Mike Seeger Research Guide: From the Library Catalog
Books
Music from the True Vine by
A musician, documentarian, scholar, and one of the founding members of the influential folk revival group the New Lost City Ramblers, Mike Seeger (1933-2009) spent more than fifty years collecting, performing, and commemorating the culture and folk music of white and black southerners, which he called "music from the true vine." In this fascinating biography, Bill Malone explores the life and musical contributions of folk artist Seeger, son of musicologists Charles and Ruth Crawford Seeger and brother of folksingers Pete and Peggy Seeger. Malone argues that Seeger, while not as well known as his brother, may be more important to the history of American music through his work in identifying and giving voice to the people from whom the folk revival borrowed its songs. Seeger recorded and produced over forty albums, including the work of artists such as Libba Cotten, Tommy Jarrell, Dock Boggs, and Maybelle Carter. In 1958, with an ambition to recreate the southern string bands of the twenties, he formed the New Lost City Ramblers, helping to inspire the urban folk revival of the sixties. Music from the True Vine presents Seeger as a gatekeeper of American roots music and culture, showing why generations of musicians and fans of traditional music regard him as a mentor and an inspiration.
Call Number: ML420.S4447 M36 2011ISBN: 9780807835104Publication Date: 2011-10-24
The Early Years of Folk Music by
This history of folk music looks at musicians, collectors and other figures from around the world. The book presents an overview of international folk roots and shows the contributions of the artists and the evolution of folk music as a force for political and social change. Profiles of Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie and others show how the stage was set for the American folk revival of the 1960s.
Call Number: ML3545 .D56 2010ISBN: 9780786444311Publication Date: 2010-04-01
Charles Seeger by
The life of Charles Seeger (1886-1979) - composer, teacher, performer, beureaucrat, inventor, musicologist - spanned 92 years and touched many areas of American music. Almost every modern musician has been affected by some aspect of Seeger's life and work.
Call Number: ML423.S498 P5 1992ISBN: 0822937131Publication Date: 1992-12-01
Understanding Charles Seeger, Pioneer in Musicology by
A giant in the development of American musicology, Charles Seeger was a scholar- musician active in practically all areas of musical endeavor. This wide-ranging collection investigates Seeger's writings on music, musical research, and the responsibility of the musician and musicologist to society. A social activist who played a leadership role in the Composers Collective in 1930s New York and in the founding of scholarly organizations including the American Musicological Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology, Seeger was a philosopher as well as a builder. His ideas about music and musicology, incorporating perspectives as wide-ranging as physics, philosophy, and anthropology, set the stage for the rise of modern ethnomusicology. Key to the establishment of formal musical scholarship in the United States, Seeger was also vitally interested in nurturing uniquely American musical forms and in bridging the gap between academia and the world outside the ivory tower. By presenting new views of Seeger's thought, incorporating in particular often neglected early writings, Understanding Charles Seeger, Pioneer in American Musicology provides a unique perspective on intellectual history in twentieth- century America
Call Number: ML423.S498 P5 1992ISBN: 0252024931Publication Date: 1999-08-25
Studies in Musicology II, 1929-1979 by
Henry Cowell called Charles Seeger "the greatest musical explorer in intellectual fields which America has produced, the greatest experimental musicologist." This collection of Seeger's essays, together with Studies in Musicology, 1935-1975, constitutes a major selected edition of the work of a man who was an international figure in every sphere of music. Both volumes contain deeply philosophical essays on subjects ranging over the entire musical spectrum. This second volume, compiled by Seeger's biographer, Ann M. Pescatello, contains several of his finest theoretical pieces, including the previously unpublished book manuscript, Tradition and Experiment in (the New) Music, a major addition to music literature. In today's changing world of musicology, Seeger's ideas have never had a greater relevance. This new collection is richly rewarding for music scholars and students, composers and critics, educators and connoisseurs.
Call Number: ML60.S444 S4 1994ISBN: 0520077911Publication Date: 1995-01-11
Ruth Crawford Seeger by
Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) is frequently considered the most significant American female composer in this century. Joining Aaron Copland and Henry Cowell as a key member of the 1920s musical avant-garde, she went on to study with modernist theorist and future husband Charles Seeger,writing her masterpiece, String Quartet 1931, not long after. But her legacy extends far beyond the cutting edge of modern music. Collaborating with poet Carl Sandburg on folk song arrangements in the twenties, and with the famous folk-song collectors John and Alan Lomax in the 1930s, she emerged asa central figure in the American folk music revival, issuing several important books of transcriptions and arrangements and pioneering the use of American folk songs in children's music education. Radicalized by the Depression, she spent much of the ensuing two decades working aggressively forsocial change with her husband and stepson, the folksinger Pete Seeger.This engrossing new biography emphasizes the choices Crawford Seeger made in her roles as composer, activist, teacher, wife and mother. The first woman to win a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in music composition, Crawford Seeger nearly gave up writing music as the demands of family, politics,and the folk song movement intervened. It was only at the very end of her life, with cancer sapping her strength, that she returned to composing. Written with unique insight and compassion, this book offers the definitive treatment of a fascinating twentieth-century figure.
Call Number: ML410.S4446 T5 1997ISBN: 0195065093Publication Date: 1997-09-25
Ruth Crawford Seeger's Worlds by
Interdisciplinary perspectives on the life and work of the esteemed "ultra-modern" American composer and pioneering folk music activist, Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953). Ruth Crawford Seeger's Worlds offers new perspectives on the life and pioneering musical activities of American composer and folk music activist Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953). Ruth Crawford developed a unique modernist style with such now-esteemed works as her String Quartet 1931. In 1933, after marrying Charles Seeger, she turned to the work of teaching music to children and of transcribing, arranging, and publishing folk songs. Thiscollection of studies by musicologists, music theorists, folklorists, historians, music educators, and women's studies scholars reveals how innovation and tradition have intertwined in surprising ways to shape the cultural landscape of twentieth-century America. Contributors: Lyn Ellen Burkett, Melissa J. De Graaf, Taylor A. Greer, Lydia Hamessley, Bess Lomax Hawes, Jerrold Hirsch, Roberta Lamb, Carol J. Oja, Nancy Yunhwa Rao, Joseph N. Straus,Judith Tick. Ray Allen (Brooklyn College) is author of Singing in the Spirit: African-American Sacred Quartets in New York City. Ellie M. Hisama (Columbia University) is author of Gendering Musical Modernism: The Music of Ruth Crawford Seeger, Marion Bauer, and Miriam Gideon.
Call Number: ML410.S4446 R88 2007ISBN: 9781580462129Publication Date: 2007-02-01
The Music of American Folk Song by
This is the first publication of an annotated monograph by the noted composer and folksong scholar Ruth Crawford Seeger. Originally written as a foreword for the 1940 book Our Singing Country, it was considered too long and was replaced by a much shorter version. According to her stepson, Pete Seeger, when the original was not included "Ruth suffered one of the biggest disappointments of the last ten years of her life. It just killed her . . . She was trying to analyze the whole style and problem of performing this music." Along with her children Mike and Peggy Seeger, he has long desired to see this work in print as it was meant to be read. The manuscript has been edited from several varying sources by Larry Polansky, with the assistance of Seeger's biographer Judith Tick. It is divided into two sections: I. "A Note on Transcription" and II. "Notes on the Songs and on Manners of Singing." Seeger examines all aspects of the relationship between singer, song, notation, the eventual performer, and the transcriber. In Section I, Seeger develops a complex and well-organized system of notation for these songs which is meant to be both descritive (transcription as cultural preservation) and prescriptive (she intended that others would be able to perform these songs). In Section II, she provides an interpretive theory for performance of this music, and suggests how performers might make the songs "their own" through a deep knowledge of the original styles. Ruth Crawford Seeger considered this work to be both a major accomplishment and a central statement of her own ideas on the topic. Larry Polansky is Associate Professor of Music at Dartmouth College, and a well-known composer and theorist on American music. Judith Tick is Professor of Music at Northeastern University and author of the first major biography of Ruth Crawford Seeger.
Call Number: ML3551.1 .S44 2001ISBN: 9781580460958Publication Date: 2002-08-07
The Pete Seeger Reader by
Perhaps the most widely recognized figure in folk music and one of the most controversial figures in American political activism, Pete Seeger now belongs among the icons of 20th-century American culture. The road to his current status as activist and respected voice of folk music was long andoften rough, starting from the moment he dropped out of Harvard in the late 1930s and picked up a banjo. Editors Cohen and Capaldi trace Seeger's long and storied career, focusing on his work as not only a singer, but as an educator, songwriter, organizer, publisher, and journalist. The son ofmusicians, Seeger began his musical career before World War II and became well-known in the 1950s as a member of the commercially popular Weavers, only to be blacklisted by much of the mainstream media in the 1960s because of his progressive politics, and to return to the music scene in subsequentdecades as a tireless educator and activist.The Pete Seeger Reader gathers writings from numerous sources, mixing Seeger's own work with that of the many people who have, over the years, written about him. Many of the pieces have never before been republished, and cover his entire career. A figure of amazing productivity, influence, andlongevity, Seeger is author of a life that has been both cast in heroic terms and vilified. The selections in this book draw from a full range of these perspectives and will inform as they entertain, bringing into focus the life and contributions of one of the most influential figures of thetwentieth century.
Call Number: ML420.S445 P48 2014ISBN: 9780199862016Publication Date: 2014-01-15
The Incompleat Folksinger by
Pete Seeger has sung as courageously as anyone has ever spoken, always in defense of the poor, the oppressed, and the exploited. His songs have enriched his life and his life has filled his songs with every emotion dear to the soul. But his deep understanding of sorrow and injustice have not spoiled a single note. He sings to enliven and encourage, to delight and tell tales. He snatches the riches of folksinging from as many sources as he can find and gives them freely and gladly to any audience that cares to listen. Decades of work and travel have made him famous but he remains forever in tune with the folk. He describes his friends and inspirations, his conflicts with the bosses and the government, his favorite songs, stories, and instruments, and the kind of learning that comes from listening carefully. "Any fool can get complicated," he writes. "We are born in simplicity but die of complications."
Call Number: ML60.S444 I5 1992ISBN: 0803292163Publication Date: 1992-11-01
How to Play the 5-String Banjo by
(Music Sales America). This basic manual for banjo players includes melody line, lyrics and banjo accompaniment and solos notated in standard form and tablature. Chapters cover material such as: a basic strum, the fifth string, hammering on, pulling off, double thumbing, and much more.
Call Number: MT562 .S44 1962ISBN: 9781597731645Publication Date: 1992-01-01
Pete Seeger's Storytelling Book by
For children raised on Abiyoyo here's a cozy collection of old and new classics to share with parents. Each section is preceded by an introduction describing the origins of the stories. Also included is a brief afterword for each story, suggesting ways to personalize the stories for the reader's own family. The book ends with a collection of story beginnings to help anyone become a storyteller.
Call Number: GR72.3 .S44 2000ISBN: 9780156013116Publication Date: 2001-09-04
Peggy Seeger by
Born into folk music's first family, Peggy Seeger has blazed her own trail artistically and personally. Jean Freedman draws on a wealth of research and conversations with Seeger to tell the life story of one of music's most charismatic performers and tireless advocates.Here is the story of Seeger's multifaceted career, from her youth to her pivotal role in the American and British folk revivals, from her instrumental virtuosity to her tireless work on behalf of environmental and feminist causes, from wry reflections on the U.K. folk scene to decades as a songwriter. Freedman also delves into Seeger's fruitful partnership with Ewan MacColl and a multitude of contributions which include creating the renowned Festivals of Fools, founding Blackthorne Records, masterminding the legendary Radio Ballads documentaries, and mentoring performers in the often-fraught atmosphere of The Critics Group. Bracingly candid and as passionate as its subject, Peggy Seeger is the first book-length biography of a life set to music.
Call Number: ML420.S44476 F74 2017ISBN: 9780252040757Publication Date: 2017-02-03
Audio
- Music of Charles Seeger by Charles SeegerCall Number: 24,140
Publication Date: 1984 - Portrait by Ruth Crawford SeegerCall Number: CD-17799
Publication Date: 1997 - The Goofing-Off Suite by Pete SeegerCall Number: 11,637s
Publication Date: 1955 - American Ballads by Pete SeegerCall Number: FC-3342
Publication Date: 1957 - Broadsides, Songs & Ballads by Pete SeegerPublication Date: 1964
- If I Had a Hammer by Pete SeegerCall Number: CD-7573
Publication Date: 1998 - Tipple, Loom, and Rail by Mike SeegerCall Number: FC-1278
Publication Date: 1966 - Solo: Oldtime Country Music by Mike SeegerCall Number: CD-13692
Publication Date: 1991 - Folk Songs of Courting and Complaint by Peggy SeegerCall Number: 11,638s
Publication Date: 1955 - Different Therefore Equal by Peggy SeegerCall Number: FC-26033
Publication Date: 1979 - From Where I Stand by Peggy SeegerPublication Date: 1982
- Strange Creek Singers by Strange Creek SingersCall Number: FC-10168
Publication Date: 1972
Additional source:
Browse and stream other Folkways audio recordings of the Seeger family with Alexander Street.
Video
- The Storied South: Voices of Writers and Artists by William FerrisCall Number: PS551 .F47 201
Publication Date: 2013 - Pete Seeger: The Power of Song by Jim BrownCall Number: DVD-634
Publication Date: 2008
Music Scores and Songbooks
- Folk Song U.S.A. by John and Alan Lomax (Arranged by), Charles and Ruth Crawford Seeger (Edited by)Call Number: M1629.L85 F6 1975
Publication Date: 1975 - Our Singing Country by John and Alan Lomax (Compiled by), Ruth Crawford Seeger (Edited by)Call Number: M1629.L85 O8 2000
ISBN: 0486410897
Publication Date: 2000 (Originally 1941) - Kaleidoscopic Changes on an Original Theme by Ruth Crawford SeegerCall Number: M25.S3885 K3 1998
Publication Date: 1998 - String Quartet 1931 by Ruth Crawford SeegerCall Number: M452.S436 Q3
Publication Date: 1941 - Nineteen American Folk Songs by Ruth Crawford Seeger; Edith E. Newman (Illustrated by)Call Number: M38.5.S44 A4 1995
ISBN: 0793548624
Publication Date: 1995 - Carry It On! by Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (Compiled by)Call Number: M1977.L3 C33 1985
ISBN: 0671499637
Publication Date: 1985 - The Goofing Off-Suite by Pete Seeger (Arranged by); Bill Faier (Transcribed by)Call Number: M123 .G65 1959
Publication Date: 1959 - Songs for the Sixties by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacCollCall Number: M1738.S45 S6
Publication Date: 1961 - The Peggy Seeger Songbook by Irene Scott (Edited by); Jacky Fleming (Drawings by)Call Number: M1627.S44 S36 1998
ISBN: 0825603447
Publication Date: 1998