Pete Seeger - American Favorite Ballads (2009)

Product Description
These songs have been part of the fabric of America for a half century or more - and these five volumes of folk ballads recorded by Pete in the '50s and '60s were an integral part of our folk revival. Here are all 139 folk ballads on 5 CDs, each with it's own booklet full of extensive notes; legendary songs and performances abound: John Henry; Clementine; Goodnight Irene; Yankee Doodle; Old Dan Tucker; Hole in the Bucket; This Land Is Your Land; America the Beautiful; Midnight Special; Froggie Went A-Courtin'; Boll Weevil; Erie Canal; Arkansas Traveler, and more!

From the Artist
Pete Seeger began singing, playing the banjo, and collecting folk music in the mid-1930s¯and has continued doing so into the 21st century. His life encompasses the social upheavals and transformations of much of the 20th century, while his peace anthems and songs of struggle and hope thread through our national soundtrack. They are as often sung by schoolchildren as by activists at peace and environmental rallies. Even in his late eighties, he inspires people across generations, cultures, and nations.

Moses Asch founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document folk music and other sounds from around the world. Considering these to be educational as well as entertaining, yet aware of their limited commercial appeal, he directed his sales towards libraries and schools. Pete Seeger's five-volume series American Favorite Ballads (recorded 1957-1962), comprised of classic songs from the American experience that adults and children could sing together, formed a cornerstone for Asch's primary audience. Pete Seeger recorded 38 albums for Folkways between 1950 and 1964.

The Smithsonian Institution acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987; Asch's emphasis on the educational nature of Folkways recordings comported perfectly with the Institution's mandate, the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." The year 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of Folkways and the 20th anniversary of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. We are pleased to honor Pete Seeger's life and legacy through this reissue, and continue our commitment to preserve and expand Asch's "encyclopedia of sound," thus keeping it available for current and future generations of listeners.