Folk Scene
July-August 1980
Review of "Circles and Seasons" by Jim Capaldi
It should be sufficient to simply state that Pete Seeger has a new album released and let it go at that. Any new recording by the "folksingers’ folksinger" is an eagerly awaited event which, unfortunately, is all too infrequent. However, because I enjoy the record so much, and to persuade people who aren’t already Seeger fans, a few remarks about it are in order.
Circles and Seasons (Warner Bros. BSK 3329), Pete’s umpteenth disc, is a purely delightful sampling of some of the oldest and some of the newest items to be found in his seemingly limitless songbag. The fact that it is on a major label means that it will be a lot easier to find at your neighborhood record shop, making Seeger’s brand of homemade music that much more accessible.
Despite his youthful exuberance, Pete Seeger has passed the age of 60. At an age when more people are contemplating retirement, he is still as relevant and as vital as ever. Seeger is as at home with a gathering of the Spanish Civil War veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as he is sharing the stage with Linda Ronstadt at an antinuclear rally. On the cover of Circles and Seasons he appears with his father, the late Charles Seeger, and with one of his grandchildren. It’s a wonderful portrait of three generations of circles and seasons and Seegers.
The record contains a generous selection of 15 songs and instrumentals. A few of Pete’s old favorites are performed here; while some are still available on older discs, these are better versions. Produced by Fred Hellerman, who along with Pete, Lee Hays and Ronnie Gilbert was a member of the Weavers, the album features more than the usual guitar or banjo back-up sound. Also heard are bongos, xylophones, bass and glockenspiel. The latter is perhaps a hit overused, but overall the instrumentation suits the songs very well.
As mentioned above some vintage songs long associated with Pete Seeger are included. The lyric Jim Garland wrote in memory of his martyred union comrade, "Harry Simms," is sung starkly, ostensibly as a tribute to both Garland and Simms; but in a much deeper sense, it is for all the brave women and men who have given their lives in the struggle to build a union, from Joe Hill to Karen Silkwood. One of the most stirring songs to come out of the Spanish Civil War, "Viva La quince Brigada," is included with its promise, "Now we are leaving Spain, but we’ll keep fighting on other fronts." Those fronts today include nuclear power, the oppression of women, and the struggle for Native American rights. A lighter little piece, the "Mexican Blues," was composed nearly 40 years ago.
A traditional Native American chant, the "Seneca Canoe Song," was learned from the curator of the Six Nations Museum in New York State. If you close your eves you can almost imagine that you are sitting in the midst of a Seneca tribe where one of the braves is singing this tune. While not as old as the previously discussed numbers, "Sailing Down This Golden River" appeared on Pete’s last Columbia record nine years ago. However, it’s a song well worth repeating, since it is one of Pete’s loveliest creations. It combines a haunting, lonely melody with beautifully expressive lyrics.
The newer items are many and varied. They range from a composition by Pete’s sister Peggy to a love song to sour cream. Bill Steele’s powerful "Garbage" opens up the album, and as a bonus there is an extra verse added by Pete Seeger which completes the message of Steele’s original piece by pointing out that the present capitalistic system is garbage. A society whose best products are automobiles which explode when hit from the rear, and whose solution to the energy crisis is more and more expensive, deadly atomic power plants, is truly garbage. "I’m Gonna Be An Engineer," while not done quite as well as Peggy Seeger performs it, is a welcome song on the subject of women’s liberation; the moral of the song (all good songs have a moral) is equal pay for equal work — or else.
Both "Maple Syrup Time" and "Sour Cream" are about food products. The first, with a lively calypso tune, details the tedious but rewarding work of tapping maple trees for syrup. It also contains some sound advice for would-be revolutionaries: "Anything worth doing takes a little time." The sour cream song extols the virtues of that popular dairy item; it’s a neat, brief song with a familiar sounding tune. A much requested song at Seeger concerts, David Mallett’s "Garden Song," is also featured on this record. There really isn’t much to say about it, except that it is one of the finest topical songs written in the last decade; it’s great to sing while gardening or at any other good time.
Canadian Grit Laskin’s "The Photographers" is set to the tune of a traditional British ballad. Like a great number of the older bawdy songs, it uses double entendre to describe the meeting of two photographers and their subsequent activities. (One line alone, "If you’ve not photographed on a Saturday night, you’ve not photographed at all," is worth the price of this album.) Seeger’s tongue-in-cheek rendition of this song is perfect. An original composition, "As the Sun Rose," is a hopeful plea to change the course of this troubled world. It has been Pete Seeger’s message these past dozen or so years that we have a slim chance to save this planet from disaster, if we all act together now. Whether we take this opportunity is up to each and every one of us. All Pete can do is to point the way.
The record ends with a combination of two rounds. The first is entitled "Alleluia" and it was composed by William Boyce, an eighteenth century English composer. "Joy Upon This Earth," the other round, was made up in the Depression days by Charles Seeger. It cheerfully proclaims, "Joy unto this earth/To live and see the day/When Rockefeller senior/Shall up to me and say/ ‘Comrade, can you spare a dime?’."
This is obviously a biased review. I first heard and enjoyed Peter Seeger nearly 15 years ago. I still think that he’s the best. And you can hear Pete at his very best on Circles and Seasons.