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Post by doctork on Jan 28, 2014 12:58:07 GMT -5
It must be noted. He is gone.
But I am too sad, it is too personal. I can't talk about it right now.
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Post by joew on Jan 28, 2014 16:02:44 GMT -5
I've been spending the day watching videos of Pete, with a short detour into Johnny Cash.
Over on music to share, I've posted a video which has him with the Weavers.
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Post by Gracie on Jan 28, 2014 21:20:07 GMT -5
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Post by gailkate on Jan 29, 2014 0:11:11 GMT -5
We're all feeling a painful loss, but let's celebrate a life well lived. What a dear, brave, dedicated man. And unflagging! He just wouldn't stop singing.
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Post by doctork on Jan 29, 2014 1:42:30 GMT -5
Gracie, I played "How Can I Keep From Singing" as well as "Precious Friend" (both from the liver album Pete and Arlo did together) while driving to and from work today.
I've always celebrated his life well lived, but right now the personal and painful loss is still large.
My daughter emailed me early today about Pete and said she was so grateful I had taken her to meet him; she would never forget that day. Yeah, neither will I. Nor any of the other days and times with Pete.
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Post by joew on Jan 29, 2014 3:07:54 GMT -5
Gracie, I played "How Can I Keep From Singing" as well as "Precious Friend" (both from the liver album Pete and Arlo did together) while driving to and from work today. I've always celebrated his life well lived, but right now the personal and painful loss is still large. My daughter emailed me early today about Pete and said she was so grateful I had taken her to meet him; she would never forget that day. Yeah, neither will I. Nor any of the other days and times with Pete. How blessed you are to have actually spent time with him. I was able to attend a Weavers concert in Constitution Hall when I was in college, but that was the only time I was in his presence.
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Post by jspnrvr on Jan 29, 2014 4:56:41 GMT -5
I'll contribute one for all the good times:
I've met/heard a number of Pete's contemporaries but never Pete himself. I remember this concert from PBS.
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Post by doctork on Jan 29, 2014 9:25:42 GMT -5
I was indeed very blessed to spend time crewing on the sloop Clearwater back in its very early days when Pete Seeger had first got it started. Pete spearheaded the effort back then to get the Hudson River cleaned up, and the Clearwater with its mostly volunteer crew was critical to that effort. Pete and his wife Toshi spent most of their time those early summers down at the dock where the sloop was located, and sailing out on the river with us, helping educate everyone about how and why we needed to clean up the Hudson.
The effort continues today in the annual Great Hudson River Revival festival, and the Clearwater still sails out of a port upriver in Kingston, carrying on the cause of environmental education.
There is probably no more magical memory in my memory bank than Pete on his banjo and me on my guitar, leading an on-board group in singing "Shenandoah" while we pause in the quiet of the center of the Hudson River.
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Post by Gracie on Jan 29, 2014 9:49:41 GMT -5
Oh my, Doc....what I wouldn't give to have experienced that.
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Post by BoatBabe on Jan 29, 2014 9:53:49 GMT -5
We will always love you, Pete.
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Post by doctork on Jan 29, 2014 18:38:44 GMT -5
Oh my, Doc....what I wouldn't give to have experienced that. That is one of the best moments of my life. Ever. And all I had to do was, when Pete asked "Can you help me clean the Hudson with the sloop Clearwater?" I just said, "Sure Pete, I'll help." And you know, the thing about Pete, he made it so it didn't matter that I wasn't a great guitar player, or a great singer, or great song leader. Nope, he showed me you just have to try, with enthusiasm, put in the effort, and there you are. Looking and sounding good in front of the group, getting those kids/people to see how important it is to clean up the Hudson. Yes, we all love him. He loved us too.
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Post by BoatBabe on Jan 29, 2014 21:40:00 GMT -5
Oh my, Doc....what I wouldn't give to have experienced that. That is one of the best moments of my life. Ever. And all I had to do was, when Pete asked "Can you help me clean the Hudson with the sloop Clearwater?" I just said, "Sure Pete, I'll help." And you know, the thing about Pete, he made it so it didn't matter that I wasn't a great guitar player, or a great singer, or great song leader. Nope, he showed me you just have to try, with enthusiasm, put in the effort, and there you are. Looking and sounding good in front of the group, getting those kids/people to see how important it is to clean up the Hudson. Yes, we all love him. He loved us too. That really is a fabulous story, Doc, and what a wonderful, personal memory for you! Thanks for sharing that with us. I've always admired and followed Pete's career, feeling like he was my friend as well, but I didn't have the opportunity to meet him. I just play and sing his songs, like we all do. Nothing better than a Pete Seeger song to get everyone singing along!
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Post by joew on Jan 29, 2014 23:54:05 GMT -5
As I was watching video after video the other day, it was really striking how much he wanted the audience to sing along. It wasn't about showing off his talent; it was joining the people for some singing.
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Post by doctork on Jan 30, 2014 9:36:14 GMT -5
That's exactly right Joe. It was not about Pete. His talent was especially in getting other people to join in The Effort, and singing along is a really good way to get that started. Did you watch him at the first Obama inauguration, with Bruce Springsteen et al? He and Bruce were up there in front, but the important things were happening with The People in the audience.
He said that whenever you get people together you are in politics - you are affecting the "body politic." That is how things get done. Not by one guy or gal who is The Star.
That is why, with no talent or experience, I could be a pretty good shanty singer on the Clearwater. Pete showed me that. And a lot of other things too. What an adventure that was.
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Post by Gracie on Feb 1, 2014 12:48:53 GMT -5
I just read this, and since I loved Peter, Paul and Mary--so many of the wonderful folksingers--I thought you would enjoy reading it, too. Here's for everyone who might have missed it.
My Last Visit With Pete
I had the privilege and honor to be with Pete this past Monday, not long before he finally passed. I came directly to his hospital room from the airport where I’d arrived from Tel Aviv, having just sung a couple of Pete’s songs the night before (“If I Had a Hammer” and “We Shall Overcome”) in a meeting with folks involved in efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East. The magic of Pete’s songs, as frequently occurs, had a remarkable effect. When the discussion stopped and the music began that night in Ramallah, the spirit in the room changed; “positive” and “enthusiastic” replaced “not so sure” as we created a concrete plan that - who knows? one can always hope - might play a small part in, at last, bringing about a successful peace process.
I was not sure how much Pete understood my words but, nevertheless, by his bedside I told him about the previous night’s events before singing “We Shall Overcome” with his family and friends assembled. This song was shared close to the end of what was almost an hour and a half of remarkable singing at Pete’s bedside. Pete’s daughter Tinya, Pete’s grandson Kitama, other relatives, as well as beloved allies and friends - many who worked with Pete for years on the amazing Clearwater Sloop effort - sang together.
When I had first entered Pete’s room, I had quickly unpacked my guitar and then waited for the loveliest of songs to be finished by one of Pete’s extended family. Then I started to sing a subdued but still gently defiant (if that be possible) version of “We Shall Not Be Moved”. We all crowded around Pete, singing this old Union Song together, with friends on each side of the bed holding his hands. We sang that song for perhaps 7 or 8 minutes, with many verses about “young and old together”, “black and white together”, “gay and straight together”, “the union is behind us”, “no more poison fracking”, on and on.
Slowly the strength and beauty of the singing began to carry us all with it as we felt each other’s hearts unite, all of us singing directly to Pete, and beginning to ride on the sweetness of the sound we were making together. Everyone there was a really good singer and picker and everyone was wordlessly agreeing which song would come next, who would take a verse and how to sing a bit more passionately for a moment and then bring down the energy the next.
For me, it was precisely like some of the most wonderful moments I'd had with Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers when we felt so close and so intuitive that we fairly sailed together, enveloped in a beautiful gliding spirit that was no one’s and everyone’s doing. Honestly, it was more beautiful and peaceful, loving and joyous, (yes and tearful and, yes, reverent) than I can adequately describe.
A number of Pete’s Sloop songs were led by others, and I included “Oh. Freedom”, “Down By the Riverside”, “Talking Union” and “Union Maid” (we got most of the lyrics thanks to others’ memories filling in), a memorable version of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”, and even a passionate yet gentle version of “If I Had a Hammer”.
I wanted to tell Pete about singing “No Easy Walk to Freedom” with Noel Paul and Bethany & Rufus at the memorial for Nelson Mandela at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC a few weeks before, where, prior to our singing the song, I told the august audience of dignitaries from around the world of the trio having gotten arrested in our 25th year together as an act of civil disobedience in front of the South African Embassy (singing, what else?, “We Shall Overcome” along with my daughter, Bethany, Mary’s daughter Alicia, Mary’s mother Virginia, Rabbi David Saperstein and his colleague). I noted that Vice-President Joe Biden gave me the thumbs-up sign from the front row of hundreds of members of Congress when I mentioned that over 3,000 people got arrested over a two year period. I said that I was so proud that, together, Americans did make a difference by supporting the US boycott of South Africa to end Apartheid, and that the US finally agreed to end the boycott only if South Africa agreed to release Nelson Mandela — and that all this was only possible because Rep. Howard Wolpe drove the boycott vote over two successive vetoes by the then president, Ronald Reagan.
Lots of history, I know, but when we sang the song for Pete, having shared the above, I felt I was telling Pete, “See? We are all carrying it on in your footsteps, dear and beloved Pete, our mentor, our father (figure) to some like me (though he didn’t know it), our path blazer and brave leader.” “No Easy Walk”, as we sang it, was joyous, still subdued as was appropriate, but passionate. It was a great moment for me.
Some of us shared brief anecdotes with Pete prior to singing the songs. Also, it seemed that Pete was trying to sing along on some tunes, particularly on Woody’s “This Land Is Your Land”, despite the oxygen plastic cup covering his mouth and resting on his neck. When he raised his head and stretched his neck, it looked that way, though he might have been just reaching for more oxygen. I really don’t know, but there was no doubt, and it seemed clear, that Pete was really listening and enjoying the music lots and lots. Kitama later emailed me, “I am confident he knew who you were and recognized the songs.”
Pete’s wish, as Kitama had told me when he texted me “bring your guitar” to the hospital, was that he be surrounded by music in such a circumstance if it were to occur, and for about an hour and a half of true joy and some tears (of course), a great spiritual force filled the room and all our hearts.
Some of us said, “I love you” to Pete, as did I when I kissed his forehead before I left. “You’ve been my inspiration my whole life”, I said, and then remembering that at some point I was only 6 months old, I added “at least, most of my life”. I packed my guitar and left, noting that I’d be back the next day to sing once more, which did not, of course, come to pass.
I left feeling really peaceful and complete, with a feeling that Pete was, as he has always been, deep inside me. I also knew, though Pete would have been shy to acknowledge it, that there are thousands of (as Mary called our trio) “Seeger’s Raiders” who will carry on with Pete in their hearts, sharing the great gift of his music and his truly giving, uncompromising, pure spirit still resonating within us all.
As Arlo has so aptly said to Pete, in his imagined conversation, “See you soon” - and indeed I do, and shall, for the rest of my life.
Peter Yarrow, Jan 29, 2014
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Post by doctork on Feb 1, 2014 16:37:42 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that Gracie. I'd seen a clip of an interview about Pete with Peter Yarrow, but this is much more complete.
I didn't hear the "Seeger's Raiders" part, but how true.
I've led the singing of "We Shall Overcome" and "We Shall Not be Moved" in Kabul, at the Erez Crossing into Gaza, and in Jerusalem. I start off, then somebody else gets the idea and thinks of a verse appropriate to that locale/situation. Probably a few more places too, but those are the ones that strike me as carrying on For Pete.
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Post by Gracie on Feb 1, 2014 16:44:01 GMT -5
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Post by gailkate on Feb 2, 2014 9:39:59 GMT -5
Thanks, Grace. Since I don't do football, this will be a fine program to watch right after Renee sings our anthem.
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Post by doctork on Feb 2, 2014 10:10:23 GMT -5
I'm gonna watch the game, but I'll watch Pete too, as soon as "A Thousand Clowns" finishes on TCM!
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Post by BoatBabe on Feb 2, 2014 14:00:24 GMT -5
Thanks so much, Gracie. That was killer.
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Post by joew on Feb 2, 2014 23:54:49 GMT -5
Thanks for the link, Gracie. I watched most of it last night, and just finished the rest. What a wonderful summary of a wonderful man's wonderful life!
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Post by Gracie on Feb 3, 2014 8:53:19 GMT -5
You're welcome, everyone. It was just too good not to share.
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