Personnel: Pete Seeger (vocals, 12-string guitar, banjo).
Liner Note Authors: Guy Logsdon; Jeff Place; Pete Seeger .
Recording information: New York, NY.
Editors: Peter Seitel; Carla Borden; Jacob Love.
Introduction bys: Guy Logsdon; Jeff Place.
Photographer: David Gahr.
Translator: Oscar Brand.
Arrangers: Texas Gladden; Jean-Jacques Rousseau ; Huddie Ledbetter; John A. Lomax; John Jacob Niles; Marion Hicks.
Originally released between 1957 and 1962, Pete Seeger's five-volume series, AMERICAN FAVORITE BALLADS, brought the nascent folk revival into the cultural mainstream and acted as a cultural history lesson for countless Americans seeking to explore the origins of American musical traditions. Seeger has a colossal legacy as a folk singer, storyteller, and social historian, and these recordings form the bedrock of his remarkably influential career. The traditional material that Seeger records here, including songs like the murder ballad "Frankie and Johnny," Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene," and the country gospel standard "Farther Along," would serve as inspiration to future frontrunners in the folk movement such as the Kingston Trio and Joan Baez. At a time when American folk traditions were underappreciated and sparsely documented, Seeger's recordings functioned as a much-needed jolt to America's collective memory.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.74) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[Seeger] invests each tune with his cheeky spirit....Seeger steps aside and lets the songs shine."
Dirty Linen (p.52) - "[T]he repertoire is far-ranging, including cowboy ballads, British folk songs, country standards, blues tunes, patriotic ditties, railroad songs, spirituals -- virtually anything that could easily be sung in a group setting..."
This set of CDs comes in a hard card cover opening into separate sleeves. Each sleeve also contains a booklet that has an introduction and a short history of each song. Each CD contains 27 - 29 songs.
I specifically bought this CD as I was looking for music to play and sing along to with my little son. This set had so many songs that I had looked for (Erie Canal, Oh Susanna, Froggie Went a-Courting, Hole in the Bucket ... ) and I was surprised how many more that I was also familiar with but hadn't known the names.
All the songs are catchy and this set has been a delight to us. We listen to it every day, mostly in the car. I would highly recommend it and it has been a good value purchase in my opinion.
