To Hear Your Banjo Play - 1947

Folk master Pete Seeger narrates Alan Lomax's documentary on the evolution and appreciation of American folk music. Special cameo performances include Woody Guthrie and Brownie McGhee, amongst many others.


See more films at:
http://www.weirdovideo.com

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[noddyguevara]

This is brilliant. Its funny/ironic, that this music, woody guthrie/ pete seeger etc etc now sort of helps define america , yet left wing activists like many in the folk and trade union movement in the 1940s were likely to be called un american and hauled up in front of the un american activities witchunt ! Its a strange world. Here In england there are parralells, the folk music and its revival was almost exclusivly left wing or communist, but now its regarded as typically english !

[gorebagg]

i was one of pete seeger's and grant roger's students at downtown community school and camp woodland, and sure appreciate this posting! it brings it all back as if it were only yesterday...i still play & sing the songs from the woodland folk festivals!!!

[Tony Thomas]

banjos were not first made by American Negro Slaves. Banjoes were first made by peope of African descent in Caribbean Islands like Jamaica and Martinique where banjos were described in the 17th century, whereas the first reports of banjos being played in this country do not come until 1736 in New York!

But the scholarship on this had not been done then. It was advanced in the 1940s for Pete to acknowledge the Black origin of the banjo

[MsTae2012]

Lmao, saying "American negro slaves" would get you crucified today. I enjoyed this.

[GreensongOakheart]

Alan Lomax is a hero.

[Gülsev Kaya]

böyle güzellik görmedim....

[dandesantismusic]

I like the banjo history lesson!



[Prem Varanasi]

we do very much miss our dearest loving jackie( jguth3).

This very moment this very day,,,,always

many blessings to the dearest family

[SueEGeneris]

Thank you for posting this!

[Sala Zeta]

pica pau

[Dhayes48]

love this

[hubbsv404]

This song appears on the "Anthology of American Folk Music" under the name "Old Lady and the Devil" by Bill and Belle Reed. It also appears elsewhere as "The Farmer's Curst Wife." If you search google for "Old Lady and the Devil" you'll find an oldweirdamerica wordpress site listing 20 variations of the song under various names.