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Clearwater Concert in honor of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday. "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" is an acoustic version with Tom Morello; the other tracks are with all performers, including Seeger and his wife Toshi. All performers dance onstage during the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's rendition of "When The Saints Go Marching In". Tao Rodriguez-Seeger takes lead vocals on "Well May The World Go". First ever Springsteen performance in the U.S. of "This Little Light Of Mine".
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Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday Tribute
- Pete Seeger
- Joan Baez
- Billy Bragg
- Ben Bridwell
- Tom Chapin
- Sue Chase
- Bruce Cockburn
- Laura Cortese
- Guy Davis
- Ruby Dee
- Ani DiFranco
- Casey Driessen
- Steve Earle
- Ramblin' Jack Elliott
- Béla Fleck
- Michael Franti
- Arlo Guthrie
- Ben Harper
- Ellen Harper
- Emmylou Harris
- Richie Havens
- Warren Haynes
- Patterson Hood
- Bernice Johnson Reagon
- Juanes
- Kris Kristofferson
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo
- Larry Long
- Michael Mark
- Molly Mason
- Dave Matthews
- Del McCoury
- Anna McGarrigle
- Kate McGarrigle
- Roger McGuinn
- John Mellencamp
- Mike Merenda
- Ruth Merenda
- Scarlett Lee Moore
- Native American Indian Cultural Alliance
- Bill Nershi
- New York City Labor Chorus
- Oscar the Grouch
- Lenny Pickett
- Preservation Hall Jazz Band
- Tom Morello
- Tyler Ramsey
- Miles Robbins
- Tim Robbins
- Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
- Tommy Sands
- Patti Scialfa
- Peggy Seeger
- Toshi Seeger
- Jacob Silver
- Bruce Springsteen
- Taj Mahal
- Teddy Thompson
- Tony Trischka
- Jay Ungar
- Martha Wainwright
- Rufus Wainwright
- Abigail Washburn
- Eric Weissberg
- Dar Williams
- Keller Williams
Complete lineup of performers is not known. If you have any information or further details regarding the musicians onstage for this date please get in touch.No Handwritten or Printed Setlist available. |
incl. Rehearsals.
- 2023-04-01 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2022-10-01 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2019-11-04 Hulu Theater At Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2018-11-05 Hulu Theater At Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2018-07-18 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2017-09-15 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2016-11-01 Theater At Madison Square Garden (The), New York City, NY
- 2016-03-28 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2016-01-27 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2015-11-10 Theater At Madison Square Garden (The), New York City, NY
- 2015-07-31 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2014-11-05 Theater At Madison Square Garden (The), New York City, NY
- 2013-11-06 Theater At Madison Square Garden (The), New York City, NY
- 2012-12-12 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2012-04-09 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2012-04-06 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2011-12-01 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2009-11-08 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2009-11-07 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2009-10-30 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2009-10-29 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2009-05-03 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2007-10-18 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2007-10-17 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2006-06-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2003-02-23 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2002-08-12 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-07-01 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-29 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-27 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-26 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-23 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-20 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-17 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-15 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-12 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1997-02-26 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1993-06-26 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-08-24 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-05-23 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-05-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-05-19 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-05-18 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-05-16 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1987-12-13 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1983-08-02 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1980-12-19 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1980-12-18 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1980-11-28 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1980-11-27 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1979-09-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1979-09-21 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1978-08-23 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1978-08-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1978-08-21 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1973-06-15 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1973-06-14 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
incl. Interviews and Recording-sessions.
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© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.
The event aired in an edited form on July 30, 2009 on PBS as part of the Great Performances series. Also in an edited form, the event was officially released in 2009 on Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday Celebration: The Clearwater Concert, a 2-disc DVD released by the Clearwater label. "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" (with the preceding speech) and "This Land Is Your Land" were part of the broadcast. These two, plus "Well May The World Go", constitute the three songs on which Springsteen appears and that were included on the DVD release.
Audience tape circulates.
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Intro to “The Ghost of Tom Joad”
“One, two…(?)…can you give me a little more voice out there, thank you…well, as, uh, as Pete and I traveled to Washington for President Obama’s inaugural celebration (crowd cheers) he told me the, uh, he told me the entire story of “We Shall Overcome,” how it moved from a labour movement song and, with Pete’s inspiration, was adapted by the Civil Rights movement and, uh…that day as we sang “This Land Is Your Land,” I looked at Pete, the first black President of the United States was seated to his right and I thought of, uh, I thought of the incredible journey that, that Pete had taken, you know, my own growing up in the ‘60s in a town scarred by race rioting, made that moment nearly unbelievable and Pete had thirty extra years of struggle and real activism on his belt, he was so happy that day, it was like Pete, you outlasted the bastards, man (chuckles)(crowd cheers) that is so nice…it is so nice…at rehearsals the day before, it was freezing, fifteen degrees, and Pete was there, he had his flannel shirt on, I said “Man, are you gonna wear something besides that flannel shirt?” he says “Yeah, I’ve got my long-johns on under this thing” (chuckles from Bruce and the crowd) and I asked him “How you wanna approach “This Land Is Your Land,” it being near the end of the show?” and all he said “Well, I wanna sing all the verses” (laughs from the crowd) I wanna sing all the ones that Woody wrote, especially the two that get left out, you know, about the private property and the relief office…and I thought, uh, “Of course, that’s, that’s what Pete’s done his whole life, he sings all the verses all the time, especially the ones that we’d like to leave out of our history as a people” (crowd cheers) and uh…at some point…at some point Pete Seeger decided he’d be a walking, singing reminder of all of America’s history, he’d be a living archive of American music and conscience, a testament to the power of song and culture, to nudge history along, to push American events towards more humane and justified ends…he would, uh, have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of the people…now despite Pete’s somewhat benign grandfatherly appearance (laughs from the crowd) he’s a preacher of a stubborn, defiant and nasty optimism (crowd cheers) he carries…inside him he carries a steely toughness that belies that grandfatherly façade and it won’t let him take a step back from the things he believes in, at 90 he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country’s illusions about itself (crowd cheers) Pete Seeger still sings all the verses to all the songs…and he reminds us of our immense failures as well as shining a light towards our better angels on the horizon where the country we’ve imagined and hold dear, we hope awaits us, and on top of it, he never wears it on his sleeve, he’s become comfortable and casual in his immense role, he’s funny and very eccentric, you know, the song that, uh, I’m gonna bring Tommy out and the song Tommy Morello and I are about to sing, I wrote it in the mid-‘90s and it started as a conversation I was having with myself, it was an attempt to regain my own bearings and its last verse is the, uh, beautiful speech that Tom Joad whispers to his mother at the end of “The Grapes of Wrath”…which is, uh, “Wherever there’s a cop beating a guy or wherever a hungry new-born baby cries, wherever there’s a fight against the blood and hatred in the air, look for me, Ma, I’ll be there,” well, Pete has always been there (crowd cheers) so for me…for me, that speech is always aspirational, for Pete, it’s simply been a way of life, the singer in my song is in search of the ghost of Tom Joad, the spirit with the guts and the toughness to carry forth and to fight for and live their ideals, I’m happy to report that spirit of the ghost of Tom Joad is with us in the flesh tonight but beyond this stage momentarily it’s gonna look an awful lot like your granddaddy with his flannel shirts and funny hats (laughs from the crowd) he’s gonna look like your granddad – if your granddad can kick your ass (laughs from the crowd) (crowd cheers) so this is for Pete, come on here, Tom – Tom Morello is here to join me on this…”
| Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi. |
Sorry, no Eyewitness-report available.
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© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.
Pete Seeger Celebrates 90th With a Concert |
The celebrator who made the most noise and aroused the strongest sentiment during Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday party at Madison Square Garden Sunday night was the one who couldn’t make it.
No, President Obama was not there, but his presence loomed large over this gathering of progressives. In an updated version of the 1930s labor anthem “Which Side Are You On?” Ani DiFranco sang, “Now there’s folks in Washington that care what’s on our minds.” Bruce Springsteen told of rehearsing for the recent presidential inauguration with Mr. Seeger, who had relayed the story of “We Shall Overcome,” crucial to both the labor and civil rights movements. Watching the transfer of power, Mr. Springsteen said, “was like, ‘Pete, you outlasted the bastards, man.’ It was so nice.”
The new president did send a letter, though, praising Mr. Seeger for voicing “the hopes and dreams of everyday people.” And, as was evident throughout this four-hour-plus event — a birthday party masquerading as a fund-raiser for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a preservation charity founded by Mr. Seeger — many have tried to follow in that path, or at least capture some of his refracted glow. More than 40 performers gathered to pay tribute to Mr. Seeger — one of the lions of American folk music and still indefatigable — who, save for a handful of exceptions, outworked them all.
Here rising to the occasion (formally called “The Clearwater Concert: Creating the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders”) meant more than showing up and breezily soldiering through a classic protest tune or two, as plenty of singers — Arlo Guthrie, John Mellencamp, Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, Emmylou Harris — gladly did, in performances that often felt dutiful, not exuberant.
Some, though, shook off the oppressive nature of good intentions to create transcendent moments. Richie Havens revisited the “Freedom/Motherless Child” hybrid he performed at Woodstock 40 years ago in devastating fashion, closing with a high kick and a twirl of his guitar. Billy Bragg fiercely sang part of his revised version of “The Internationale,” lyrics he wrote at Mr. Seeger’s behest and that later appeared in the Industrial Workers of the World’s “Little Red Songbook” alongside the originals.
In group settings — most performances included several singers — Rufus Wainwright and Abigail Washburn stood out, as did Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey in the Rock and her daughter Toshi, as well as Ben Bridwell and Tyler Ramsey of Band of Horses.
In one of the night’s most riveting moments, Béla Fleck and Tony Trischka played dueling banjos, closing with a clever variation on “Happy Birthday to You.” In the postwar era Mr. Seeger helped popularize the banjo, which was as much an object of celebration here as Mr. Seeger himself, with at least a half dozen musicians picking at their beat-up five-strings.
This show’s lineup showcased folk’s topical range, if not always its emotional range. There were union songs; antiwar songs (the still-relevant “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” and “Bring Them Home”); a Bob Dylan song, “Maggie’s Farm” (but no Bob Dylan); and songs about the river. (Lighting was strung above the stage in the shape of sails.) And, as with any show of this scale, there were plenty of rough patches: awkward letdowns (Ben Harper, Michael Franti), questionable pairings (Tom Morello, barely keeping up with Mr. Springsteen on “The Ghost of Tom Joad”), and moments of overindulgence, as with Dave Matthews’s overly precious rendition of “Rye Whiskey.”
There was also Oscar the Grouch from “Sesame Street” singing “Garbage,” a reminder of Mr. Seeger’s belief that no voice should go unheard. His commitment to singalongs was refortified throughout the night, decentering the authority of those onstage in true folk style. Encouraging those in the sold-out arena to chime in with their voices, the actor Tim Robbins assured them, “Nothing would make Pete happier on his birthday.”
Mr. Seeger led the crowd in “Amazing Grace,” calling out lines in a spooky, hole-filled, appealingly weathered voice. It was one of several brawny, moving exercises in mass vocalizing: “We Shall Overcome,” “This Land Is Your Land,” “Well May the World Go,” “This Little Light of Mine.” (No “Kumbaya,” though — something of a relief.) Ninety years after Mr. Seeger’s birth, 50 or so years after the height of the folk music movement, 40 years after the civil rights movement, and 104 days after the swearing-in of the country’s first black president, those songs no longer sound defiant or expectant, but instead matter-of-fact.
| By Jon Caramanica via The New York Times. |
Springsteen, Mellencamp, Morello and More Celebrate Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday With Sing-Alongs |
Pete Seeger has always maintained that his greatest joy as a performer is to lead others in sing-alongs. At his 90th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden last night he must have been ecstatic since for nearly four and a half hours he and 51 other artists transformed the massive arena into an intimate campfire sing-along, where toddlers, senior citizens and everyone in between belted “Michael Row the Boat Ashore,” “This Land is Your Land,” “Turn Turn Turn” and many others songs Seeger wrote or popularized over his seven-decade career. “There is no such thing as a wrong note,” Seeger said after leading a group rendition of “Amazing Grace” midway through the show, “just as long as you’re singing along.”
The concert — a benefit for Seeger’s Clearwater environmental group that works to clean the Hudson River — began with Seeger playing a mournful tune on a recorder in front of a group of Native American musicians. “Ever since a guy named Hudson went up that river, it’s gone to hell,” one of them said. John Mellencamp then came out and performed a solo acoustic version of Seeger’s “If I Had A Hammer.” “This song was written in 1949 and made quite a stir in 1949,” “Mellencamp said. “We were all afraid of the reds back then.” He then did his 2008 tune “A Ride Back Home,” which he said he wrote “after listening to a bunch of Pete Seeger songs.”
After brief introductory remarks by Tim Robbins, a long evening of musical collaborations kicked off — which included Tom Morello, Bruce Cockburn, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Patterson Hood, Taj Mahal, Warren Haynes, Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie and others playing in many permutations. Highlights included Morello and Taj Mahal dueting on “Waist Deep In The Big Muddy,” The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Hood, Haynes and Pete’s grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger doing Seeger’s anti-war tune “Bring ‘Em Home,” Baez, Scarlett Lee Moore and Mike and Ruthy Merenda doing “Jacob’s Ladder” and Kris Kristofferson and Ani DiFranco’s playful duet on the children’s song “There’s A Hole In My Bucket.”
In keeping with the folk tradition, some songs were updated to reference current events, like the addition of “The curse of Reagonomics has finally taken its toll” to DiFranco and Cockburn’s version of the 1930’s union classic “Which Side Are You On.” The most surreal performance of the night was when Tom Chapin was joined by none other than Sesame Street‘s Oscar the Grouch for Seeger’s eco-friendly tune “Garbage.” “Have a rotten everything,” the muppet said while throwing banana peels and other bits of garbage onto the stage.
Dave Matthews first hit the stage around the four-hour mark. “What a night!” he said. “The first concert I ever saw was when my mom took me to see Pete Seeger,” he added, before breaking out his falsetto for an acoustic “Rye Whiskey.” He was followed by Bruce Springsteen, who released an album of Seeger tunes just three years ago. “Pete is a walking, singing archive of American history,” Springsteen said during a long, moving speech. “He had the audacity and courage to sing in the voice of the American people. At 90, he remains a stealth dagger into the country’s illusions about itself.” Along with Tom Morello, he did “The Ghost Of Tom Joad,” which Seeger himself covered two years ago.
For the finale, every performer of the night crammed onto the stage for “This Land Is Your Land.” “I gave you the words and you sing along,” Seeger told the crowd. As he did at Barack Obama’s inauguration, he included the often skipped verses about the relief office and the private property sign. After leaving the stage to “This Little Light Of Mine,” everybody returned for “Goodnight Irene” — which Seeger’s group the Weavers took to Number One in 1950. Watching the nonagenarian at work is truly astounding. His energy and joy seem limitless, and he really doesn’t look a day over 70 — a point underscored when Pete’s older (!) brother John sauntered over to the microphone to address the crowd: “If I’m 95, Pete’s going to make it to 100!”
| By Andy Greene via Rolling Stone. |
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