Musicians Play Tribute To Folk Legend Pete Seeger
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Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews were but a few of the musicians at Madison Square Garden Sunday night to honor Pete Seeger, considered by many to be the grandfather of American folk music. NY1's Budd Mishkin filed the following report. They came not only to honor Pete Seeger on his 90th birthday, but to do what Pete Seeger does – get everyone singing.
Many of the musicians on hand for Sunday's celebration talked about how Seeger influenced them at an early age.
"When I was nine years old, my brother had guitar sitting around," said musician John Mellencamp. "Pete's song was the first song I learned how to play."
"Who sang with Paul Robeson? Who stood up against Joseph McCarthy? Who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King? He's like a history of our tradition," said musician Billy Bragg.
The evening was a benefit for one of Seeger's favorite causes, The Clearwater, a boat Seeger created in the late 1960s to try to clean up the Hudson River.
"I think I figured that sooner or later [things would get better on the Hudson River]," Seeger said. "I didn't think it would happen so soon, frankly."
"Pete and Clearwater have been responsible for educating tens of thousands of children about the importance of the ecosystem of the Hudson Valley and that can't be beat," said musician John Hall, a New York congressman.
Seeger admitted that he usually does not like big events, and even took a shot at one aspect of the evening.
"Look at the scalpers that got into the act with this particular evening, doubling the price of tickets," he said.
One theme rang throughout the four-hour concert, a theme which is perhaps Seeger's greatest legacy; the power of a song to create change.
"I can't imagine there having been a folk song revival in the U.S.A. without Pete Seeger," musician Tom Paxton said. "The impetus would have been there, but not the moral leadership that he's provided."
"I consider Pete to be the ultimate citizen activist and a lot of us aspire to be as effective as he's been," said Congressman Hall.
Pete Seeger has sung all types of songs throughout his career: union songs, anti-war songs, kids songs. But the song title that perhaps best describes his career and Sunday night was, "How can I keep from singing."