''Dear Mr. President'' is a 1942 album by the

Almanac Singers The Almanac Singers was an American New York City-based folk music group, active between 1940 and 1943, founded by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie. The group specialized in topical songs, mostly songs advocating an anti- ...

History

After the Japanese attacks on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, in February 1942 the Almanacs went into the studio to record a set of songs supporting the American war effort. This was partly because with

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

entrance into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

all American unions adopted a no-strike pledge.The Almanac Singers
Dear Mr. President
Retrieved February 21, 2008 Another contributing factor was that, after Hitler invaded the USSR in June 1941, Moscow had reversed its previous anti-intervention stance as expressed in the group's earlier album, ''

Songs for John Doe ''Songs for John Doe'' is the 1941 debut album and first released product of the Almanac Singers, an influential early folk music group. The album was released in May 1941, at a time when World War II was raging but the United States remained neu ...

''. This lost the Almanacs a sizeable chunk of their working repertoire.

Track listing

Personnel

Agnes Cunningham Agnes "Sis" Cunningham (February 19, 1909 – June 27, 2004) was an American musician, best known for her involvement as a performer and publicist of folk music and protest songs. She was the founding editor of ''Broadside'' magazine, which she p ...

, vocals, accordion * Baldwin "Butch" Hawes, vocals * Bess Lomax Hawes, vocals, mandolin * Arthur Stern, vocals *

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

, vocals, banjo Production notes: *

Earl Robinson Earl Hawley Robinson (July 2, 1910 – July 20, 1991) was a composer, arranger and folk music singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is remembered for his music, including the cantata "Ballad for Americans" and songs such as " Jo ...

– director

References

{{Authority control Almanac Singers albums 1942 albums Keynote Records albums Albums produced by Alan Lomax