To Everything There Is a Season: Pete Seeger and the Power of Song

by Allan M. Winkler

Author or coauthor of such legendary songs as "If I Had a Hammer," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "Turn, Turn, Turn," Pete Seeger is the most influential folk singer in the history of the United States. In "To Everything There Is a Season": Pete Seeger and the Power of Song , Allan Winkler describes how Seeger applied his musical talents to improve conditions for less fortunate people everywhere. This book uses Seeger's long life and wonderful songs to reflect on the important role folk music played in various protest movements of the twentieth century.

A tireless supporter of union organization in the 1930s and 1940s, Seeger joined the Communist Party, performing his songs with banjo and guitar accompaniment to promote worker solidarity. In the 1950s, he found himself under attack during the Red Scare for his radical past. In the 1960s, he became the minstrel of the civil rights movement, focusing its energy with songs that inspired protestors and challenged the nation's patterns of racial discrimination. Toward the end of the decade, he turned his musical talents to resisting the war in Vietnam, and again drew fire from those who attacked his dissent as treason. Finally, in the 1970s, he lent his voice to the growing environmental movement by leading the drive to clean up the Hudson River. The book seeks to answer such fundamental questions What was the source of Seeger's appeal? How did he capture the attention and affection of people around the world? And why is song such a powerful medium?

Richly researched and crisply written, "To Everything There Is a Season": Pete Seeger and the Power of Song is an ideal supplement for U.S. history survey courses, as well as twentieth-century U.S. history and history of American folk music courses.

To purchase Pete Seeger songs discussed in the text, visit the following link for an iTunes playlist compiled by Oxford University

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Genres: Biography, Music, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2009

About the author

Allan M. Winkler is Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University of Ohio.

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pete Seeger was a towering figure in 20th-century popular music. He deserves a definitive biography, and I hope that one day he will get one. In the meantime this pocket-sized volume, part of Oxford University Press's "New Narratives in American History" series, provides a good overview of Seeger's life and works.

The author spent many days interviewing -- and occasionally jamming with -- his subject, several years before Seeger's death, at age 94, in 2014, but doesn't seem to have done much other original research, so most of the material here comes from either Seeger's own recollections of events (and those of his wife Toshi) or from secondary sources.

The chapters are organized thematically. Each one highlights a particular stage of Seeger's life and career, and showcases a different song:

"Talking Union"
Seeger's experiences with Alan Lomax (who first exposed him to American folk music), and Woody Guthrie (who taught him how to write folk songs); his involvement with the Almanac Singers (Lee Hays, Millard Lampell, Woody Guthrie, and Seeger); and his WWII service.

"If I Had a Hammer"
Seeger's creation, after WWII, of People's Songs, a "singing labor movement" that encouraged the creation and spread of radical protest songs; the first hootenannies; the growing US anti-Communist movement and the House Un-American Activities Committee; the Peekskill Riot; and the formation of the Weavers.

"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"
The red-baiting crusade; the blacklisting and dissolution of the Weavers, and the beginning of Seeger's solo career; Seeger's appearance before the HUAC and his trial for contempt of Congress.

"We Shall Overcome"
The Newport Folk Festivals, which Seeger helped to conceive and manage, and his involvement with the civil rights movement.

"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy"
Seeger's anti-war activities, and his return to network television.

"Sailing Down My Golden River"
Seeger's environmental awakening and his project to construct a boat that would sail the Hudson River to raise environmental awareness.

The only downside to the book's thematic approach is that it comes at the expense of clear chronology. Sometimes even the author seems confused about which events preceded which; in one episode Seeger leaves on a road trip with Woody Guthrie in 1940, only to return to New York in 1939!

The book was published in 2011, three years before Seeger died.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hi friends!
Ok, so this was also required reading for my US History Class. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK!!! Pete Seeger contributed so much back to the community. He lived his life standing up for what he believed in. He never wavered, even when blacklisted. He also managed to accomplish his dream: bringing people together through song. I LOVE that he didn't let anything stop him when he came up with new ideas. To Everything, There Is A Season: Pee Seeger and the Power of Song is very enjoyable and informative book.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who loves folk music, Pete Seeger is a name well known. He was in fact an American legend. I know many of his songs by heart, but there was much I did not know about Pete's historical and persistent activism. Winkler's telling uncovered alot for me, about years and concerns I lived through. Seeger was genuine, principled (even if sometimes misguided), and guileless. His songs always spoke such to me. He was an idealist who really believed that song could change a nation, and he stuck with it. So glad to have found this at a book store.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you didn't know anything about Seeger, this would be a good place to start. It's well written, if a little bit of a snooze, but hardly critical and there are a few things that are so glossed over, they create more questions than answers. But again, not a bad place to start.

[Ray Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very easy read that shed a lot of light on the Red Scare and how it affected Pete Seeger, and many other performers. It talked extensively about his activism, and gave insight into his thought process, and how he believed he could make a difference on song at a time.

[Andy Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pete Seeger had a fascinating life. He sang with Woody Guthrie in the thirties and was member of hit folk group the Weavers in the forties and fifties. He was blacklisted in the fifties, concerts were cancelled, radio stopped playing his songs and he was banned from tv until the Smothers Brothers had him on their show in 1967. He was present went Dylan went electric during the Newport folk festival(Seeger was one of the angry ones). Seeger was active in antiwar movement, his return to Smothers Brothers included his singing an anti war song he wrote.
Along the way he wrote many songs including "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" "If I Had a Hammer" and Turn, Turn, Turn" as well as remaking "We Shall Overcome" into the version that became the civil rights anthem

This book covers all these events, all of his life to today, yet at the end I felt that I did not really know Seeger. It read like a high school text book that outlined his life. I would have liked more about the effect the blacklist had on his family and on his relationship with the other Weavers, what he thought of his former friends who, unlike Seeger, cooperated with the HUAC.There had to have been more to his relationship with Dylan especially his reaction to Dylan going electric and what it meant to Seeger and he had to had have had a reaction to the Smothers Brothers especially their efforts to bring him back to tv. I gave this four stars mainly because of the excellent subject matter and its comprehensive outline of Seeger's life and times. It would have been an outstanding read if we had learned more about Seeger himself

[Naight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a histor of folk-singing as cultural catalyst; Winkler seems to have written it as an homage to Seeger. It's not entirely academic; it's not really a total biography, although it looks like each of these.
When finished, I was haunted by issues including:
-Seeger's from an educated New England background (they mention he went to Harvard more than twice) yet he wears over-alls, plays a banjo and sings about workers' rights (& communist issues)
-Seeger, who's white, uses songs and sound from Lead Belly and Black Gospel which he popularizes and receives credit for.
-Toshi's personality helps make Seeger possible yet she's never portrayed as more than a fuctionary.
{My awareness and feelings seem to reflect my own fears and prejudices as much as they do those of the 20th century}

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To Everything There Is a Season" is the biography of one of my heroes, Pete Seeger. Allen Winker begins by telling of Pete's early days as an activist, singing union songs and hanging out with Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers. Then on through the fifties with The Weavers, the Red Scare and the HUAC hearings. Times changed, but Pete didn't. He remained true to his commitment to the people and his belief in the power of song to change the world. Pete used this power to strive for civil rights, to present his anti-war message and in his later years to spread his environmental message.
Pete: you gotta love him. Fearless, principled, caring, always with a smile and a song. Sing along.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened upon a documentary on Pete Seeger last month and was struck not only by how he used music to bring people together. The call and response, the singalongs, the hootenannies are all things I remember from church, from youth group. It never occurred to me that it played such a huge part in civil rights protests, in the history of free speech. Pete Seeger is a wonderful teacher, a wonderful musician and a fantastic activist.

[Corey Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a full-length biography of Pete Seeger, but it's a shorter, insightful little book that covers the the basics of his life and career. While not long, the book never fails to fascinate. Regardless of your views on Seeger, you'll no doubt come to admire his courage and integrity and marvel at the power of music to unite people.

[Donald Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It transported me back to the times of Pete Seeger. It told of his time as a youth with the unions and trying to form singing groups from the union workers to give the strength of solidarity through song. It tells of his work on the Hudson Schooner and helping to clean up the Hudson. He was very much of the enviorment and helping to preserve it.

[Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great biography of a great singer. Winkler covers Seeger's involvement in a variety of social movements over the course of the 20th century in a manner that is both informative and quite readable. I knew little about Seeger prior to reading this, and I was truly amazed to learn about all the amazing work he did.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book written with Seeger's cooperation. The accompanying cd added to the reading experience, allowing the reader to listen to songs with the added insight from the author's contextualization of them. I had no idea how far back Seeger's political activism and folk career went back.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on kindle so unfortunately didn't have the music CD to go with it, but I really enjoyed this story. There were so many events that happened and having the songs of the time linked with these events will forever make me think of them differently.

[Jens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. A quick read. I suppose I could fault the author for loving his subject and not maintaining distance. But this is Pete Seeger - I'd fault the author if he didn't love his subject.

[Caeser Pink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really good read. Seeger led such an interesting life. While the book is not in-depth, it is a good introduction to what he is about.

[Kees Jansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well writen with loads of information!