Monday Music: Pete Seeger's "Wimoweh"

Pete Seeger, born May 3, 1919, died January 27, 2014, I eulogized him here at the time. In thinking again of his passing, here is one of his signature songs.

"Wimoweh," originally known as "Mbube" was first recorded in South Africa by Solomon Popoli Linda. Pete Seeger's folk group "The Weavers" had a chart-topping hit when they recorded it in 1952.

It was my privilege to finally see the folk singer in person back in 1985 when he came to do a benefit concert at Sloss Furnace in Birmingham, Alabama. My wife and I attended and it was quite a memorable event. Pete Seeger would have been around 65 and he gave a dynamic performance. I still remember how he turned the entire audience into a choir singing in parts the refrain to "Wimoweh" while he bellowed out those high notes!

Here he is with Arlo Guthrie at Wolf Trap on August 8, 1993, He would have been 73 at this point. This time his grandson, Tao Rodriguez, is hitting the high notes.

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