Customer Reviews

Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

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One of my prized possessions is a vinyl copy of this record, with the dust jacket autographed by Pete himself after an anti-war concert/fundraiser in New Haven, CT in 1972. The songs on this record have lost none of their punch or meaning in the years since. They are a reminder of the days when music was not only social commentary, but a real engine of social change. Pete Seeger is one of the true musical giants of the last century.

This recording contains a wide variety of material. Most of the songs are Pete alone, usually accompanied with guitar. Several are with back-up singers however, which gives the songs a "live" feel. The title cut is a biting analogy on President Johnson's planned escalation of the US's involvement in Viet Nam. this is the song Pete sang on the Smother's Brother's show which caused such a ruckus. The recording is excellent, and the material very good. This is the one recording that provides the best feel for what Pete Seeger was, and is, really about.

Tell me that when he sings "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" Pete Seeger couldn't be talking about the shrub as he leads us into the swamp of "preventive war." Or that "Lisa Kalvelage" is not as pointed a reminder to us of what our civic duty is now as it was for our parents thirty years ago. Go ahead! tell me!