To Hear Your Banjo Play

Pete Seeger narrates this short documentary about the banjo, folk music, and square dancing, with several other leaders, including Woody Guthrie.

It's a fun little time for those of us who love the banjo; I spent ten years trying to learn to play it. My fingers were too clumsy, and I started too late, alas, but it's still a joy to see this short. It's co-directed by Williard Van Dyke, whose all-too-short list of movies are a lot of fun. And to watch the speed at which these fellows pick out notes, the manner in which old women sing the songs, and the joy with which the young people dance towards the end contribute to a superior time.

Having just read that Pete Seeger died, I looked him up on Wikipedia and found a couple of links to his short films on the Internet Archive of which this was one of them. Written by Alan Lomax, Seeger plays his banjo and tells of folk music's history from the farms to the cotton fields. He also sings a little here and helps put on a square dance. Also appearing is Woody Guthrie with a couple of others playing a song about John Henry. Oh, and Pete mentions why he's in New York-the "Big Town", he calls it-he notices how the people there are seeming to want to go back to their roots. It's quite fascinating watching this considering I first knew about him when he appeared on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" and performed that anti-war song, "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy". So on that note, I highly recommend To Hear Your Banjo Play.

Music from Oil Drums (1956)

Music from Oil Drums was another Pete Seeger rarity I discovered from Internet Archive

********** (10 out of 10)

This was another short from Pete Seeger I found a link from Wikipedia to Internet Archive when I looked him up there after finding out about his death today. It chronicles his journey to Trinidad to research those steel drums made from oil barrels to take back with him to America. Quite a lesson he gives on the instrument's history and fine playing from him and other musicians both in that country and our own. He and wife Toshi were the directors and they're fine with the way the whole thing was achieved. Really, I'm glad I watched this and it was a nice discovery I made about him. I feel I just scratched the surface of what I've found here. So on that note, Music from Oil Drums gets a high recommendation from me.