Pete Seeger, PS 197 and Kindergarten - "If I Had a Hammer"

This post is for my Kindergarten teacher at PS 197 in Brooklyn,Mrs. Gerber. Read on and you will find out why.

Of all the songs we learned as kids, few have had as many obstacles thrown in its way as was the case with the iconic song “If I Had a Hammer.” Most folks will remember the song as being a smash hit for Peter, Paul and Mary in the late 1950’s. But the songs beginnings were steeped in controversy when the Weavers did their original version of it in 1949 at the Peekskill concert with Paul Robeson, and then when the song was published in the “Sing Out” collection of songs the following year. People actually cancelled their subscriptions over this song.

Pete Seeger had spent the war years working as a Merchant Mariner aboard cargo vessels. After the war; in 1948; he founded the folk group known as the Weavers. They did folk songs along the line of Woody Guthrie, along with some original compositions and other folk ballads from around the world.
 

Their first hit was a 45 RPM with “Tzena, Tzena”as the A side; a song much heralded at the time by Israeli soldiers; backed with “Goodnight Irene”, written by Leadbelly, on the B side. It was a hit on Decca Records, which couldn’t press the record fast enough to keep up with the demand.

By 1957 they were banned from most radio stations and all of TV. Seeger would not be seen on a major network again until 1968 when he appeared on the Smothers Brothers Show. It all began with “If I Had a Hammer.” The House of Un-American Activities; which they clearly were; was in the middle of its decade long sweep of the entertainment industry looking for subversives; or Communists, when they set their sights on The Weavers and Pete Seeger.

HUAC was not only aimed at the Hollywood crowd; they were also involved with policing the meaning of song lyrics such as “The Rock Island Line”; and later on even “Louie, Louie”. For “Louie, Louie” the FBI infamously spent over one year and 100 agents in order to come to the conclusion that they had no idea what the lyrics were; let alone what they meant. With “If I Had a Hammer” their job was much simpler.

The song speaks about a hammer; the Soviet Union used one in its flag. The song spoke about “the danger” and “the love between my brothers” all across this land. (Peter, Paul and Mary added and my sisters to the lyrics for their recording, in addition to some changes in the melody.) Surely these “brothers” were comrades in the sense that they were allied with communism. And, as if that weren’t enough, the HUAC committee was very concerned just what was meant by “freedom” and “justice”.  (You have to laugh when you think that hey actually had to ask that last question!)

Seeger was charged with 10 counts of Contempt of Congress in 1955; a badge which he wore proudly; and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His appeals went on in a court fight which lasted until 1962. And, although his career was interrupted, his fight was celebrated by his many loyal fans. In 1969 he launched the Clearwater Campaign to clean up the Hudson River in New York and was an activist until his death.

Here he is in 1956; already charged and being tried for Contempt; singing the song anyway. This is one of the earliest versions in which he sings “my brothers and my sisters.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl-yszPdRTk

Now, here’s the part which will explain why this is dedicated to Mrs. Gerber;

We were actually singing this is Kindergarten at PS 197 in Brooklyn. It was 1959 and HUAC was still going and the blacklist had just been "broken" with Dalton Trumbo being listed as a screenwriter on "Spartacus". I have to wonder what risk the teacher was taking by using that song in class. New York's Feinberg Law of 1949 placed a security officer in charge of each school district. Their job was to know the politics of every teacher. Reading the wrong book could preclude your being hired. And voting the wrong way could get you fired.  

In 1955; only 4 years before my Kindergarten teacher sang this song with us; New York City teachers were required to inform upon their colleagues political views. Refusal meant dismissal. Of 40 teachers who were ordered to do so; 35 submitted and the remaining 5 were actually fired. In all, 60,000 public school teachers in NYC alone were investigated and 500 were forced to resign or were fired for political views. One actually committed suicide. That Mrs. Gerber sang this song with the class is a tribute to her individuality. The Board in charge of the Feinberg investigations remained in force for 2 more years; disbanding in 1961.

"Rainbow Quest" - Pete Seeger and Guests

There was nothing on television to hold my interest the other night and so I turned to You Tube. There are so many things I would like to watch on there that I never take time for. And, with so many new things to discover on there, I will never catch up. Contrasted with the constant clicking associated with channel surfing, it was kind of nice to settle into something different for almost an hour.

The Pete Seeger "Rainbow Quest" series ran for 1 season on Channel 47, the UHF mostly Spanish speaking TV station, from 1965-66. I ran into it a couple of times by accident while fooling with the UHF antenna when; you guessed it; nothing worthwhile was on regular TV. So, how ironic is it that I should run into the same problem 50 years later and find the same solution in Pete Seeger both times?

This show is typical of all 39 52 minute episodes. There is no audience; which adds to the stark quality; I mean Pete was the "sing along with guy". He was the Mitch Miller of folk music. Actually, Miller took that page from Pete's book.

The list of gusts on the Rainbow Quest shows will knock you out. Everyone from Donovan to June Carter and Jonhny Cash, Judy Collins, Buffy St. Marie, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee are just some of them.

Naturally the show didn't make it. How many of you actually fooled with UHF at all in New York City? Actually I had forgotten all about the shows until I read the book "Red Scare" a few; well, several years ago. That book deals with the McCarthy Era and the blacklists; which included Pete Seeger. If you don't know about his role in that shameful episode of government overreach you should look it up sometime.

But it wasn't until I was re-reading it last year that I took the time to watch any of the shows again on You Tube. Maybe it's the passage of time; or the passing of the people on these shows; but time has made them even better than I remembered. If you're bored, take a listen and see.

"Worried Man Blues" - The Stanley Brothers (1961)

Here are the iconic Stanley Brothers, Ralph and Carter, performing "It Takes A Worried Man" on Pete Seeger's TV show Rainbow Quest from 1966.  The Clinch Mountain Boys are there to do their stuff backing the brothers up on this number.

The Stanley Brothers were known for their high lonesome sounding harmonies, which they passed on to a whole new audience over the years.  If you have never listened to them then you are missing a piece of American history, as well as culture.

Even if you are not a fan of bluegrass music you would have to admit that this music, with its origins in the Scottish and Irish settlers, can really grab you by the heart and make you listen. Over the years, while the genre had changed into something else, the Stanley’s, along with the Clinch Mountain Boys, were keeping it alive, seemingly waiting for someone to come along and continue the tradition.

Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, country music became a watered down version of what it had once been. Gone were the basic elements of mountain music, replaced by electric instruments and adding drums in a seeming attempt to keep up with the rock and roll format. There were some really good records to come out of that period, but as those artists got older they began to return to their own roots, and those roots were Bill Monroe and the Stanley’s, along with the Carter Family.

Sundays was once a time of quiet reflection; a day in which a working man could spend some quality time with his family. And the television had programs which were oriented to the whole family. Even with the problems facing the average guy during the week, it was still possible to sit back in the living room and take a break with the family; and though all the troubles didn't go away, they could be turned around and made into a celebration of sorts.

And that’s what music like this was, a celebration of the human condition, whether good or bad. It’s kind of like that Hank Williams song “I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive”. The lyrics are heartbreaking, the guy can’t catch a break to save his life, but instead of crying about it, it is turned into song. And when Monday morning rolled around, the cycle began again, with a new outlook. Maybe that glimmer would only last a day or so, but what a welcome relief it was to have.