As Pete Seeger walks out onto the stage of the Melbourne Town Hall - in a sweater it looks like he knitted himself - it is hard to believe you see before you the lead singer of the first American folk group, The Weavers, to be blacklisted by the House Committee for Un-American Activities, an artist banned from broadcast on US TV networks for 17 years.

Under investigation by the FBI, his songs considered too dangerous to be heard by American adults, Seeger fought a 7-year legal battle against sedition charges for refusing to tell congress where and when he had performed his ‘subversive’ material.

Winning his appeal in 1963, his passport returned, Seeger left the US in disgust and set out on a world tour. It is the second date of that tour, in Melbourne, Australia, which is so perfectly captured in this excellent DVD.

The concert was performed in front of an awestruck audience of 3,000, who were soon yodeling, clapping and singing along, driven by Seeger’s warmth, humour and some rousing music. The set consists of a wide range of material, from folk standards, to spirited children’s tunes, self-penned freedom songs and covers from other folk artists, including Peter Paul & Mary, Tom Paxton and a young protest artist called Bob Dylan. Indeed, a coruscating version of Dylan's 'A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall' is one of the highlights of the DVD, along with the anthemic 'If I Had a Hammer' and the Woody Guthrie medley. Seeger’s guitar and banjo playing reach extraordinary levels of musical virtuosity.

On a technical note, recreating the Melbourne performance involved skillful blending of an uncut film reel carrying a poor soundtrack with an edited broadcast version with good sound. Given these constraints, the result is never short of excellent in terms of both visual and audio quality.

The DVD is packed with excellent bonus material. Seeger’s team bought their own cameras with the intention of filming the world’s folk music in its traditional contexts, and on this stop they filmed Australian folk legend Duke Tritton, describing how his music emanated from the work rhythms of the shearing shed.

Building on this theme, there is a remarkable sequence, specially shot for Australian TV, of Seeger demonstrating how negro work songs are timed around the rhythm of the work being performed - and illustrates this by swinging an axe into a block of wood in the studio while singing the song. Definitely don’t try that one at home (and no health and safety - hooray!).

Another unforgettable extra is Two Links of a Chain: the Story of Lead Belly, where Seeger both sings and discusses the songs of this great performer, and shows rare footage of Lead Belly singing three blues songs, filmed in 1945 by some passing Japanese fans. Priceless.

The DVD is topped off with an informative 16-page booklet featuring liner notes by Seeger biographer David K. Dunaway. The DVD contains rare photographs, home movies and other memorabilia.

For the record, Seeger did ultimately garner recognition from the American establishment. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, the Presidential Medal of the Arts in 1994, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 2000. To see why, you’re going to have to see this DVD.

10

Andy Thomas-Emans