Pete Seeger in Concert in New York City, New York (Part A)

I said let's be democratic. But nobody disagrees with the song. I would like to hear you booed. That's one more boo than we got in Castleton on the Hudson up in Columbia County. Crazy. All the crazy things that go on in this country friend of mine in Atlanta Georgia comes up and says Ernie this year Vietnam War has got to end. I understand we're payin 10 million dollars an hour. Why that's too much money to spend to save a bunch of niggers. And yet I'm not going to leave this country. I've been to many exiles for too many too many years. I say the time for exiles is over. The time for exiles is over. And it doesn't matter whether our forefathers were exiles from Europe

or with chains around their legs from Africa or came from Asia Latin America or wherever they came from. The time has come when if somebody comes up to you and says if you don't like it here why don't you go somewhere else. You say arms to me and right here and I'm going to do something about it. Normal. Well. He took from a man I. Thought I met well here a while. But I know. That on the last. You know saw you know what I seen set off. Bad on day could I say last Thursday

morning to make you get on. It John this vet of sauce to sing it. One. Man up. The. Right time. When I hit a rock. Made out of so SD One of out of the lot on. Here a warning call to me and send it off. May have had a saw us they don't have any of that pull off. Here Day one caught I mean and the send. Me a battle so I'll still see edible and eat on. Good going though a month. Oh ah. Ha. Ha. Right here Doc why. Go.

Right ahead Ron. I am a truthful man. From this land of palm trees. Before dying I want to share these poems of my soul. My verses are light green. But they are also flaming crimson. With the poor people of this earth. I want to cast my lot. On last book but I still like to. Hear it on your own miswired at that shop. On Les Paul but I guess they like to get it. Here in Misrata that a lot o young De LA CA MC come plus a mosque to you.

Well they're not. Get out. Now to. The best maybe on the anywhere record.

I think it's a good idea if you're. And you get picked up. The good news that I'm sure the record where actually get great weight told RCA we didn't want to build. Them. But that's that's that's kind of funny. It's the way in which the path of the way men were is very much alive today certainly alive in a guy like Louis that has his thinking is that something of great. I noticed when you were when you were thinking was that a little bit of the song that that that that you picked up a little of lawyers Liverpool accent of some of that

hall of L.A. I mean that everything rubs off. I don't know how many people hears them sailing but there's something about it that has a particular kind of a role. My aunt and so and so. Losing my mind in mind Jane and Susanna on the mountain was the sailor's song. The mountains the mountains saw Lee's solo triumph. And mud Jay and then Suzanne.

Well you know you can get that where Tim tried again where where they where they got it. Listen and goodbye to you. Again and so on and. So on will be rolling. And Jane and Susan on the head and. Post missing it indoors outdoors you always

have to be in a hierarchy. For goodbye and goodbye at this. Time. Jane and those who were on them. And and it was a windy day and you were outdoors. And there was no one to say shut up. You really holler out. This is. Where.

My do that. Where. What can.

You. Do. But I'm in the long boat and I'm in a long. Time. Yeah. Never before. The reason

is. I'd like to. The world can be about young people and people. Try. Trying to bring me. I. Will like you one lot. You.

Do love when I love. You like. I do you. Then I. Hear your lies. You. Double. The.

Height you. Know when. You. And you're. Seeing it. You never. Know what. You are.

Seeing. Further. If you got any of the sailors from Sailors Snug Harbor the come up selfie that. Week but I have to say to not harbor to see them.

We've had one or two in our evening meetings we have what we call seminar about an hour we got a call but got it when the whopper lies all that jaw talk contest or a bit. Of what we're used to call me got tired of always have a theoretical discussion. They beat I don't know if this is supposed to be a secret or not but where we're going to try to take 20 of those sailors. But in the little house in the street and let them live a little freer than they do out there on the sort of arrangement they've got a Thousand Island about that that's a great idea how they can be with people in the long run you know. He that's great make teach us some cuss words too and we can teach them something right. That wonderful idea. You know I was singing a song in Spanish a while back. They've been Spanish ships

sailing into New York Harbor for three hundred or more years. I was reading that history of New York City in the old volume kind of you don't see for sale everywhere it was printed 18 in 53 history of New York. And among other things he reported on was an event of 1741. This is really interesting it seems that some Spanish sailors were brought in under as prisoners of war. England had of having a war with Spain they captured this Spanish ship. The white sailors were exchanged and the other prisoners of war and sent back to their home the black sailors were made slaves. And it I give a TD a situation which

had long been smoldering known as slavery and shortly after two slaves were arrested for stealing. They were arrested for stealing and short after they were convicted. The judge's house caught on fire. Keep in mind in 1741 New York with a town of 10000 people and Wall Street was uptown. A rumor swept through the little colony that the blacks were planning to revolt and kill their masters. And a witch hunt followed which makes Salem Massachusetts look small. Over a three month period some hundred fifty people were arrested 70 were sold into slavery in the West Indies just to get rid of them. Some 14 were hung and 17 burned alive at the St.. There was no proof of anything. It was called the The Great Slave Revolt. But there's no

proof of anything all those. It was the same way as it was in Salem is a historical word from the girls in a bawdy house who've been there for them for the stolen articles for fun and they think so and so and so on was in danger and most people don't even stop to think of how long with here slavery has been going on. Some of the best sailors in the world were black people eat the great sea shanties started off when the English started putting West Indian black people in their crews and they were among the best sea shanty sing in the triangular fore and aft sail which revolutionized sailing in the age of Columbus was gotten from the era. And of it seemed to me maybe if we were interested in having a great sailing program we ought to forthrightly attack this problem of black and white

and see what we can do to bring black people in on this program to make it a thoroughly pepper and salt kind of idea. You being flavor they like your beer. OK here we go. We have thought about a little there's a there was a fellow who who was in the suppression of the slave trade and he made some very good watercolors of it would turn a starker record. They're also artistic it's one of the horrible things about it is that the ships were so beautiful that the slave ships they were built to go fast. They were about the most beautiful thing or the most horrible purpose. So we thought we'd get these paintings of showing the original crime being committed and we thought we'd call the show the black man it see or do we mean the white man. We're going to want to do a shot of it anyway. But they started us out looking through a lot of photographs

and we found crews where. Where. Black and white people were mixed in but mainly in. Whalers which were sort of a second rate. Dirty fade to the end. It is today. But the man the black man was very much on the waterfront. And I know and it's. And in these ships. And there was a time as a matter of fact in the early 19th century most of the doors were black. Then the Irish came in and drove them out evidently. And somebody wrote a thing in Harper's. Magazine about it. Saying that these. Dirty violent lying the lazy Irish had

taken over from a nice clean hardworking negroes on the waterfront. And it it does you little good look back at some of those things sometimes for instance. Some of the. Riots where we know the civil war riots in this town but but some of the some of the riots that that we had were really something you know houses burned down people getting burned down in the houses. The worst thing was when they burned that. Burned a whole negro orphanage with people in it. And the funny thing is that New York was a hell of a lot more violent home. Then. Than it than it is now. And they and there was a lot of racial feeling of again about it. Only the feeling was all against the Irish who were now seen to become cops or something like that.

We like to live. Like. We like to pursue these things because. It kind of says a little something. Nowadays. The dreamy. Hollow to the drinkin go all the way home. Mine is a way to freedom. When the sun comes back. Can the First Cause or the dream came good. Then the old man is oh wait no but I carry to freedom hollow the dream and go sing it

a lot of training in gold. Lol the drinking night is always what I carry you to freedom Oh the dream again Oh Will the river bank will make a mighty good road. The dead trees will show you the. Left. Foot. But drive ahead. Three. And they didn't go. And between his.

Drinking there's a hollow the very. Brink of freedom. Yeah we got a good thing. My father was the keeper of the Eddas don't like he slept with them or made one by night out of this union there came three a porpoise on the park again the other was made whole the wind blows free Oh all right I found the hole in the sea.

One night. Desire was a criminal the gleam sing in the verse from the men in him a voice in the Star about shot at a high and there was my mother a sick nun the boy the young holder wind blows free oh for life in the road. One has become a children three a mother she asked of me. One was exhibited as a talk going fish the other served up on a chafing dish you know how hold the wind blows free oh for life on the sea. On the. Last dinner seaweed hair I looked again and my mother wasn't there. A voice came back from the night that however the keeper of the Eddas don't like know how cold the wind blows. Oh all right life on the roll in the seas is a somewhat person who knows the song would like come up here and sing a mile a company but I don't know for example

the whole batch. He had a dark and roll in. The Ok ha. Oh about 1 0. 0 0 again. In the barrio Mike. Then it might be a good time. To. Get. Right. We're all there. No you're OK. Current

illyria our. Current she were ill. I wound. To our last. Election.

I. ILY. ILY. ILY. Show our special. Yowie. You. Are an. Ha ha ha ha.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha ha. Ha. Ha. Ha ha. Listening to W. YSL with

Pete Seeger. And they love but. Lol there's. A lot of news buying. Again. If you hold birth it isn't new but love

growing and waxes and fades away. We say well who do. You know. Anybody want a home along with me you're welcome. The water is why I say that I cannot cross over. Neither have I

wings to fly. Give me a boat. That can carry me to. Both show roll. And her office all the way to get me a boat here. Me. Me.

Me. You know the after cabin of the Clearwater I think of the stove and it doesn't it. By God of the great have you come down there and thing like that and anything down there. As a matter of fact in the cabin of a boat one of the nicest things that the rock in the way. Close quarters are jammed in there but never the less and more people are jammed together the better they think it is. Why exactly.

Propinquity. The. If I can think of some of the stories. Another one there was a nervous loop was rammed by a steamer. I was reading this in an old issue of was this a hundred years ago. I was reading an old newspaper up in a little town up up river and it reported that the sloop sunk very quickly but the captain's wife immediately grabbed her sewing basket and one of two other precious things and went up the ratlines and sat in the crosstrees since the river was only about 20 30 feet deep from the cross-trees was 60 feet high. I just sat there until help came. That's that's way to have a ship wreck if. It will be before us little makes makes a real difference in that river before you get out of these factories. Turn off their poison and all that.

My guess is very frankly that we've got about as good a chance to save the Hudson River as we have to save the human race. Which give me some hope. No I don't think they really they're going to be complete They're going to kind of run parallel courses and oh oh we've gotten so far as a lot of publicity but in each town there's going to be a club that might be some here in New York. Some of you like to do some sailing on them and they're going to fix up the waterfront instead of having every every single square foot of rock waterfront taken occupied by industry. They're going to have park and recreations stretches along the waterfront and they're going to start having pollution squadrons going around nailing some of these people that affect as a lawyer

in Long Island he proposed the suit. He's going to take court every polluter from the municipalities to the industries he says Thou shalt not dirty our river sue him. How are you. You probably know of the people of New York appropriated a billion dollars for five years ago to build a sewage plant and some of these are under construction and most will be under construction within a year or two and most of them will be finished by 1975 they say. The thing is it's all hurry up. Well what we do is hurry up the whole process and until I see it I can't really believe it because you know you have a way of clearing up one problem and two or three others come upon you. And.

The epitaph of many in the stablish mind is too little and too late. We'll see what happens here. I think good people will make a difference not just for an instance of the sloop. When it pulls into a town is the occasion for a great party in the little towns up river Cold Spring has only twenty five hundred people but we have 300 3000 3000 down at the dock for a celebration with music and dancing and displays. There's no reason that someone in the loop visits. The Harlem River. Or Brooklyn Staten Island anyplace that it can't be a reason for a great party down south. Pete must have about four or five thousand people there who they didn't like. Yes and they were frank with us so whatever you know whether they were a lot of them.

So if some of you here in the audience for example would be interested in helping with the parties no money is charging them. We want to see if it's possible to get away from the business of always charging money for tickets at the door. It may be a valuable fundraising method but if you really want to reach $5 Main Street audience let's forget about the ticket. And at South Street and at other places. Let's just get big mobs of people I mean not just two or three thousand Let's get five ten thousand. Why stop at 5 and get the rope off the street South Street big street there you have a hundred yards long and hundred feet wide you will be able to get about 15 20000 people in there I think that's right. I think a lot of musicians are always being asked for benefits but somehow musicians have got

a soft spot in their heart for vote and will get them down to help contribute to the party. What time of year have a good good time. For. A celebration at South Street next year. Just as soon as it gets warm enough. Well alright mate would be good. He too had a thought of going on from there to the Harlem without that kind of plane that opens out there on the Harlem. River. Yeah Will is a great place for a salute party but we couldn't use it this year because that wasn't an appropriate dog Wards Island with anybody over here ever been to Ward Island Park. Well not very many have and I think I got a sneaking suspicion to go trying to hide it because you know too many people use something that takes so much trouble to keep it clean and everything like that. There's a little sign 20 inches wide at the base of the foot ridge 100 Third Street entrance towards Highland Park.

You walk across the East River Drive and over the Harlem River on a footbridge a hundred in the third Street and then you're on about 50 acres of rolling green sward with trees and grass they got a baseball diamond there. It runs all around the south end of watts Randall's Island is really one island now they filled in between Ward and round the violin with the south end of that island and from the eastern end of it. Crescent you're underneath the Triborough Bridge looking over the queens from the south you can look right down the East River with Brooklyn on the left. In Manhattan on the right and then from the western edge of the Crescent you look over to Harlem. Well it's a great place for a party if we can just get a some kind of a dock built there but it's going to take some work and exactly how to do it. I don't know but I rather think that if there was a club here that would zero in on the problem and you get a petition to get an architect or engineer to figure out exactly how

much money it'll cost then we can bring the flute there and we couldn't the sheerly the rock with. You know and then the peer would always be there afterward that I hear the great thing walk out to really be with the water you know close to the water as you know you know as well as I do. This is kind of a mixture of things these days. But the the water right at that point is rather exciting. Every six hours it's calm in between the black tide. It's a raging torrent of water on the Hellgate is about nine knots Isn't it something like that it looks like. Like oh the foaming Rapids it's ferocious. We came through it my daughter and my wife with up up the mast the block broke. But he's going up there now. Terrifying. I find that the main Maybe I'm wrong. I find the two main

stumbling blocks in getting anything done. One is the person who says Oh I'm sure the situation isn't impossible we'll muddle through when our leaders know what's best. This is one problem you have to face and the other problem is almost a serious the problem that oh attesting can situation it'll never be any better there's no use in even trying to improve it. First of all the average person can imagine what a stinking situation is B thinks it can't get any worse the situation can get worse and will get worse unless we do something about it. As long as we're going to do something about it let's set our sights high enough to make it worthwhile. Let's not just try and and say let's keep it from getting worse let's make it better. Let's clean up this got dam in the river around here. Now if anybody if anybody

objects to obscene language My point is there's no such thing as obscene words as only I'm an obscene situation. There is an obscene situation. So the laying down my dirty. Stairwell I love it and I'll keep the dream. That some day though maybe not this year my son river once again run clear. It starts in the mountains of clay or trickles for. With just a few floating wrappers of hewing drop

some hikers to warn of things to come. Million. And a million placed. Little cities says. Do you think that sewage plants. In the. Parking

say my dream. Maybe this year my son or ever in my country will run away. Really that South Street could be a great rallying place it should be filled with people every weekend. They've not only come down to see boats they can have meetings pass resolutions and leave from there to go pick it. Goes. I confess I sometimes have a weakness to be activists

thoughts. What would happen if you. If you if you did something like this. I'm going to get me a bucket. Full of that slop. I'm going down to the mansion of the guy that owns the shop I'm going to press on the buzzer when he opens a door and they get me in jail but don't take that pail and sling it all over the floor. Hey here's an idea also. So yelling is in the America pretty much something for well-to-do people to do. It's not many poor people that can afford a sailboat and yet if there were a place where people could keep their boat safely without having to have a marina an

arm and a leg every month you know 71st. Oh yeah. OK I won't say more about them but if New York City would make available a part of it waterfront somewhere so that kids or anybody could keep a boat there and then that they could make homemade boats. You don't have to be a rich man really to say oh if you if you get a log and put a sheet on it you can sail. I think it's it's a great idea. He is a matter of fact we've been we've been working on getting you know just north of the seaport of the Smith houses the big public housing project of all of poor people in one place and tried to forget them and the waterfront there is pretty awful on top with kids who go swimming there and they get them on. So we found out that on some river in Germany they they

managed to get some barges and have that kid you know how the long river go swimming in the barges which has the same effect that you don't get brown and a little cleaner too. And we've been talking to the city about that and we're feeling a little more hopeful about it in the last two or three days. Where a nonpartisan. But but actually Pete we're hoping that north of the seaport we're going to have both banks of the river park not in the sense of trees but in the sense of things for people with the water and we don't know exactly what. We've got a few ideas like these swimming barges on now and then like today when I was up. In the office of Lower Manhattan Development was sort of like a planning commission.

It was suggested to me that maybe we ought to just pay attention to our little turf and not worry about the rest of the river but I think I think we're going to see that happen from us and I think one reason is because what you said the people coming down there you've got a lot of people coming and caring and they keep coming and they keep caring. And it kind of has a way of happening the way they want it. I think you know politicians do pay attention to be people sometimes. I was I was on the television. I was given a lesson the few years ago I was at Carnegie Hall and somebody said Sign a petition to save Carnegie Hall and I dutifully signed it and I thought well east is a quixotic venture this valuable property they're certainly going to tear down this old auditorium and put up a much more profitable office building. But I signed a petition anyway. And I know for a year or so as I saw other people signing it I thought that they're not going to succeed they're going to tear this building down it may

have the best acoustics in New York but they're not making as much money. And the hope is there but one friends of mine came along why I got them to sign it too. By gosh you know what happened they were they finally presented about 100000 signatures at Albany and at city hall. And within 24 hours the somebodies signature made Carnegie Hall free from say oh it's no longer threatened by having the property sold and so we got enough signatures and get enough people that people can get down to South Street there and get this seaport built it's going to be a great recreation area for Manhattan of course. Face it it worked for its work for the for the powers that be. Marilyn CEOs telling how we hope to encourage sailing on the river he says oh yes my my police launch is probably going to be fishing people out every Sunday for me.

It's true I think of all the commercial boats going up and down the East River if they get these little sailboats out of the way we're supposed to do this. But I don't feel good. They even managed to close Central Park in Sunday for the bi cycle if I can be really close. Maybe close New York Bay on Sunday for sailboats Hey that's a great. Feat actually that there's plenty of room for pleasure boating around Manhattan Island. A Coast Guard sort of got a bugaboo about it but there's plenty of room plenty of room for people enjoying the water. Even with even with a calmer. And less of the population just keep zooming up. Lol be a double in the Dublin the Dublin will all be at Dublin and 32 years will

all be a double in the double in the double and below will be a Dublin of 32 years. Do times do this for. Two times. Two times eight is 16 and the hour is getting late. The balloon the balloon the double in the lobby of the building the 32 years will be a double in the double in the building below the hole in the thirty two dimes sixteen thirty two twice that is 64. Next comes a hundred and twenty eight. Do you hear more well we'll all be in the double in the doubling up allin in 32 years with doubling the doubling the doubling of the year doubling in 32 years. Twice that's two hundred fifty six. Next comes five hundred and twelve. Next one thousand twenty four just figure it out yourself. Oh it will all be good doubling the doubling the doubling the lobelia doubling in 32 years below the double ended up all billion doubling in 32 years.

Mm hmm. Well you see it goes up about a thousand times any Each eight generations. And another eight generations more than be a million standing right where you are in this nation and we'll all be doubling the doubling the doubling will all be doubling the 30 years below doubling and doubling that up all the year doubling in 32 years. Still you have to have a sense of humor about it Paul Elliot the fellow who wrote Population Bomb and came over to have dinner with me and my brother in law's family and my brother in law's wife introduced her two daughters and their three sons and as you know good heavens I shouldn't be showing my such a huge family I have because they're like he's telling people you've got to have two children no more the world can't take it. That's all right we won't be retroactive. Face it none of us would be here today if it hadn't been for all sorts of mistakes our parents made

I wouldn't be here. My father would limit himself to children I'm a third child. We're here as a result of all the bad things that went on as well as all the good things we're here because of all the wars our ancestors had as well as the peace that they occasionally had. There's not a single one of us would be here today if somewhere along the line some woman hadn't been raped by some man. So are we in favor of rape. No it's not be retroactive but let's just. Let's just. Figure out how to be done in the years to come. And for the sake of it a decent respect for the years of the past as well as the future. I got a story for you. I get on it. It's a land lubbers type stories about railroad trains way out in the West. There are two farmers to withhold back in pioneer days and they and they read in the newspaper

that a railroad was going to be put through this section. They'd never seen a railroad before they'd heard of and then there was a picture of a locomotive on the old kind with a big gun. And the smoke pouring out. And one farmer turned the other says they'll never get it started. They'll never get it started. But the months passed and the trucks were laid right through this little town and the great day came in everybody.