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[jefflewis]

I saw him play a number of times, once at my high school, and at various protest rallies over the years, mostly anti-war demonstrations in New York City.
A German journalist asked me to think of some words for Pete, hearing of his passing, I don't feel worthy of the task but here's some thoughts...
In the rock and roll world where rebellion is supposed to go together with dying young, Pete Seeger was an opposite example, showing how much real work it takes to be genuinely revolutionary (not just rebellious) AND keep it up for year after year, decade after decade. If Pete Seeger had been in the "27 club" he would have died in the 1940s, can you imagine that?!? Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain and all those other rebellious icons just look like tiny specks compared to a man like Pete who had to keep the spirit and body and dedication and focus and compassion strong for an additional two lifetimes, not just for himself but for the whole world to whom he gave more than most mere musicians can ever hope to. For young artists of today it's only a small fraction of the picture if you only know the Pete Seeger of his 80s and 90s, or even if you only know the songs from the Weavers; for myself I had mostly given him credit as an omni-present activist more than as a performer until I eventually heard the Almanac Singers recordings and some of Pete's solo recordings to hear what I felt to be his more powerful and resonating material.
The clip of Pete doing "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" on the Smothers Brothers show is a classic but it seems to have been removed from Youtube, I'm not sure where it can be found nowadays.