In light of Pete Seeger’s passing, PBS will be airing it’s American Masters documentary on the folksinger,Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, on Friday, January 31 at 10:30 p.m. (and other times). Check your local listings and set your DVRs. Below is a short excerpt from that documentary with Seeger singing “To My Old Brown Earth.”
To my old brown earth, And to my old blue sky, I’ll now give these last few molecules of “I.”
And you who sing, And you who stand nearby, I do charge you not to cry.
Seeger wrote “To My Old Brown Earth” after attending the funeral of John T. McManus, co-founder of the radical newspaper, The National Guardian. Seeger later explained that when he sang at the funeral he regretted that he did not have an appropriate song. So he went home and wrote “To My Old Brown Earth,” a song about death but also a song about hope: “Guard well our human chain,/ Watch well you keep it strong.”
Update: For a limited time the documentary is streaming on the PBS website.
In September 1967, CBS found Pete Seeger’s performance of his song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” too controversial for TV.
The great folksinger Pete Seegerpassed away in January 2014 at the age of 94. He was born on May 3, 1919 in Manhattan, and he went on to become an important activist on a number of issues throughout his life. And he taught us how important folk music can be. It is impossible to sum up his impact on music and on the world, but one story about a TV show appearance tells us a lot.
The Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers became famous for their battles with censors during the run of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS from 1967 to 1969. I have been reading the interesting book Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” by David Bianculli, which documents the career of the two brothers along with some of the ups and downs of their TV work. One of the instances of censorship recounted in the book is the way that Pete Seeger’s performance of “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” was cut from the show.
In Dangerously Funny, Bianculli explains how the brothers worked to get Pete Seeger on their show. Television networks had effectively blacklisted Seeger from most TV shows because of the singer’s political views. The brothers convinced CBS to allow Seeger to appear on their show, and Seeger appeared on the premiere episode of the second season of the show on September 10, 1967.
But CBS would cut out one of Seeger’s songs, “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy.” CBS censors had asked Seeger to omit the last verse of the song, but after he refused to do so and sang the entire song, CBS edited out the song from the show.
“Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”
“Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” recounts a story about World War II captain (“back in 1942”) leading his men. He takes his men deeper and deeper into the “big muddy” as the “big fool” tells them to push on until the captain gets sucked into the mud.
CBS censors had asked Seeger to omit the last verse of the song, which connected the story to the Vietnam War. Seeger, noting that the last verse was the whole point of the song, refused to do so and sang the entire song during taping. So CBS cut the song from the broadcast.
CBS had a reason for being cautious. The network previously received complaints from President Lyndon Johnson about another episode of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. So the network did not want Seeger to use the verse referring to Pres. Johnson as a “big fool.” Well, I’m not going to point any moral; I’ll leave that for yourself; Maybe you’re still walking, you’re still talking, You’d like to keep your health. But every time I read the papers, That old feeling comes on; We’re — waist deep in the Big Muddy, And the big fool says to push on.
The September 10, 1967 Broadcast
Although some sources state the show broadcast on September 19, most sources put the show on September 10, which is consistent with the show’s Sunday broadcasts. During this episode, Bobbie Gentry and Pete Seeger performed but Seeger’s performance of “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” was cut.
A video shows the Pete Seeger segment as it was broadcast, with “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” cut out. At 1:12, after the Seeger segment opened with Seeger already singing “Wimoweh” with the audience, Seeger has a banjo. Then a few seconds later after a cut, he is holding a guitar.
After “Wimoweh,” Seeger originally sang “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” during the taping. But since CBS cut out the song, we see Seeger next singing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” with a different instrument.
Seeger’s Return to The Smothers Brothers
The following post on YouTube claims that this clip below of Seeger singing “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” is the performance that was cut from the season 2 premiere. But, as you can see, Seeger is wearing different clothes than he had for the Season 2 premiere, so this video is from a later performance on the show that actually aired.
After CBS cut out the song from the September broadcast, Tom Smothers made sure that the story of the censorship appeared in the media. Because of the bad press, and probably because the Vietnam War had become even more unpopular in recent months, the Smothers Brothers were allowed to invite Seeger back later in the season, when he again sang “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy.”
Seeger was a class act who agreed to return after being cut in the previous appearance. CBS this time aired the song.
The Legacy of the Battle with Censors
Only three days after CBS finally showed Pete Seeger singing “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy,” CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite made his own controversial appearance. He closed his February 27, 1968 broadcast with what would become his famous commentary about the Vietnam War. Cronkite, though, did not have to hide his sentiment in a tale about World War II.
Maybe because Pete Seeger, Tom Smothers, Dick Smothers, and others had not been afraid to speak out against the war, Cronkite, who was then one of the most respected people in America, could make his famous editorial about his views on the Vietnam War. Check it out.
On his website, Seeger recounted his experience with “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: “Of course, a song is not a speech, you know. It reflects new meanings as one’s life’s experiences shine new light upon it. . . . Often a song will reappear several different times in history or in one’s life as there seems to be an appropriate time for it. Who knows?”
Who knows? Amen. Rest in peace.
What is your favorite censored song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Her, the new film starring Joaquin Phoenix and written and directed by Spike Jonze, is garnering very good reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes currently gives the film a 93% critics rating (and 87% audience rating). The movie was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It does address an interesting concept and I enjoyed much of the story, but I was not as overwhelmed as the critics.
Her takes place in the not-to-distant future where we know it is the future because people do not wear belts but they do wear mustaches. Phoenix stars as a writer named Theodore Twombly going through a divorce who falls in love with the advanced operating system on his cell phone, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
I have admired movies by Jonze since Being John Malkovich (1999), and he does an excellent job here of capturing a world that is recognizable but slightly different from ours. The film also raises interesting questions about artificial intelligence and human relationships, addressing more immediate problems raised by computers than what we see in other science fiction films like Terminator. I enjoyed the characterization by Phoenix and the voice work by Johansson. And Amy Adams does a great job here too. But my one complaint about the film was that there was not enough there to keep me entertained for two hours. I never became invested in Phoenix’s character enough to stay entertained. For me, the movie could have told the same story in ninety minutes or less.
Conclusion? Most people are enjoying this film, so maybe you will too. For me, I enjoyed a lot of the movie but it could not keep me from looking at my watch several times. Still, Her raises some interesting issues that might lead you to further discussions with your friends.
Bonus Parody: This weekend on Saturday Night Live, host Jonah Hill (with a little help from Micheal Cera) did a funny parody with the preview for the movie Me.
Did you like Her? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Sunday night the 56th Annual Grammy Awards had various moments, including what was billed as a reunion of The Highwaymen. The two surviving members of the supergroup — Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson — were joined by Merle Haggard and Blake Shelton. But the performance was only partly a tribute to the band that released three albums and a recognition of its deceased members Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, as most of the performance acknowledged the individuals on stage. That was okay, though, as it was good to see the three legends on stage with Blake Shelton giving the group a little shot of “youth.”
The performance opend with the two surviving Highwaymen singing a little of the group’s hit “Highwayman,” a song about reincarnation written by Jimmy Webb. Then, they were joined by Haggard and Shelton, singing Haggrard’s “Okie from Muskogee” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” which had been a hit for Nelson and Jennings. [2025 Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available.]
Many years ago, I saw the original Highwaymen perform at the Houston Astrodome. It was a memorable experience to see the country music legends all together, and at that performance they did a lot of individual songs too. So in a sense, the reunion continued that tradition of being more than just about songs by the Highwaymen. With Cash and Jennings gone, of course the band can never be the same. But like another Grammy sort-of reunion of another great quartet that had Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr playing together, we will take what we can get, while also remembering those who can no longer perform.
What was your favorite performance at the Grammys? Leave your two cents in the comments.
With the exception of a 2011 Kitty Wells tribute, singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell has not released an album in nine years. That will change this Tuesday when she releases No Way There From Here. I have been listening to a stream of the new album on NPR (available for streaming until Tuesday). NPR notes how her mature songwriting reflects on the small details of life. And it sounds great.
One of the songs on the new album is “Can’t Wait.” Below is a video of Cantrell performing the song at the Glasgow Americana Festival at St Andrews in The Square in October. Check it out.
What do you think of the new Laura Cantrell album? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In light of Pete Seeger’s passing, PBS will be airing it’s American Masters documentary on the folksinger, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, on Friday, January 31 at 10:30 p.m. (and other times). Check your local listings and set your DVRs. Below is a short excerpt from that documentary with Seeger singing “To My Old Brown Earth.”
by 
tribute, singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell has not released an album in nine years. That will change this Tuesday when she releases No Way There From Here. I have been listening to a stream of the new album on