The Incompleat Folksinger

From back cover: "Pete Seeger is one of the legendary performers of our time, an important member of the folk scene for the past 25 years. From Woody Guthrie to Leadbelly to HUAC to Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, 'The Incompleat Folksinger' offers a running dialogue of the things Pete has seen and done, the music he has made, and the music he has heard, here and abroad. He discusses songs and people, old and new; the talk and songs of those who have sailed, mined, farmed, loafed, organized unions, spent time in jails, and traveled down many roads: the talk and songs of people wanting to be free. 'The Incompleat Folksinger' is also a scrapbook of everything Pete feels is important in the folk scene - and outside of it as well - including recipes for country food, a method for guitar and banjo pickers to grown stronger nails, a how-to-build-your-own-instruments section, photographs of folksingers, famous and unknown, and words, music and guitar chords to many folk songs." ***** Contents Include: * Introduction by Pete Seeger * Editor's Note Part I: OLD SONGS AND NEW PEOPLE 1 - A Revival of Interest in Folk Music? 2 - Two American Musicians - Who Showed Us How to Combine the Old and the New * Leadbelly * Woody 3 - Some Folk Roots and Protest Traditions * 'That's Nice, But Is It a Folk Song?' * Some American Traditions * Some British Traditions * Some South African Traditions * The Folk Process PART II: A FOLK REVIVAL IN THE ATOM AGE 4 - 1954-69 Notes For and About Johnny Appleseed, Jrs. (form 'Sing Out' magazine) PART III: MAKING HOMEMADE MUSIC 5. Ways of Singing with and For People 6. Voices 7. Some Instruments 8. Making New Songs 9. Style, Standards and Responsibility - American Heritage and Contemporary Singers PART IV: THE WORLD THAT MUSIC LIVES IN 10. Races and Racism: A Singer's View 11. Money and Music -- Observations on the Commercial Big Time and Its Attempt to Make Money out of Folk Music 12. A Question of Patriotism 13. Other Folk -- Songs and Celebrations in Several Parts of the World 14. Languages, Translations and Mixtures -- Some Comments on the Many Vocabularies of Music, Speech and Other Ways of Human Expression 15. The Incompleat Folksinger - Some Supplementary Memories, Acknowledgements and Generalizations

I recently completed this book and was awestruck by how little I had previously known about such a great musician and historian, Pete Seeger.This book is interesting in many different ways. It provides an excellent beginning in the studies of enthnomusicology, instrument development, musician history, as well as a multitude of other areas. While a bit disorganized and stream-of-consciousness-like at times, it still provides an insite into this complex man. While he is complex, he is so simple in his goals of peace, love and unity. I found out about many people I never knew existed and much more about people, like Woodie Guthrie, who shaped what we call 'folk' music today.I find I am highly indebted to Mr. Seeger for compiling and recording the many songs of so many cultures, and for putting names to them. 30 years later, much of this music has been lost, forgotten, or moved into the mainstream with little regard for it's origin. While originally a library book, I purchased this book to refer to and pass on to my children. They need to realize just how much history shapes music and music shapes history. Thank you Pete Seeger for the labors of love.