Customer Reviews

Reunion at Carnegie Hall 1963 1

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This albu brings together the many people that was the Weavers. The main person is still Pete Seeger, but to hear the others blend in with those harmonies is just amazing. The set starts off with "When The Saints Go Marching In" and really continues to sizzle from there. The version of "Wimoweh" is one of the best I have ever heard. The other Carnegie Hall concert albums are better, but this one is very good. Buy it and enjoy. You will not regret it.

Not only is the performance great, but the technical rendition is absolutely as good as I have, as an audiophile, heard. I listened to this this performance on another brand CD and then listened to this remastering on Analogue Productions. I was prepared to concentrate for several minutes to hear any difference. But the difference was stunning and obvious within the first few seconds. For one thing, the other label sounded like it was a typical stereo with two sound sources. With this Analogue Productions CD, the sound stage was a seamless webb! And the articulation of the singers was present in great detail. Altogether a MUST GET for those who like this genre of music.

This is a true gem. Recorded live by Doug Sax. I have not listened to anything mediocre engineered by Doug Sax. The ambiance and performance is timeless. Even if you don't like folk music, you will enjoy this one. Highly Recommended!!!!!!!

Thanks Amazon for keeping this and other truly great music available in today's CD format. The quality is excellent.
I have reviewed this Concert Pt2 in another review.
I first listened to and fell in love with this concert and other Weavers music when I listened to it in the mid 1960s on vinyl LPs.
The Weavers on Tour is another great album. I also bought Pete Seeger at Carnegie Hall [the 1963 concert - double CD] from you - also reproduced on CD. Again excellent.
It is important for today's young people to know that Pete Seeger, The Weavers, Woody Guthrie, and Ledbelly were some of the formative influences on people like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez etc. The were activists in the de-segregation movement, the union movement etc., at a time when America was in sore need of effective voices. They spoke out against "McCarthyismm" when it was extremely necessary. Well Done!!!

This is best sounding Weavers CD.Trust me! The "Sax" treatment mentioned by another reviewer here is spot on.I used this disc to demonstrate High End Audio Gear.(People gathered around just hearing it)
This disc is worth having just for Guantanamera track alone, you can hear Pete's foot tapping on the stage! When you consider that this was recorded decades ago , you wonder what microphones people use these days! How can this be so good? This CD is one of my favs, i even got another copy just in case the "unthinkable" happens.
Get now ! What's stopping you?

This review has been used for other work by The Weavers, including review of the PBS production, The 25th Anniversary Reunion of the group. That documentary gives greater detail to the points that I have made below and includes more on the genesis, early successes and the ultimate fates and health of the various members of the group.

Okay, let's have a show of hands. Who first heard learned the classic Lead Belly song "Goodnight, Irene" from his rendition of the song? Who from the group under review, The Weavers? Another try. How about "If I Had A Hammer"? Or the old Underground Railroad song "Follow The Drinking Gourd"? I suspect that I would get the same answer. And that is to the good. Sure, we have heard all the songs in this collection before by various artist like Pete Seeger as an individual on "Gunatanamera", Bob Dylan on "House Of The Rising Sun" , Tennessee Ernie Ford On "Sixteen Tons" or Woody Guthrie on "This Land Is Your Land" but we HEAR this music through the four distinctive voices of The Weavers. Thus the title of this entry- Making Joyful Music.

That said, this group morphed in the 1940's from a grouping, The Almanac Singers, led by Pete Seeger, with occasional assistance from Woody Guthrie that performed in New York City and other locales for the labor movement and other left-wing causes. The rise to eminence I believe, however, came with the addition of the lovely strong voice of Ronnie Gilbert that gives a very different feel to the music in contrast to the Almanac Singers. As a group The Weavers made their mark with a stirring, very popular rendition of the Lead Belly classic mentioned above, "Goodnight, Irene". Then the roof fell in. Between personal differences within the group and the pressure, extreme pressure, of the 1950's anti-communist witch hunt in America that looked for "reds under every bed" and that dragged Pete Seeger in its wake the group fell off the radar for a while (in Seeger's case a long while). Nevertheless this basic American folk music lives on in their voices and in this recording that sounds pretty good even today.

A few other songs from this collection also deserve note. The beautifully harmonic (and wild) "Wimoweh"; a nice version of "On Top Of Old Smokey"; a well done version of the currently very apt and appropriate Yip Harburg song "Brother Can You Spare A Dime"; and, as a finale "So Long It's Been Good To Know You". In the folk pantheon this group has a place of honor. Listen to this CD to find out why.

I was truly surprised when I first listened to this album, since I didn't hear for weavers till then. I enjoyed it greately, and every time I listen it get's me into better mood.

This is just plain fun to listen to.

The high quality "gold" version from Analog Productions sounds great. Look for a good used copy since it's out of print.

This is a walk through memory lane for Weavers fans. Seeing these four again, still singing, still socially concerned, was a great experience for me. I've already played it four times.

The Weavers were a great group and their music is still fresh and inspiring today.
Their reunion was a stellar event and it's wonderful to have it on CD.