People's Songs
| Editor | Pete Seeger |
|---|---|
| Categories | Music magazines Folk music |
| Frequency | quarterly |
| Founder | Pete Seeger |
| First issue | February 1946 |
| Final issue | 1950 |
| Company | People's Songs Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
People's Songs was an organization founded by
History
Seeger's work with the
The organization was loosely modeled as an American version Great Britain's Workers Music Association, founded 10 years earlier than People's Songs.[4] It published out a weekly newsletter with songs, articles, and announcements of Hootenannies and folk dances. It served as a clearing house for progressive entertainers. There were also occasional special issues with relevant songs on an as needed basis geared for specific rallies, strike, and court cases. Soon the booking agency became an offshoot: People's Artists.
People's Songs branched out into several satellite locations in addition to the New York offices. A yearly convention was held as a place to exchange ideas and play songs. The first People's Songs convention was held in 1947 in Chicago,[5] and there was a branch in California headed by Mario Casetta, an army friend of Seeger's from Saipan, who became a key figure in the West Coast folk and world music scene.
In its first year People's Songs met with success, but this was a trying time for the labor movements in the United States, which had a significant Communist presence since its inception. After World War II, the Communist Party of the United States became much more dogmatic than formerly, and was indifferent to the use of folk music. There was also not much call for new organizing or singing in the streets, as established unions tried to consolidate their gains. In addition, there was a conservative majority in Congress, which opposed the labor movement altogether and was adamantly committed to maintaining racial segregation in the South. Eager to reverse the social legislation of President
The Newsletter
The people are on the march and must have songs to sing. Now in 1946, the truth must reassert itself in many singing voices. There are thousands of unions, people's organizations, singers and choruses who would gladly use more songs. There are many songwriters, amateur and professional, who are writing these songs. It is clear that there must be an organization to make and send songs of labor and the American people through the land. To do this job we formed People's Songs. INC We invite your to join us.
— Pete Seeger, Introduction of People's Songs newsletter No. 1[1]
The People's Songs [7] was a small mimeographed magazine published quarterly from February 1946 to 1950.
The first issue of the People's Songs
Contributors to People's Songs Newsletter
People's Songs contained a lot of written out sheet music, lyrics and tablature. It was an eclectic mix of traditional folk and union songs along with newly written pieces by contemporary folk musicians of the time. Some contributors include the following:
- Moe Asch
- Anges "Sis" Cunningham,
- Tom Glazer
- Woody Guthrie
- Lee Hays
- Waldemar Hille
- Zilphia Horton
- Burl Ives
- Millard Lampell
- Pete Seeger
- Irwin Silber
- Sonny Terry
- Josh White
The entire backfile of People's Songs was microfilmed in the 1980s by Clearwater Publishing Inc. from Pete Seeger's personal copy, including his personal commentaries. Clearwater Publishing (not related to the Sloop Clearwater) was acquired by Congressional Information Service in 1987, which was a subsidiary of Reed-Elsevier, an international publishing conglomerate. In 2010 Reed-Elsevier sold all its microfilm titles, including People's Songs, Broadside magazine, and New City Songstore, a British folkmusic newsletter published by Peggy Seeger, to ProQuest/CSA.
References
- ^ a b c People's Songs Inc. People's Songs Newsletter, Vol 1. No 1. 1945. Old Town School of Folk Music resource center collection.
- ^ ISBN 0-252-06525-5.
- ^ Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, 1948 : Communist Front Organizations. Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities. 1948. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
- ^ People's Songs Inc. People's Songs Newsletter, Vol 1. No 2. 1945. Old Town School of Folk Music resource center collection.
- ^ People's Songs Inc. People's Songs Newsletter, Vol 2. No 8. 1945. Old Town School of Folk Music resource center collection.
- ^ See Richard M. Freeland, The Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism: Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy, and Internal Security, 1946-48 (New York: New York University Press, 1989).
- ^ a b Bulletin
Further reading
- Lieberman, Robbie. "My Song is My Weapon": People's Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture, 1930 - 1950 Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.
- The People's Song Library Collection, located at the Walter P. Reuther Library in Detroit. 1940–70, bulk 1940-55
The People's Song Library archival collection consists of songs collected by the Almanac Singers (1941–43); People's Songs, Inc. (1946–49); People's Artists, Inc. (1950–57); and Sing Out, Inc. (1958–70). Scores, songbooks, and lyrics by Aaron Copland, Woody Guthrie, Joe Hill, Huddie ("Lead Belly") Ledbetter, Alan Lomax, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Malvina Reynolds, Peggy and Pete Seeger, Josh White, and lesser-known and some anonymous authors dealing with civil rights, the Cuban Revolution, election songs of the 1940s, labor, pacifism, and war. Included are traditional folksongs and some of more recent vintage.
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