Pete Seeger, Live in Australia (Reelin' in the Years Productions/Acorn Media, 2009)

"My family and I will never forget the wonderful people we met in Australia in 1963. I look forward to this DVD being seen on both sides of the ocean." Pete Seeger, 2009

Pete Seeger has recently been celebrated in a number of ways. Bruce Springsteen made an album dedicated to him and the songs he sang (and then made another live version with an accompanying DVD). Ry Cooder included Pete as a guest on his CD My Name is Buddy. And in May in Madison Square Garden, they all gathered to sing for Pete on his 90th birthday. Roger McGuinn, Richie Havens, Warren Haynes, Joan Baez, Tim Robbins, Norman Lear, and even Oscar the Grouch made appearances! All topped off, of course, by the presence of the Boss...well...yeah Springsteen was there, but on this night the real boss was Pete Seeger himself!

I saw Pete's sloop one day while fishing in the Hudson River in Kingston, NY. He waved from the deck. That was in 1962, the year before the year that this video represents. 1963! That's 46 years ago! I was 12 years old, and I'll never forget Pete waving to us. Pete will never forget the trip to Australia where this DVD was made. Memory is a wonderful thing. This DVD will keep alive that memory for Pete, and for the Aussies lucky enough to have been in the audience, but even for those of us who were not there...it creates memories.

If you wonder why the rock glitterati care about a 90 year old banjo player, pop this disc in your player and take a gander at what happens. This was before three hour shows filled with smoke, mirrors and psychedelic lighting. A tall skinny man with a banjo stands in front of a microphone and plays and sings, maybe tells a little story, tries to engage the people sitting in front of and behind him. That's the show. He sings "If I Had a Hammer," "Down By the Riverside," "The Bells of Rhymney," "Skip to My Lou," and a bunch more. No drum solos or lead guitar breaks, no pyrotechnics, no costumes, just a tall skinny guy with a banjo, and sometimes a guitar.

The people seem to love it. They they bob their heads, they clap their hands, they sing along. That's right...they sing along. He gets them involved. You didn't just sit there at a Pete Seeger show. You took part. Okay, so if you watch you'll see the audience, students, their parents, neighbours, businessmen and their wives. This was the sixties, the early sixties, so everyone got dressed up to go out. Suits and ties on the men (and boys), dresses, gloves and hats on the ladies. They sit with their hands folded in their laps but when they sing along you can see they're loving it.

The concert lasts 105 minutes, but the DVD is fleshed out with another hour's worth of material. Some rare footage of Leadbelly accompanies Pete's interview when he discusses Leadbelly's work; and some contemporary TV footage is included. Watch as Pete swings an ax in the studio while he sings a work song! Fantastic.

Live in Australia is the first in a new series from Reelin' in the Years called Folk Icons which promises "performances by the greatest legends of folk music...". I look forward to more, but until then, this black and white film from nearly half a century ago will have to do.

[David Kidney]