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He first met many important musicians such as Woody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson Guthrie ( July 14, 1912 October 3, 1967), known almost universally as "Woody", was a folk singer and raconteur who wrote some of America's best-loved songs. He is best known for " This Land is Your Land" Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma and LeadbellyLeadbelly, circa 1942 (shown with an accordion, though he typically played guitar Leadbelly ( January 29, 1885 December 6, 1949) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. He was born Huddie William Ledbetter in Mooringsport, Louisiana, and died in Ne during the late 1930sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Link Trainer invented Sc and early 1940sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the after dropping out of Harvard, where he was studying sociologySociology is the study of social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions. A typical textbook definition of sociology calls it the study of the social lives of huma.
He was a founding member of the folk groups The Almanac Singers and The Weavers. The Weavers had major hits in the early 1950s, before being blacklisted in the McCarthy Era.
Seeger started a solo career in 1958 (see 1958 in music), and is known for songs such as " If I Had a Hammer " (co-written with Lee Hays ), " Turn, Turn, Turn" (adapted from Ecclesiastes), and " We Shall Overcome" (based on a spiritual).
In the 1960s, Seeger wrote the first version of his now-classic How to Play the Five-String Banjo, a book that many banjo players credit with starting them off on the instrument.
Seeger is involved in the Clearwater group, which he helped found in 1966. This organization has worked since then to highlight pollution in the Hudson River and work at getting it cleaned up. As part of that effort, the sloop Clearwater was launched in 1969 and regularly sails the river as a classroom , stage and laboratory.
Seeger is also well known for his communist political beliefs, leading political opponents to call him by pejorative names such as " Stalin's Songbird". A classic example of Seeger’s pro-Stalin/ Soviet attitude can be seen during the period of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. His anti-war record Songs for John Doe , released in 1941, where he calls President Roosevelt a warmonger who worked for J.P. Morgan, expressed his displeasure about FDR's increasingly confrontational attitude with Nazi Germany. Like most members of the CPUSA, Seeger was virulently opposed to any action against Hitler from the time of the signing of the non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR until it was broken by Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941. After the invasion of the Soviet Union, Seeger returned to his earlier stance as a strong proponent of military action against Germany. Seeger left the Communist Party in the 1950s following Nikita Khrushchev's Secret speech which revealed Stalin's crimes. He became an anti-Stalinist but retained his belief in Marxism.