Work in nightclubs was interesting. There were interesting people and places, but by and large, the commercial music experience.
Pete SeegerIf I had an axe on the evening at Newport when [Dylan] broke out the electric guitar, I'd have cut his cable.
Pete SeegerNow any person who plays an acoustic guitar standing up on stage with a microphone is a folk singer. Some grandmother with a baby in her arms singing a 500-year-old song, well, she's not a folk singer, she's not on stage with a guitar and a microphone. No, she's just an old grandmother singing an old song. The term "folk singer" has gotten warped.
Pete SeegerI think folk music helps reinforce your sense of history. An old song makes you think of times gone by.
Pete SeegerMake the kind of music you love even if you never hear it on the air. This was the basic lesson I'd gotten from Alan [Lomax]. Alan said, Pete, look at all this great music around. You never hear it on the radio, but it's right there, great music.
Pete SeegerAfter visits to several Communist countries (USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Slovenia, East Germany, Vietnam, China, Cuba), I feel strongly that most "revolutionary" types around the world don't realize the importance of freedom of the press and the air, a right to peaceably assemble and discuss anything, including the dangers of such discussions.
Pete Seeger