Margaret "Peggy" Seeger (born June 17, 1935) is an American folk singer. She has lived in Britain for more than 60 years, and was married to the singer and songwriter

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

until his death in 1989.

First American period

Seeger's father was

Charles Seeger Charles Louis Seeger Jr. (December 14, 1886 – February 7, 1979) was an American musicologist, composer, teacher, and folklorist. He was the father of the American folk singers Pete Seeger (1919–2014), Peggy Seeger (b. 1935), and Mike Seeger ( ...

(1886–1979), a folklorist and musicologist; her mother was Seeger's second wife, Ruth Porter Crawford (1901–1953), a modernist composer who was the first woman to receive a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

. One of her brothers was Mike Seeger, and

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, notabl ...

was her half-brother. Poet Alan Seeger was her uncle. One of her first recordings was ''American Folk Songs for Children'' (1955). In the 1950s, left-leaning singers such as Paul Robeson and

The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fr ...

began to find that life became difficult because of the influence of

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

. Seeger visited Communist China and as a result had her US passport withdrawn. In 1957, the US State Department had opposed Seeger's attending the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow (where the CIA had monitored the US delegation), and was vigorously critical about her having gone to China during that trip, against official "advice".Cox, Peter
''Set into Song: Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Peggy Seeger and the Radio Ballads''
"Chapter 8 – Muck Shifting – Song of a Road". Labatie Books, 2008, p. 73. , . The authorities had already warned her that her passport would be impounded, effectively barring her from further travel were she to return to the US. She therefore decided to tour Europeand later found out that she was on a blacklist sent to European governments. Staying in London in 1956, she performed accompanying herself on

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

. There she and

fell in love. Previously married to director and actress Joan Littlewood, MacColl left his second wife, Jean Newlove, to become Seeger's lover. In 1958, her UK work permit expired and she was about to be deported. This was narrowly averted by a plan, concocted by MacColl and Seeger, in which she married the folk singer Alex Campbell, in Paris, on January 24, 1959, in what Seeger described as a "hilarious ceremony". This marriage of convenience allowed Seeger to gain British citizenship and continue her relationship with MacColl. MacColl and Seeger were later married (in 1977), following his divorce from Newlove. They remained together until his death in 1989. They had three children: Neill, Calum, and Kitty. They recorded and released several albums together on

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, along with Seeger's solo albums and other collaborations with the Seeger Family and the Seeger Sisters. Seeger was a leader in the introduction of the concertina to the English folk music revival. While not the only concertina player, her "musical skill and proselytizing zeal ... was a major force in spreading the gospel of concertina playing in the revival." The documentary film ''A Kind of Exile'' was a profile of Seeger and also featured Ewan MacColl. The film was directed and produced by John Goldschmidt for ATV and shown on ITV in the UK.

Two social critics

Together with MacColl, Seeger founded The Critics Group, a "master class" for young singers performing traditional songs or to compose new songs using traditional song structures (or, as MacColl called them, "the techniques of folk creation"). The Critics Group evolved into a performance ensemble seeking to perform satirical songs in a mixture of theatre, comedy and song, which eventually created a series of annual productions called "The Festival of Fools" (named for a traditional British Isles event in which greater freedom of expression was allowed for the subjects of the king than was permitted during most of the year). Seeger and MacColl performed and recorded as a duo and as solo artists; MacColl wrote "

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to his ...

" in Seeger's honour (and did so during a long-distance phone call between the two, while Seeger was performing in America and MacColl was barred from traveling to the US with her due to his radical political views). None of the couple's numerous albums use any electric or electronic instrumentation. Whilst MacColl wrote many songs about work and against war and prejudice, Seeger (who also wrote such songs) sang about women's issues, with many of her songs becoming anthems of the women's movement. Her most memorable was "I'm Gonna Be an Engineer". There were two major projects dedicated to the

Child Ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...

. The first was ''The Long Harvest'' (10 volumes 1966–75). The second was ''Blood and Roses'' (5 volumes, 1979–83). She visited the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, where protests against US

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warh ...

s were concentrated. For them she wrote "Carry Greenham Home". Seeger also ran a record label, Blackthorne Records, from 1976 to 1988. Page at the discogs website.

In recent years

After the fall of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, US authorities began to soften their attitude towards Seeger. She returned to the United States in 1994 to live in Asheville,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. Seeger has continued to sing about women's issues. One of her most popular recent albums is ''Love Will Linger On'' (1995). She has published a collection of 150 of her songs from before 1999. In 2011, Seeger edited ''The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook''. Her introduction gave a detailed account of her life with MacColl. She expressed some difference of political perspective between her and Ewan. In 2006, Peggy Seeger relocated to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, to accept a part-time teaching position at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...

. In 2008, she began producing music videos pertaining to the Presidential campaigns, making them available through a YouTube page. After 16 years of living in the United States, Seeger moved back to the United Kingdom in 2010 to be nearer to her children — since 2013 she has been living in

Iffley Iffley is a village in a designated Conservation Area in Oxfordshire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the city of Oxford, between Cowley and the estates of Rose Hill and Donnington, and in proximity to the River Thames ( Isis). A ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In 2012, she collaborated with experimental dance producer Broadcaster on an album of her songs set against dance beats. Seeger identifies as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

and contributed an essay to ''Getting Bi: Voices of bisexuals around the world''. In it she details a relationship she began with the traditional singer Irene Pyper-Scott (who lives in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

) after Ewan MacColl died. Seeger performed "Tell My Sister" on a live tribute album to the late Canadian folk artist Kate McGarrigle entitled '' Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle''. The album was released in June 2013. Seeger's memoir, ''First Time Ever: A Memoir'' was published by

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

in October 2017. A double CD of songs to accompany the memoir was released at the same time. From early 2022 Seeger has been doing her "First Farewell" tour of Britain and Ireland.

Selected discography

Solo albums

* ''Folksongs of Courting and Complaint'' (1955) * ''Animal Folksongs for Children'' (1957) * ''Folksongs and Ballads'' (1957) * ''A Song for You and Me'' (1962) * ''The Best of Peggy Seeger'' (1963) * ''Peggy Alone'' (1967) * ''Penelope Isn't Waiting Anymore'' (1977) * ''Different Therefore Equal'' (1979) * ''The Folkways Years 1955 1992 Songs of Love and Politics'' (1992) * ''Familiar Faces'' (1993) * ''Songs of Love and Politics'' (1994) * ''Love Will Linger On'' (1995) * ''An Odd Collection'' (1996) * ''Classic Peggy Seeger'' (1996) * ''Period Pieces'' (1998) * ''No Spring Chickens'' (1998) * ''Almost Commercially Viable'' (2000) * ''Heading For Home'' (2003) * ''Love Call Me Home'' (2005) * ''Bring Me Home'' (2008) * ''Peggy Seeger Live'' (2012) * '' Everything Changes'' (2014) * ''Love Unbidden'' (26 June 2020) * ''The First Farewell'' (9 April 2021)

With Ewan MacColl

* ''Second Shift – Industrial Ballads'' (1958) * ''Chorus From The Gallows'' (1960) * ''Popular Scottish Songs'' (1960) * ''Singing The Fishing'' (1960) * ''New Briton Gazette, Vol. 1'' (1960) * ''Classic Scots Ballads'' (1961) * ''Bothy Ballads of Scotland'' (1961) * ''Two Way Trip'' (1961) * ''New Briton Gazette, Vol. 2'' (1962) * ''Jacobite Songs – The Two Rebellions 1715 and 1745'' (1962) * ''Steam Whistle Ballads'' (1964) * ''Traditional Songs and Ballads'' (1964) * ''The Amorous Muse'' (1966) * ''The Manchester Angel'' (1966) * ''The Long Harvest 1'' (1966) * ''The Long Harvest 2'' (1967) * ''The Long Harvest 3'' (1968) * ''The Angry Muse'' (1968) * ''The Long Harvest 4'' (1969) * ''The Long Harvest 5'' (1970) * ''The World Of Ewan MacColl And Peggy Seeger'' (1970) * ''The Long Harvest 6'' (1971) * ''The Long Harvest 7'' (1972) * ''The World Of Ewan MacColl And Peggy Seeger Vol. 2 – Songs from Radio Ballads'' (1972) * ''At The Present Moment'' (1972) * ''Folkways Record of Contemporary Songs'' (1973) * ''The Long Harvest 8'' (1973) * ''The Long Harvest 9'' (1974) * ''The Long Harvest 10'' (1975) * ''Saturday Night at The Bull and Mouth'' (1977) * ''Cold Snap'' (1977) * ''Hot Blast'' (1978) * ''Blood and Roses'' (1979) * ''Kilroy Was Here'' (1980) * ''Blood and Roses 2'' (1981) * ''Blood and Roses 3'' (1982) * ''Blood and Roses 4'' (1982) * ''Blood and Roses 5'' (1983) * ''Freeborn Man'' (1983) eissued 1989* ''Daddy, What did You Do in The Strike?'' (1984) assette mini-album* ''White Wind, Black Tide – Anti-Apartheid Songs'' (1986) assette album* ''Items of News'' (1986)

With Mike Seeger

* ''American Folk Songs Sung by the Seegers'' (1957) * ''Peggy 'n' Mike'' (1967) * ''American Folksongs for Children'' (1977) * ''American Folk Songs for Christmas'' (1990) * ''Fly Down Little Bird'' (2011)

With the Critics Group and Frankie Armstrong

* ''The Female Frolic'' (1967) * ''Living Folk'' (1970)

With guests

* ''Three Score and Ten'' (concert) (2007)

Collaboration

* ''Who's Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot'' ( Topic UK version, 1964) – US version by

Tom Paley Allan Thomas Paley (March 19, 1928 – September 30, 2017) was an American guitarist, banjo and fiddle player. He was best known for his work with the New Lost City Ramblers in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Paley was born on March 19, 1928 and ra ...

and Peggy Seeger with Claudia Paley * ''

The Unfortunate Rake "The Unfortunate Lad", also known as "The Unfortunate Rake", is a traditional folk ballad (), which through the folk process has evolved into a large number of variants. Synopsis In nineteenth-century broadside versions, the narrator meets a com ...

'' (1960) – In 2009, track sixteen from this album ("Girl on the Green Briar Shore") was included as track five on the seventh CD of Topic Records' 70-year anniversary boxed set, '' Three Score and Ten''.

References

External links

Official siteBiography from Appleseed Music
* *
Lady, What Do you Do All Day?: Peggy Seeger's Anthems of Anglo-American Feminism: Thesis by Amber Cook (née Good)
*
How Can I Keep From Singing?: A Seeger Family Tribute

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

American Folklife Center The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife". The center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the library in 1928 as a repo ...

, March 2007 symposium and concert. All events are available as webcasts via the site. Retrieved August 25, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seeger, Peggy 1935 births American folk singers Seeger family Tradition Records artists Riverside Records artists American feminists Feminist musicians Bisexual musicians LGBT people from New York (state) Bisexual women Bisexual feminists American expatriates in the United Kingdom Singers from New York City Living people 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers LGBT singers from the United States LGBT singers from the United Kingdom 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Topic Records artists Folkways Records artists