Newsweek

September 25, 1967

Big and Muddy

Pete Seeger has long had a sad song to sing. For seventeen years, network television kept the talented folk singer on the blacklist, first for his strident opposition to McCarthyism, then for his refusal to answer questions in a House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of alleged Communism in entertainment. Thus, when CBS announced that Seeger had been signed for last week's "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," the network was widely applauded for its courage in breaking the ban.

The liberal glow on CBS's corporate cheek, however, was almost immediately replaced by a blush of embarrassment. For while lifting the ban on Seeger, it saw fit to snip one of his songs from the show's tape-a decision that earned as much criticism as the earlier move won praise. "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," written by Seeger himself, is a largely innocent lament about a training platoon whose men risk death crossing a swollen stream in Louisiana. But the last four lines-aimed unmistakably at President Johnson's conduct of the Vietnam war-were too much for CBS brass. The offending refrain: "Now every time I read the papers that old feeling comes on/We're waist deep in the Big Muddy/and the big fool says to push on."

"We felt," said a network spokesman, "that other music would make a better contribution to the show." It seemed a somewhat muddy decision. For one thing, Seeger sang the same song last fall on the nationally syndicated "David Susskind Show." Furthermore, the CBS record division touts the song on the cover of a Seeger album.

To Seeger, who keeps pace with the New Left through his musical leadership at peace rallies and civil-rights demonstrations, the song's censorship was cause for more sorrow than anger. "It's important for people to realize," said the 48-year-old singer, "that what they see on TV is screened not just for good taste but for ideas. We have to open the networks to the rich diversity that is in America." If Seeger's protest was somewhat mild, the Smothers Brothers-who had battled the network and suffered two weeks of hate mail to get him on the air-were plain furious. "It seems we have come to the time when a dissenting voice just can't be heard," snapped brother Tommy. "We’ve definitely plan to have Seeger back and he's probably gonna want to sing 'Big Muddy' again. Maybe we'll sing it with him."