"Never-before released masters," proclaims a legend on the front cover of this LP, and when the much smaller print on the back cover reveals, "Released by agreement with Folkways Records," some explanation is offered for how it can be that an album of previously unreleased recordings by
Pete Seeger
, who is contracted to
Columbia Records
, is being issued by
Capitol Records
, one of
Columbia
's rivals.
Seeger
's tenure at
, which dates back to 1961, doesn't seem to have interfered with his work for the tiny independent label
Folkways
, which predates his association with the major record label;
hasn't felt that
Folkways'
continuing to pump out
albums assembled from its vast archives constituted competition, given its limited distribution. Of course, having
license material to
Capitol
is another matter entirely, and
can't be pleased about it. What makes
a viable candidate for such a release is his renewed prominence as of 1964. Arguably the godfather of the folk revival, his profile has been raised in recent years by
's
Kingston Trio
, who charted with his song
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone"
; by the success of his song
"If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song),"
by
Peter, Paul & Mary
; by the controversy surrounding his exclusion from the network television series
Hootenanny
for his political background; and by the success of his
album
We Shall Overcome
and its chart single
"Little Boxes."
With its generic title,
Folk Songs by Pete Seeger
, the album of 12 songs
has gotten from
Folkways,
emphasizes
Seeger'
s ties to traditional folk and country music, starting with the opening track,
"T.B. Blues,"
his version of a song by the yodeling brakeman
Jimmie Rodgers
. Other songs, such as
"Careless Love"
and
"Red River Valley,"
also fit into the traditional country category, or would if
didn't sing them without a trace of a Southern accent. Elsewhere,
provides his takes on some folk songs that have been popularized by the likes of
Burl Ives
(
"Jimmy Crack Corn"
) and
"Freight Train,"
"This Train"
). He also takes on some of his well-known political concerns, addressing inflation on
"Dollar Ain't a Dollar Any More,"
the plight of farmers in
"Banks of Marble,"
and conservation in
"Coyote."
Still, this is not a collection that comes off as primarily political; rather, it lives up to its name, presenting
. ~ William Ruhlmann