During the infamous “folk [music] revival” of the mid-1960s, many brilliant artists met, collaborated and created to form a genuine movement.   These artists were from many different backgrounds, ages, colors and creeds, which made it a true melting pot of individuals building a forceful presence in music in New York City and beyond.

One of the unique friendships formed during that time was between Pete Seeger, our guest of honor for FolkWorks for January, and the dulcimer player from Kentucky, Jean Ritchie.   Their first meeting was like many during that time – at a live concert, introduced by those who would come to form the trajectory of the folk revival.   

Here’s Pete talking about how he first met Jean:

“I was backstage at some big auditorium, like Carnegie Hall, and Alan Lomax came up and introduced her to me.” “Beautiful young girl with a beautiful voice…wow!”

The Folk Revival:  Pete was already a prominent figure in mid-20th century folk music and had been a leading performer, advocate, organizer and producer when he met Jean.  When Jean, surprised to be swept up into the folk revival movement as it was beginning in the late 1940s, found herself on stages performing with the Weavers, Woody Guthrie, Odetta and many others, she caught the attention of many of the revival’s main figures, Pete Seeger included.  

Seeger began his syndicated TV show “Rainbow Quest” in 1965, and brought many artists from the revival into the living rooms of Americans all over the country.  Jean was a frequent guest performer as well, and below is her appearance with Pete in 1966 in an interview and performing songs “Shady Grove” and “Jackero.”   

Seeger Influences Ritchie to Compose: After the death of Woody Guthrie, Pete went to Jean and asked her to compose a song for the memorial.  Feeling the need to honor Guthrie, Jean composed her first ever “protest” song, the landmark “Black Waters” in Guthrie’s style, identifying the poisoning and flooding of Appalachian farms and landscapes by the coal companies as they strip-mined Eastern Kentucky.   She was inspired to compose further,  producing coal industry-related songs such as “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” and “Blue Diamond Mines.”

Jean and Pete continued to work together, performing, producing and forging a lasting friendship and close bond with their families.  It was because of Seeger’s invitation that  Jean was part of the founding of the Newport Folk Festival.  Here is Pete describing her performance:

“I can remember on a foggy night being way out in the back and hearing her voice just floating out over the heads of everybody, through the fog, an extraordinary voice. Arlo Gurthrie had just finished telling the story of Alice’s Restaurant. Got an absolute ovation. I was the MC. Poor Jean, I pushed her on stage: “You have to follow it!” There she was, at the microphone in front of an audience who wanted to hear more of Arlo. She started out unaccompanied, singing Amazing Grace, this fantastic, fantastic melody…after the audience heard Amazing Grace you could have heard a pin drop. Ten thousand people or whatever it was there, they quieted down completely and were drawn into this amazing song.”

One of the most poignant and meaningful recordings that Pete left behind is his spoken-word rendition of Jean’s poem “I Celebrate Life” from the tribute album “Dear Jean:  Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie.”   It was the last recording he would make before he died.

Shortly after Seeger died in January of 2014, I was then writing a column for FolkWorks called “Singing the Moon Up,” and devoted my column to this long friendship, called “Jean and Pete.” You can read “Jean and Pete” HERE

Thank you, Pete, for everything you have left us, all the beauty, all the inspiration, and all the music.

And as always, dear readers, thanks for coming to see me!

Love and Blessings,
Susie
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Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folk Scene.  LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.”  “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.”  As an educator, Susie has lectured at USC Thornton School of Music and Cal State Northridge on “Balladry to Bluegrass,” illuminating the historical path of ancient folk forms in the United Kingdom to the United States via immigration into the mountains of Appalachia.  Susie has taught workshops since 2018 at California music camps RiverTunes and Vocáli Voice Camp.  She is a current specialist in performance and historian on the work of American folk music icon, Jean Ritchie.  Susie now offers private voice coaching online via the Zoom platform.   www.susieglaze.com