Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger

Disc 1
1	Where Have All the Flowers Gone? / Tommy Sands 6:23
2	Kisses Sweeter Than Wine / Jackson Browne 4:44
3	The Water Is Wide / John Gorka 4:29
4	Of Time and Rivers Flowing / Richie Havens 2:29
5	My Name Is Liza Kalvelage / Ani DiFranco 4:51
6	Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) / Bruce Cockburn 4:43
7	Festival of Flowers / Tish Hinojosa 4:11
8	Step by Step / Sweet Honey in the Rock 1:53
9	Blessed Be the Nation / Studs Terkel 1:30
10	My Father's Mansion / Billy Bragg 2:54
11	Sailing Down My Golden River / Greg Brown 3:50
12	Goofing off Suite / Tony Trischka 6:26
13	Those Three Are on My Mind / Kim Harris 3:28
14	How Can I Keep from Singing? / Cordelia's Dad 3:28
15	All Mixed Up / Peter, Paul and Mary 3:55
16	Empty Pocket Blues / Ronnie Gilbert 2:40
17	Get up and Go / Tom Paxton 3:13
18	Old Riley / John Stewart 3:29
19	If I Had a Hammer / Nanci Griffith 2:47
20	Wimoweh / The Weavers 1:55
Disc 2
1	We Shall Overcome / Bruce Springsteen 4:40
2	The Bells of Rhymney / Roger McGuinn 3:52
3	Oh, Had I a Golden Thread / Judy Collins 5:01
4	False from True / Guy Davis 5:23
5	Letter to Eve / Indigo Girls 6:33
6	Waist Deep in the Big Muddy / Dick Gaughan 4:52
7	All My Children of the Sun / Tim Robbins 3:56
8	Living in the Country / Martin Simpson 3:23
9	One Grain of Sand / Odetta 3:09
10	Old Father Hudson-Sailing Down Dirty Stream / Casey Neill 5:01
11	The Torn Flag / John Trudell 3:32
12	Doublin' / The Freight Hoppers 3:16
13	To Everyone in the World / Cathy Fink 2:27
14	Over the Hills / Tommy Makem 2:33
15	I Come and Stand at Every Door / Anne Hills 2:55
16	My Rainbow Race / Donovan 3:11
17	Quiet Early Morning / Holly Near 4:48
18	Oh, Sacred World / Studs Terkel 0:20
19	And Still I Am Searching / Pete Seeger 3:14

Barnes & Noble

Producer Jim Mussleman cast the more than three dozen artists involved in this project with great care. "I looked on this almost like a movie, showing many sides of Pete's life and his music," he says. "I chose people I felt were in the spirit of Pete, and songs that I felt were philosophically connected to them." Once the choices were made, though, each musician was given free reign, resulting in surprises such as the reggae treatment Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne chose for "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" and Ani di Franco's powerful, almost recitative arrangement of of "My Name Is Lisa Kalvelage." The many voices here constitute a remarkable tribute to Seeger's influence. There are folk music revival comrades (Tom Paxton, the Weavers), artists who extended Seeger's ideas into other areas of music (Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen), and a good sampling of musicians who are carrying on Seeger's spirit and openness to younger listeners (Indigo Girls, Billy Bragg). Tish Hinojosa even sings a Seeger song that hasn't appeared on record before, "Feria de los Flores." The disc concludes with Seeger himself, at 77, singing the tune he chose to describe his career, "I Am Still Searching." Kerry Dexter

All Music Guide

After listening to this multi-artist two-CD celebration of Pete Seeger's songs, you'll be delighted to read in the liner notes that it's "just the beginning of at least four volumes." Producer Jim Musselman calls the package a "labor of love," and that's clearly what it was. Musselman did a terrific job of choosing the songs from Seeger's vast repertoire, and of matching each tune with an artist "based on either the philosophical fit between the artist and the message of the song and/or their unique musical style." Even the extensive liner notes -- which include info on each performer, plus comments on every song by Seeger and the performer -- testify to the effort that went into the project. The result is one of the most consistently successful tribute albums on the market.

The material is wonderful; whether you think of Seeger primarily as an interpreter or a crusader for social justice, you'll be impressed by this reminder of just how many classic tunes he has written or cowritten and how many topics he's covered -- everything from the Byrds-popularized "Turn, Turn, Turn" (Bruce Cockburn) to the lullaby "One Grain of Sand" (Odetta) to "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" (Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt).

The performers, who range in age from five to 85, are a motley crew; and while they include more than a few obscure artists who apparently made the grade because they happen to be signed to Appleseed or its affiliated labels, the collection also features lots of big names. More importantly, nearly all of the 39 recordings are first-rate. Among the many highlights: Bruce Springsteen's gentle reading of "We Shall Overcome"; Greg Brown's "Sailing Down My Golden River"; Roger McGuinn's "Bells of Rhymney" (a song he first recorded with the Byrds); and Ani DiFranco's "My Name Is Lisa Kalvelage."

Perhaps most touching, though, is the concluding number, Pete Seeger's own recording of his newly written "And Still I Am Searching." Sadly, the track does back up Seeger's statement in the liner notes that "I hardly have any voice left." But it also evidences the spirit that gave birth to all these songs. That spirit was still very much alive in the septuagenarian Seeger when this album was released, and thanks to his music, it will be around long after he's gone. Jeff Burger