Pete Seeger: Live In Australia 1963
Studio: Acorn Media
Year: 1963
Rated: Not Rated
Program Length: 105 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Languages: English Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: None
The Program
Sometimes I worry that I’m just a Pollyanna urging folks to continue hoping. But consider – the Agricultural Revolution took thousands of years; the Industrial Revolution took hundreds of years; the Information Revolution is only taking decades. But if the Human Race uses it, and uses the brains God gave us, there is a good chance that the moral revolution (that great leaders worldwide have said must come) may actually take place this century. Who knows? – Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger lives just a few miles from me, and I was inspired to write to him last year after seeing a show about his life on PBS. He graciously responded with a handwritten note, which is the source of the above quotation. This first time that I saw Pete Seeger in person was in 1999. The Village of Fishkill, New York has an annual Fourth of July celebration during which the Declaration of Independence is read aloud. That year Seeger was invited to do the reading, and several hundred people turned out for the event. Afterwards he led the crowd in the singing of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” However, the most telling moment of the day was when a man pushed his way to the front of the crowd and protested Seeger’s presence, calling him “an enemy of the United States.” Most of the people in attendance booed the man, but Seeger’s response was to chastise the crowd. “The man has a right to speak,” he reminded us. Indeed, in a very real sense the protestor’s freedom of speech was precisely the point of the celebration.
Seeger had been a member of the Communist Party, and in 1955 he was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Other entertainers who had been subpoenaed by HUAC had invoked the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer questions, but Seeger insisted that he did not have to testify because he was protected by the First Amendment. "I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this." He was subsequently indicted and convicted of contempt of Congress. Because of the indictment he was unable to leave the country and he was blacklisted from appearing on television. His conviction was overturned on appeal in 1962, but the television blacklisting persisted. With the contempt charges behind him, he decided to embark upon a ten-month tour of 22 countries around the world. The first stop on the tour was Australia.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation obtained the rights to televise the September 16, 1963 concert which was held in Melbourne. The film of the concert was largely forgotten but was discovered in 2006, where it had been gathering dust in the ABC archives. A restoration project ensued, and the result is this DVD.
Seeger takes the stage at the Melbourne Town Hall before a packed house, so crowded that rows of temporary seats were set up on the stage behind the singer. His Australian fans quickly discover that a Pete Seeger concert is an interactive experience. He loves nothing more than to have his audience sing along with him, something for which this group obviously is not prepared. His gentle encouragement is quite effective, however, and before long the initially reticent crowd of mostly college-age men and women is joining in and contributing harmony to his songs.
The concert is 105 minutes of nearly non-stop music. The play list is remarkably eclectic, ranging from children’s songs to melodies by Bach and Beethoven:
Skip to My Lou
The Frozen Logger
Pretty Polly
The Wild Rover
Woody Guthrie Medley (I’m Gonna Mail Myself to You, Put Your Finger in the Air, Union Maid, The Ladies’ Auxiliary)
Roll on Columbia, Roll On
Cripple Creek/Leather Britches
Down By the Riverside
Windy Old Weather
Highland Laddie
Kum By Ya
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Allegretto from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony
Way Out There
I Never Will Marry
Freihait (Freedom)
Luar de Serato
Genbaku O Yurusumagi (Never Again the A-Bomb)
Michael, Row the Boat Ashore
Living in the Country
The Bells of Rhymney
What Did You Learn in School Today
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
If I Had a Hammer
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Accompanied only by his banjo, guitar, and his two tapping feet, Seeger also engages his audience with stories about his songs and references to the joy he finds in singing to children. He also places the concert in historical context, dedicating it to the four black girls who were murdered in a church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama just a day earlier. At one point he mentions that the concert is running long, but he nevertheless sings several more songs before calling it a night.
Pete Seeger: Live in Australia 1963 is a remarkable slice of history. Even more remarkable is the fact that the man is still active and vibrant. A 90th birthday celebration concert which was held for him at Madison Square Garden in New York is currently airing on PBS, and viewers of that show will note that he still encourages his audience to sing along. His commitment to cleaning up the Hudson River has never waned, and he continues to make appearances to promote the work of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the environmental group which he founded in 1969.
“Icon” is a word which perfectly describes Pete Seeger, so it is fitting that this DVD is the first in a series of "Folk Icons" DVDs which will be released by Acorn. Anyone wishing to sample the video and audio of this DVD can take a look at it here:
The Video
The video quality of this DVD is very good, particularly when its age and inherent limitations are taken into account. It was filmed for television and the black and white picture is properly framed at 4:3. There are some scratches and a few brief moments where the video is a bit ragged, but for the most part it is surprisingly sharp and very easy to watch. The black and white image has good contrast, so while it looks its age it does not have the washed-out look that we sometimes see on DVDs of old television programs. There are no jumps and the picture never loses focus. On balance I have to say that the video is more than satisfactory, especially considering that the original elements were neglected for more than 40 years.
The Audio
The Dolby Digital mono soundtrack is solid, with just a few moments where the guitar and banjo sound slightly distorted. As the included booklet explains, the fact that the audio is almost entirely clean is remarkable, because when the original film was discovered the audio tracks had deteriorated to the point where they were unusable. However, usable audio tracks were discovered in the edited television version of the concert, and more usable tracks were found elsewhere. Engineers were able to synch the audio tracks to the unedited film, and the result is so good that you would never know that restoring the audio was such a challenge.
The Supplements
The extras include a 16-page booklet which includes background on Pete Seeger’s life and music. Although no American television network would allow him to appear on a show in 1963, he was warmly welcomed by both his fans and the press in Australia. The booklet also includes a photo montage of vintage concert posters, record album covers, magazine articles, books, etc.
“Bandstand” is an excerpt from an Australian television program on which Seeger appeared during his concert tour. He plays two songs and is interviewed by the show’s host.
“Folk Singers Report” is a two-minute interview conducted at Sydney University a few days before the Melbourne concert.
“News Footage” is a very brief interview in which Seeger sings a satirical ditty called “Newspaper Men Meet Such Interesting People.”
“Pete Sings” was filmed at the University of New South Wales and includes excerpts of him singing “John Henry,” “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.”
“Two Links of a Chain: The Story of Leadbelly” is a 30-minute television program which was filmed in Sydney. Seeger appears before a small audience and talks about how he was influenced by his friendship with Huddie William Ledbetter, the black folk singer who was known as “Leadbelly” (or “Lead Belly,” as Ledbetter spelled it). Included is rare filmed footage of Ledbetter singing. Seeger sings “Goodnight Irene,” “Ha Ha This A-Way,” The Bourgeois Blues, “Didn’ Ol’ John,” and “Queensland Overlanders,” and he also demonstrates what a “work song” means by chopping wood while the audience looks on!
Finally, “Duke Tritton” is a short film about Mr. Tritton, an Australian singer of bush songs. Tritton was then 77 years old, and Seeger brought him on stage to sing during the Sydney concerts. Tritton had led a colorful life, including 15 years shearing sheep back in the day when the shearing was done by hand with manual clippers.
The Packaging
The single disc comes in standard keep case which also houses the informational booklet.
The Final Analysis
Fans of folk songs in general and Pete Seeger in particular will want to see this DVD. The concert is wonderfully engaging, and the extras are informative and entertaining. At one point an interviewer asks him if the increasing popularity of folk songs might diminish the genre. The question struck me as an invitation for Pete Seeger, an authentic folk singer, to criticize some of the more pop-oriented folk groups which had sprung up in the early sixties. To his credit, Seeger does not take the bait. If he will not criticize someone who calls him an enemy of the United States, why would he even entertain the thought of disparaging other singers? No, Pete Seeger would just encourage them to keep on singing - just as he has done.
Equipment used for this review:
Toshiba HD-XA-2 DVD player
Panasonic Viera TC-P46G15 Plasma display
Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver
BIC Acoustech speakers
Interconnects: Monster Cable
Release Date: Available Now (released April 28, 2009)
