How Can I Keep from Singing: Pete Seeger

by David King Dunaway

Who is this skinny, 78-year-old man with the five-string banjo, whose performances over five decades have touched millions of people? Entertainer? Composer? Communist? Bob Dylan once called him a "saint." Joan Baez has said, "We all owe our careers to him." But Pete Seeger's considerable musical achievements have been overshadowed by political controversy. He was investigated for sedition by the House Committee on Un-American activities, harassed by the FBI and CIA, blacklisted, picketed, and even stoned by conservative groups. How Can I Keep from Singing is an inside history of Pete Seeger, whose life has remained a closely guarded secret until now. In this ASCAP award-winning book, David Dunaway parts the curtain through interviews with Pete, his family, friends, and fellow musicians to present a rich, compelling portrait of one of the most remarkable performers, composers, and activists of this century.

Genres: Music, Biography, History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

416 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 1981

About the author

David King Dunaway received the first Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, in folklore, history, and literature. For the last thirty years he has been documenting the life and work of Pete Seeger, resulting in How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger, published initially by McGraw Hill in 1981 and currently revised, updated, and republished by Villard Press at Random House in March, 2008. He has served as a visiting lecturer and Fulbright Scholar at the Universities of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Copenhagen University, Nairobi University, and the Universidad Nacional de Columbia. Author of a half dozen volumes of history and biography, his specialty is the presentation of folklore, literature, and history via broadcasting. Over the last decade he has been executive producer in a number of national radio series for Public Radio International; his reporting appears in NPRs Weekend Edition and All Things Considered. He is currently Professor of English at the University of New Mexico and Professor of Broadcasting at San Francisco State University. "

Reviews

[Karen Mardahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was quite moved by this book. It took me ages to read for some reason. I was busy in general at the same time, and I think autobiographies often make me stop to look up certain things or to reflect on something if there were episodes in my lifetime. I am very glad I read it, and I did enjoy reading it when I grabbed the time.

What I found as a bonus in this book was a history that I didn't really know. For example, I knew about McCarthyism, but it isn't something that I really studied. The section covering the accusations against Pete Seeger as being un-American showed me that some things never change. There were many, many parallels to American (and world) politics today. That was both sad and frightening. There were many episodes from his early adult life that revealed an ugly, hateful side of the U.S. that is part of the foundation of the ugly, hateful side that we can see today. However, when the book was drawing to a close, I felt hope. I cannot define how or why. I think it was simply Pete Seeger's eternal optimism that was catching.

Pete Seeger was an idealist. At times, he seemed even naive such at the time when he went to the South and felt out of his depth. A lot of his career wouldn't have been possible without his wife, Toshi, basically sacrificing all of her ambitions to be his all-round manager. Would that happen today? He took a very long time to acknowledge that things weren't quite right under Stalin. But hey! How consistent are we in our behavior and our beliefs? He was far more consistent than I think many of us could ever be.

Reading how a person stayed on the path for justice for decades is rather awe-inspiring. Many times, he paid a very high price for that. Maintaining his principles during the times when the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was after him was impressive, but it did cost him.

Now when you read praise about him, especially from 2014 when he died (which was after this book was published), you can see the hypocrisy peeking out from between the lines when people and institutions who wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, now stood in line to sing his praises.

Pete Seeger didn't want to be idolised. That made him very uncomfortable. Any praise directed at him was passed along to everyone around him or reflected back on the giver. It wasn't that he had a hard time accepting thank yous. He simply felt it was wrong. He wanted the community as a whole to receive the praise - that it wasn't an individual effort, but a community effort when something was achieved.

All in all, this was a fascinating glimpse into the life of one person and the life of the time he lived in.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is an updated and revised edition (2008) to this only biography of the legendary Pete Seeger whose undeniable ability to galvanise audiences everywhere to not only sing together but promote social changes will forever earn him a significant place in American history.

This is a very good read for those who are interested in American folk music scene of the 20th century. Seeger was a controversial figure in Am cultural and social/political history, yet his ultimate humanity shines through in all her dark pages, and has earned him great honour justly deserved. It also provides ample insights into Seeger's motivation and longevity as a song singer /composer / social activist, to name just a few of his achievements.

It has been a privilege and an honour for me to know him personally in the last 16 years of his life. He is sorely missed.

[Maryellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. As a child of the 60's, Pete Seeger was one of my favorite folk singers. So interesting to learn about Peter, the man, not just the singer and composer of great songs.

[Ginebra Lavao Lizcano · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Can I Keep From Singing is a contrasting account of Pete's story. While the main events are the same than those in other books, they are told in a more external and objective manner. The details Dunaway decided to talk about differed from those Pete himself wrote about in his journals. This exemplifies how someone's character will vary depending on who the observer is, and that you probably will never find two people with the same regard. Reading different points of view will help one to understand the subject better and to avoid biases. This book puts Pete in a more humane spot, which I really enjoyed because it is totally ridiculous to believe anyone in this world has been born flawless. I think Seeger was a firm believer in his purpose and that might have been an issue for him when others did not understand him. As I tend to say, one's best qualities are tightly linked to its worst ones. You cannot have the brave and perseverant Pete without his passionately angry self. They are both the same part of him but expressed in different situations. He still proved to be a honest and humble character during most of his life, which is of great admiration as most people tend to give up to comfort...

P.S. I loved hearing all about Toshi, her story made me sad at times but I now see her as an influential person of her times. She proved to be tough and hardworking, all with the biggest sense of selflessness. May she get credit for her life for as long as Pete gets his.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always have a hard time reviewing biographies. Its hard for me to separate my feelings for the subject matter from the actual skill in the writing, etc. I did not love this book. It was, well, mostly boring. This is a fairly rambling review, but Pete Seeger, and music in general are pretty interwoven in my life.

My father (born in 1927) had eclectic musical tastes. He loved Chopin. He loved a few country ballads, and he loved a fair amount of folk music - mostly Peter Paul and Mary. Also comedy like Tom Lehrer. So I grew up humming along with a fair amount of folk music, though I certainly was never what I'd consider a 'fan' - I was definitely a child of the 70's, disco directly into punk and new wave. But then, around the time I left home I found a wonderful "folk" music program on my local public radio station (broadcasts from the Ark in Ann Arbor mostly), and all of a sudden, folk music was back in the mix. My musical tastes, if anything, are even more eclectic than my dads. When my first kid was small, I bought a collection of Pete Seeger's kid songs - we learned them all by heart in the car, and still make reference to them today, almost 30 years later. So recently after a phone conversation in which my son and I jokingly referred to a song from that old CD (Goodbye Ol'Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne), I realized I knew nothing about Pete Seeger, though I listened to a fair amount of his music. In an effort to learn more, I acquired this book.

I certainly do now know more. I like Pete the person less though. He really struck me as someone who never grew up. As a teenager, he seemed pretty self-centered and stuborn, and short sighted. Pretty typical for a teenager. When rarely, but, truly pushed to full anger, he flies into physical violence. Only Pete didn't seem to me to outgrow those traits.

I did like learning the history of folk music in North America. I guess I never realized that Woody Guthrie was alive as long as he was; I just always thought of him as a relic of the 20's and 30's. Not true. I knew Arlo was his son, and Arlo is not that much older than me . . . but I'd just never been forced to think about it. Woody died in 1967. Arlo is the same age as my husband. I appreciated learning about the US history from this perspective. It seems I can't pick up a non-fiction book that doesn't involve HUAC these days. Which is an excellent thing, I'm developing a pretty full understanding of the 20th century in the US -- I have a history degree, buy my classes seemed to have stopped by some sort of unwritten rule with FDR and WWII.

While I feel like I learned a lot history, and many "facts" I do not feel that I've gotten to know Pete Seeger very well. One of his friends (she became the lead singer of Sweet Honey in the Rock) talked about how while she was staying at Pete's home she once asked him a simple and direct question about a plant in the yard - and he stared over her head and gave her a lengthy allegorical answer that had nothing to do with her simple question. She said he had a hard time connecting "directly" to people. That's exactly how I feel about this book. It was interesting on some level, but did not connect directly to its alleged subject matter.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is pretty lousy, really, but the story of this American legend is SO powerful and compelling that the book is still a great read. Dunaway seems to have had full access to Seeger's correspondence and files, and I wonder why he makes so little use of it. Seeger is a liberal in the 1930s mold---communist really, ultra pro-union, socialized medicine, big government. I'm all for it. And the music!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to confess, I didn't finish this book. I got some interesting facts about Pete Seeger's past but found the writing to be so cumbersome as to totally preclude any further reading. I looked at all the photos and learned quite a bit about his wife who was the wind beneath his wings in so many ways. So, I just stopped and returned it to the library for some guilty pleasure in the form of the latest Michael Connelly book - The Black Box.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pete Seeger is an amazing guy, living his life completely according to his principles. Made more meaningful because of our encounters with him at Jazz Fest.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me months to get through this one. Dense and not great story-telling. Loaded with information, but it was hard to follow the attributions (notes were in the back).

[kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tells the Story of Pete Seeger. This man made a difference.

[Ledell Mulvaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lifelong fan of Pete, this book helped me to get inside the man and understand his passions. What a great American!

[Peter Parziale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard Pete Seeger lp's while I was in high school, where the library had a cache of folk music: Joan Baez, Odetta, and Pete Seeger. Later, in Boston while in college, I immersed myself in the record bins of the Boston Public Library basement and WCAS radio shows. My first concert was Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie at the old Music Hall theater in 1975, and the Sweet Rosyanne cut was from one of his scores of records was from that concert: https://youtu.be/wsI0zo30c4M We sang it as we exited the hall on a cold evening. Those were the days! I thought I knew a lot about Pete Seeger.

Not so.

Seeking more, this biography was recommended to me by folksinger John McCutcheon. This fantastic volume filled in a lot of the blanks. His WWII service. His travels with Woody Guthrie. Living in Greenwich Village and founding The Weavers, and the occasional friction with Lee Hays. The persecution by the HUAC. The invaluable help of his wife Toshi. His discomfort with situations requiring friendly conversation. One of my bucket list dreams is to crew aboard the Hudson River sloop Clearwater for a summer -- Seeger had his own dream of having a boat built according to historic plans and using it to bring people together, with singing and education, sailing up, sailing down the Hudson and use the vessel as a way to heal the river (https://www.clearwater.org/).

He was a complicated man with a singular gift: he could get people to sing. Heck, the audience was frequently the performer during his concerts. It was great to get to know him a little bit through this biography, and I recommend it without reservation.

[Patrick Macke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, principled, disciplined, intelligent, talented American ... It is an exemplary life and an enduring musical life that continues to resonate, continues to prove, the pure power of song ... Pete is a national treasure and the author tells his story with well-researched perspective, a historian's passion and an intellectual's curiosity

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was quite good and much less of a hagiography than I was expecting. Seeger was a man of immense talent and total conviction and he was present for much of the folk boom in the 50s and 60s, as well as several of the country's most significant political and social movements from the 50s on but he was not an easy person and I thought that came through really well.

[Lucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty solid & balanced biography; a bit on the long-winded side but still a good read

[Neil Cake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really inspirational to a left-wing musician such as myself.

[Stephen Leverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeger’s life and philosophy continue to be relevant, even in today’s political environment. He remains a source of inspiration, and I highly, highly recommend this book.

[Rick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of Seeger's life....it doesn't pull back from criticisms of him, but makes clear the steadfastness and sincerity of his belief in song as a transformative medium. If you want to see the range of triumphs and setbacks in Seeger's life, this is a good place to start. My only criticism is that many of the episodes (and there were a lot!) are covered quickly. This is a good chronology, but some depth would make for more satisfying reading.

[Lil Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having grown up listening to Seeger's songs from my family, this was a very interesting read.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

He shoulda just let Pete sing.

[Sparrow .]

This is the hefty, definitive biography – supervised by Seeger – with almost absurdly extensive notes, bibliography, discography. But Pete deserves it. The more you think about it, the more you realize how absolutely unique he was, though cloaked in the guise of an elegant hobo. No one has ever inspired group singing the way he did, with the exception (perhaps) of certain long-forgotten evangelists. What interests me is how Pete took the "United Front" Communism of his youth – and he did join the party, despite what I’d heard – and slowly transformed it into an unspoken personal ecstatic religion, intimately connected with frontier-like rural life. The only gossip on him: he had, at rare moments, a real temper. (He once abruptly broke a banjo in half.) And (as I already suspected) he ignored his family, partly from the exigencies of constantly touring.

But he made it up with his grandchildren, if such a thing is possible.

Dunaway vaguely, but repeatedly, mentions that Pete became pretty rich. Though Seeger was mildly ashamed of it.

Pete's biggest problem was his correspondence. He insisted on answering all the letters himself, and they became a mountain he could never climb.

His strained, almost twisted relationship with Toshi, his wife and manager, is hinted at.

Pete’s Left friends absolutely opposed his cleaning-up-the-Hudson project. They thought it was bourgeois, and aligned him with snooty rich folk in mansions along the river (which it did). Maybe Pete's bravest moment was becoming an environmentalist.