities.

I uploaded the song to sendspace, if anyone wants to download it, because like this land, Pete and Woody would agree that this song was made for you and me.

 

[Yorick]

Well said, StreetScenes! The film about him, "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song" is so inspiring! To this day, Pete's still performing. His positive work regarding civil rights, and the environment (among other great causes!) are probably what he'd like to be remembered for, and he will. As a matter of fact, that's the biggest part of why I'm a fan - his heart. But his talent it immense! His banjo playing is fantastic, and he always sings with passion. His voice is one of a kind, and still does the job today. And his vocals were especially strong when he was younger (and I mean fairly recently, considering he's in his 90's!) and he had quite a beautiful rich voice!

 

[BuddyBoy600alt]

What I remembered, Pete Seeger appeared on the celebrity version of the song: "Put Down the Duckie."