American Favorite Ballads 2

Pete Seeger | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 24, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B00009IB52
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,045 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Ballads fuse the arts of music and storytelling. Through ballads, classic tales of human experience are enshrined in poetry and song. Pete Seeger, an American folk hero and icon of the great "folk revival" of the 1950s & 1960s, hand-selected some of his favorite American ballads to compile a series of classic American song-stories flowing from the bedrock of the American experience. Through these captivating songs, a tale is told of America "once upon a time." This CD is the second in a series of Ballad reissues and is an important recording for any fan of American folk music. Compiled and annotated by Jeff Place and Guy Logsdon.

LYRICS

Lyric transcriptions as permissible by the publisher available here.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource to rediscover our musical heritage, July 14, 2003

By 

J. Ross "a-music_fan" (Roseburg, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Favorite Ballads 2 (Audio CD)

Folksinger, banjoplayer, songwriter Pete Seeger was born in New York in 1919, the son of musicologist Charles Louis Seeger and violin teacher Constance de Clyver. A political activist, he fought injustice. Seeger was a member of the Almanac Singers and The Weavers in the 40s. During the 50s and 60s, he recorded for Folkways Records. In fact, he was so prolific, there were 38 albums released for Folkways between 1950 and 1964. From 1957-62, Seeger's 5-record "American Favorite Ballads" series were a cornerstone of the collection. "American Favorite Ballads" has apparently been reissued in two volumes. The songs were, and still are, essential items for the folk music enthusiast. As Seeger always believed, we should be singing and enjoying these old songs. And he had a knack for involving his audiences, interacting with them in ways that stimulated their active participation. While not all of the songs on this Volume 2 CD are true ballads in the strict definition of the term, each tells a strong story. With extensive liner notes, and 27 songs totaling 73 minutes, there are many songs that we'll immediately recognize while others are a little more obscure. All are sung by Seeger, most accompanied only with banjo or 12-string guitar. This is an excellent resource for all Americans to rediscover their musical heritage and favorite story songs. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential folk/Americana album, July 17, 2003

By 

R. Riis "rriis" (NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Favorite Ballads 2 (Audio CD)

Pete Seeger's five "American Favorite Ballads" LPs were the basic documents of American folk music for generations. No dusty museum pieces, though - they were lively, funny, inspirational, joyous. It is delightful to see them begin to appear now on CD, especially fleshed out, as this volume is, with appropriate additional tracks from his other out-of-print Folkways LPs (how about getting some of those out on CD?). Essential in every way.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent performance, very good audio, January 12, 2010

By 

Donald W. Bell (Santa Barbara, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Favorite Ballads 2 (Audio CD)

I expected the performances to be excellent, but was surprised by how good the audio is on many tracks.