Seeger and Radiohead: Classics old and new

American Favourite Ballads, Vol.2~ Pete Seeger Smithsonian Folkways ***1/2 Pete Seeger was familiar at my house while I was growing up as one of The Weavers, lefty folk icons. By the 1960s, as an immensely popular solo act, he was perhaps the most instrumental figure in the Great American Folk Revival that featured the likes of the Kingston Trio, the Limelighters, Odetta and Peter, Paul and Mary. (I remember him singing, on the old Smothers Brothers show, the anti-Vietnam War song, Knee Deep in the Big Muddy, which was, at the time, rather a brave thing for a network show to allow on air.) Seeger is also the great expositor of the American folk-ballad tradition, as two splendid CDs, celebrating the American folk-song catalogue, make abundantly clear. (In addition, he’s one of the best banjo players ever, and has produced, among his very many albums, some superb children’s records. My own kids played his Abiyoyo album until it wore out.) This one’s roots go back to 1957, and Moses Asch’s Folkways Records, which issued the first of the American Favorite Ballads series aimed at schools and libraries, but which also had large currency among born-anew folkies. Although this second in the series relies heavily on songs popular with children (^Froggie Went a-Courtin,’ Go Tell Aunt Rhody, The Riddle Song, I Had a Rooster and The Fox~), its attraction will be felt by anyone who ever sat around a campfire for a hootenanny, a democratic kind of unisex affair where quality of voice was decidedly secondary to quantity of spirit (and sometimes of alcohol, or other inebriant) consumed. Seeger’s joyful style has an infectious, sing-along quality, not just on rousing ballads such as ^Go Tell it on The Mountain~ or Woody Gutherie’s ^Hard Travlin’~ even when exploring such ballads of unrequited love and murder and imprisonment as the beautiful ^Dink’s Song~ (“If I had wings like Noah’s dove, I’d fly cross the river to the girl I love ...”) and ^Careless Love~ and ^Stagolee~ — 27 timeless songs in all. ^Hail to the Theif~ Radiohead Capital *** “It’s the Devil’s way now. There is no way out . . . it’s too late now because you have not been paying attention”— From Radiohead’s 2+2=5 This latest release from Radiohead is a difficult record to get one’s head around. It feels like a safe album, a move away from the more experimental and less fan-friendly material of Kid-A and Amnesiac, their last two albums. (Although there are a couple of tracks, most notably ^We Suck Young Blood and Backdrifts~, that sound like they were just left off Amnesiac). However, the Oxford band has returned largely to the piano ballads of earlier albums, like the immensely popular OK Computer. The problem with this is that during Radiohead’s sojourn into experimentation with jazz and electronica, other bands, most notably Coldplay, have quite nicely filled the void of sweet piano ballads. This album reminds me a lot of U2’s ^All That You Can’t Leave Behind~, not in its sound but in its attempt to win back its mainstream audience. It’s also an overtly political album, with the title track (probably) referring to George W. Bush’s controversial 2000 election win. Other lyrics attack Bush’s stance on Iraq and America in general. This hardly a brave move as some fans have claimed. I would venture to guess that very few of Radiohead’s worldwide fans are backers of Dubya. Despite thoroughly enjoying most of Radiohead’s work, I have often been put off by their lyrics, which are frequently vague and, at their worst, pretentious. There is an anger that permeates ^Hail to the Thief~ which is hard to understand. The album can’t shake the feeling that Radiohead is trying to tell you how dumb you are for not getting IT, whatever IT may be. Diehard fans of Radiohead’s melancholy sound will love this album and heap it with praise it doesn’t deserve — while casual fans will like a few tracks. The album is well made and does have a few really good songs: ^Sail to the Moon, A Punchup at a Wedding, and Scatterbrain~ are all very good. The album, however, is not groundbreaking and does not contain any songs I can see being anthems the way many songs on OK Computer have become.

Photo Credit: folkways.si.edu