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Quote by Pete Seeger

“Alan Lomax is the person who I think should be given major credit for what has been called the "Folk Song Revival." My father participated with him because my father was a musicologist and urged trained musicians to learn about "the vernacular."”

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Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger was an American folk singer, musician, and social activist, renowned for his pivotal role in popularizing folk music in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. His music often addressed social justice and environmental concerns, and he was a leading figure in the American folk music revival. more

“I was 16 when I came to New York. I had graduated to a tenor banjo in the school jazz band, and it was kind of boring - just chords, chords, chords. Then my father took me to a mountain music and dance festival in Asheville, North Carolina, and there I saw relatively uneducated people playing great music by ear.”

People Kind School Father Saws New York Band Mountain Ears Jazz Boring Festivals Chords Great Music Carolina Uneducated North Carolina Tenors Music And Dance Banjos Jazz Band Asheville

Author:Pete Seeger

“Way back in the old days, say in Europe of the Middle Ages, you had an aristocracy, and they could afford to pay for musicians. The kings and queens had musicians in the castles, and that developed into symphony orchestras and what we call "Classical music" now.”

Way Age Pay Middle Kings Musician Europe Queens Orchestra Castles Middle Ages Symphony Classical Music Old Days Aristocracy Kings And Queens Symphony Orchestras

Author:Pete Seeger

“In the United States, many people said you can't have folk music in the United States because you don't have any peasant class. But the funny thing was, there were literally thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who loved old time fiddling, ballads, banjo tunes, blues played on the guitar, spirituals and gospel hymns. These songs and music didn't fit into any neat category of art music nor popular music nor jazz. So gradually they said well let's call it folk music.”

“I was about 16 years old years when my father took me to a square dance festival in North Carolina. For the first time in my life, I found there was music in my country that you never heard on the radio, and you didn't hear on the juke boxes, and in theaters. I fell in love with it, especially the long-necked banjos.”

Years Firsts Long Country Found Father Heard First Time Theater Radio Boxes Squares Festivals Carolina North Carolina Banjos Old Year

Author:Pete Seeger

Quote by Pete Seeger

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