Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
EAN: 0796019814119
Format: Color
Item Dimensions: Array
Label: Genius Products (Ingram)
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Genius Products (Ingram)
MPN: WEID81411D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Genius Products (Ingram)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-08-05
Running Time: 93
Studio: Genius Products (Ingram)
Theatrical Release Date: 2007

In Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, Director Jim Brown documents the life of one of the greatest American singer/songwriters of the last century. Pete Seeger was the architect of the folk revival, writing some of its best known songs including Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Turn, Turn, Turn and If I Had A Hammer. Largely misunderstood and criticized for his strong beliefs he was picketed, protested, blacklisted, and, in spite of his enormous popularity, banned from commercial television for more than 17 years. Musicians including Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, Brice Springsteen, Natalie Maines, and Peter, Paul and Mary appear in this intimate portrait and discuss Seeger s lasting influence on the fabric of American music.
Pete Seeger reads The Wall Street Journal! That's perhaps the most startling revelation in Jim Brown's (The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time) wonderful documentary that etches an indelible portrait of an American icon and a global treasure. As a solo performer and as a member of the Weavers, Seeger introduced America to its musical heritage and was instrumental in ushering in the folk music revival in the 1960s. Branded as an "evil Commie" for his leftist beliefs, he is hailed here as an "absolute patriot" and "a living testament to the First Amendment." Seeger didn't call out politicians or presidents. He called out backward policies, unjust laws, and divisive attitudes. Songs that he popularized, or were covered by others, such as "We Shall Overcome," "The Hammer Song," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and "Turn, Turn, Turn," became Civil Rights and anti-war anthems. Music, he eloquently states in The Power of Song, should not be used just to forget one's troubles, but to also help to understand and to do something about your troubles. Whether singing work songs at union rallies or Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" to schoolchildren, Seeger used folk music as a uniter. The Power of Song is a profile in courage. In dramatic archival footage, he is seen defying the House Un-American Activities Committee. Seeger, never in it for the money, recalls how he quit the phenomenally popular Weavers when the other members agreed to do a cigarette commercial. Seeger was green before green was cool. At 88, he lives in the log cabin that he built and continues to work the land; chopping wood and hauling water. This film also chronicles his successful campaign to clean up the polluted Hudson River.

The Power of Song" is more than a great life story. It's also a great love story. Toshi, his wife of more than 60 years, emerges as an extraordinary woman who has greatly sacrificed to allow Seeger to take his music and message around the world (at one point she jokes that she wished her husband chased women instead of causes so she could leave him). Seeger says his singing voice is gone, but his spirit is undimmed (one clip captures him standing on the roadside with a handful of war protesters). Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Mary Travers, and family members are among those who pay tribute, but Seeger's own plain-spoken words and the concert footage and performance clips--by turns joyous and profoundly moving--take full measure of the man as a musicologist, iconoclast, and "social artist." One admirer says of Seeger that he stood for justice and had powerful enemies. That makes him sound like a superhero. In his own gentle way, perhaps he was. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great tribute to true American hero
Comment: This was a wonderful tribute to a true American hero. Parts of it brought my wife and I to tears. Highly recommend you watch it with kids of any age. I'm buying a copy for my sons 5th grade class and hope the teachers shows it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
Comment: A MUST HAVE for Pete Seeger fans. Pete was the 1st LP I owned.The documetary
brought tears of joy.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A name I will never forget.
Comment: This is one of the most inspiring stories I've ever seen. I knew some of Pete Seger's songs without knowing his name. Now, it's a name I will never forget. Not necessarily because of his transcendence in the music of our world, but mostly as an example in ethics.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Carry it on
Comment: I love this! It's a piece of history captured, the power of song, and the impact one human being with a banjo following their heart can make. I grew up with Pete Seeger, and remember being at his childrens concerts. Thank you to all who put this together.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Pete Seeger: A Powerful Voice for Peace
Comment: This video is excellent and provides a biographical look at Pete Seeger's life and his efforts to promote peace and justice through his music and more. He is a true patriot and an American hero. The music is wonderful and the interviews are well done. This is a story of hope.

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