Pete's voice rings out on new album

Joy upon this earth

to live and see the day

when Rockefeller senior

shall up to me and say

“Comrade, can you spare a dime?”
** Allelulia—Joy upon this Earth,”’
in CIRCLES AND SEASONS
(Pete Seeger)

Ashort while ago, my wife and I
walked into a local record shop to
look for some Pete Seeger albums.
Not finding any in the folk music
section, we asked the young
woman at the counter where he
could be found. ‘“‘Who?”’ she ask-
ed. Thinking she had not heard me
correctly, I repeated my query.
Staring blankly back, she said, ‘‘I
don’t know him . . . what does he
play?”

For my wife and me, it was a
shocking reminder of the ‘‘con-

sciousness gap”’ between us and a
young woman not a decade
younger.

Pete Seeger has been a musical
‘‘friend’’ as long as I can
remember, as he has been for a
generation or so earlier. Over the
years Seeger has not only stood out
as the outstanding U.S. folk artist
of our time, but as a prominent
voice of progressive politics in
song. His dedication to chronicling
working people’s struggles in verse
has brought to him a loyal follow-
ing over the years. It has also cost
him commercial succeess and
brought considerable harassment
through an organized campaign of
red-baiting (remember the HUAC
confrontation?).

In his newest release, Circles and
Seasons, Seeger continues his

"a

Eager to show Vancouver
audiences that folk dances they
learned in the Ukraine last sum-
mer, the 10member Kobzar

concert, On Return From Kiev,
for May 10, 8 p.m. at the Queen
Elizabeth Playhouse.

Newly-costumed, the Kobzar
group will blend dances from
their old and new repertoires in
order ‘‘to show,” according to
dancer Donalda Greenwell,
“the unique forms and moods
of Ukrainian folk dance.”’

{ —_ During their five-week stay in

dancers have planned a gala ~

Kozbar gala concert
on QE stage May 10

the Ukraine last summer, they
maintained a gruelling five-hour
day, six-day-a-week dancing
schedule under the direction of
an accomplished Ukrainian
choreographer.

He was assisted by two solo-
ists from the Ukraine’s State
Dance Company and ‘‘a young
energetic graduate from the
Kiev Institute of Culture.”

Also performing that evening
will be Mike Wennechuk, vocal
and bandura soloist of the Van-
couver Association of United
Ukrainian Canadian’s Folk Or-
chestra. ey

skillful and enjoyable combination
of popular and progressive song.
Produced by Fred Hellerman, the
album contains a generally
delightful (and at times, moving)
collection of old and new tunes. Of
the former, ‘“‘Viva La Quince
Brigada,”’ one of many songs of
the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
popularized by Seeger, stands out.
‘Harry Simms,’’ about a Com-
munist organizer for the National
Miners Union is another tune with
which Seeger continues to sing out
working class history.

The satirical ‘‘I’m Gonna be an
Engineer,” written by Seeger’s
sister Peggy, provides a humorous
but to the point argument that the
women’s movement is inexorably
linked to class struggle. The song
(which has been around for 10
years) describes the life of a woman
seeking a career in a “man’s
world.”

The album also features a
number of Seeger’s own composi-
tions, including the simple and
beautiful ‘‘Sailing Down This
Golden River,” written during
Seeger’s voyage on the Sloop
Clearwater to clean up the Hudson
River.

The inspiring ‘“‘As the Sun
Rose,’® a tune speaking to the
power people have to challenge op-
pression, reflects Seeger’s (admit-
tedly beleaguered) optimism in
progressive struggle.

Finally, some light humorous
songs (‘“‘Sour Cream’’ being my
favorite) along with some well pro-
duced instrumentals and the
strongly environmentalist tune
‘“‘Garbage” round out this grab
bag of Seeger’s artistry. Incidental-
ly, Weavers fans will enjoy hearing
Ronnie Gilbert in the’ final tune,
‘¢ Alleluia—Song of Joy.”’

However, an otherwise outstan-
ding album has been marred by the
Grit Laskin song, ‘‘The
Photographers.’’ An overtly
satirical look at this hobby, the
song is a thinly veiled excuse for, in
this reviewer’s opinion, sexism and
pornography. I can only guess that
it was viewed by Seeger and Heller-

ROGZAK
DANCERS

ON RETURN FROM KIEV

The Kobzar Dance Group of
The Association of United Ukrainian Canadians
presents

A Concert of Ukrainian Dance

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1980
8:00 p.m.

Queen Elizabeth Playhouse $5.00

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE— MAY 2, 1980—Page 18

man as aclever and ‘“‘innocent song
of sexual innuendo. It’s not. I
found it frankly sexist and offen-
sive and was taken aback to find it
in what is, otherwise, a superb col-
lection of tunes.

Despite this weakness, Circles
and Seasons is a worthy addition to
everyone’s collection, and I hope
we can add still more by Pete in the
future.

I also hope that the messages
that Pete so ably sings will once
again reach the ears and hearts of
the young, such as the woman in
that record shop. In these times of
“‘me first’’ propaganda, we need to
work doubly hard to promote the
likes of Pete. I know that as Seeger
suggests in the liner notes, I will be
learning a few of the songs to sing
and ‘“‘carry on around this blessed
planet.”’

— Richard Hunter
People’s World

Ce ve on’ ee a a. ee 2, ee. ae ee ee eee

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All of Lenin’s works
represented in this
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People’s Co-Op Books
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MAY DAY DANCE

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