Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
This week was marked by three things. It finally rained in the canyon. Luck caught up with me and I picked up an annoying fucking cold. Pete Seeger died, he was 94 years old.
For many years I believed Ol’ Pete was one of those uptight folkies who tried to “unplug” Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in ’65. Calling young Dylan a “traitor” is not exactly a cool “idelic move.” True that the story is more folklore than fact, and now close to fifty years after that summer evening at Newport, Pete has left us.
It’s hard to image that Seeger dropped of college at age 19, grabbed a guitar, and hit the road. It was 1939. Fuck man, that’s well more than a lifetime on the road. It’s dreamy to imagine what went through this man’s mind as he traveled year to year, town to town, decade to decade. This is one thing “wise Ol’ Pete” said…
“If there is still a human race a hundred years from now, it’ll be because of music—old folk’s music and young people’s music. You see, without one you cannot have the other.”
There’s a saying “the road gets narrow.” I think about myself getting older, and as I think about Pete, I firmly believe he just became wiser and wiser. Maybe we all grow to be very old and very wise.
Thank you, Pete. This Idelic Hour is a mix of “old folk” and “young people” music for you.
RIP dude.
The Idelic Hit of the Week:
Quilt – Tired & Buttered
