Pete was vibrant, smiling and unstoppable at the little corn festival in Beacon NY last Sunday. I noticed him sitting in the 5th row side, surrounded by little kids, watching the Spook Handy trio play their hearts out.

Later, I actually saw him running from a vendor to a stage. Then, while being interviewed, he spied a chunk of class in the dirt, kind of lost interest in the question and bent down to dig the glass out of the ground. (Imagine - those hands that play all that music - digging out glass out of the ground -oiy) I happened to be standing next to him (by my own design) and he handed me the glass and said - see that this gets put in the proper receptical. (No problem Pete - straight into the scrapbook LOL!)

My idol is a force of nature! (And the corn was delish) Beacon Clearwater sure knows how to throw a party!

Thirty years ago I was playing at the Old Grove Pub in Coconut Grove when Pete dropped in after his gig nearby at U OF Miami. After my set, while Pete and I shared a pitcher, the owner came over,and Pete asked him if he could borrow a hammer. The owner, puzzled, fetched a hammer (anything for Pete), and Pete immediately got down on his knees and began pounding loose nails back down into the floor planks, scolding the owner that someone could really hurt their feet on them. I remember Freddy Neil was there that night. He had obtained another hammer and as I went off to start the next set, both of them were crawling around the dock-like floor banging nails back down! A night I will never forget.....

Sounds like a great time. I've met Pete several times & he is a nice man.

My late Uncle knew him. How he met him was my Uncle was from GA & one day when he was down there visiting Pete was there for a civil rights march. My Uncle wasn't into that sort of thing but he happend to run into Pete & met him & that's how they got to know each other. So whenever he'd run into Pete somewhere they'd get together & talk. My Uncle was a conservative & an Independant Baptist (one of those old time baptists who don't believe in modern stuff like rock & roll etc) but despite their differences they enjoyed sharing opinions & talking. My Uncle said he used to watch him on a tv show that was on a channel he could get via skip from NYC. That had to be 1966 or a few yrs after cuz my Aunt & Uncle didn't get a tv until 1966, having believed tv was bad. I guess 66 was the yr they thought God thoguht it was okay to watch tv.

One Thanksgving in the 80's when we went to my cousins house for Thanksgiving I brought my Alices video to show to the family. When Pete came up in the video, my Uncle said Hey that's zPete Seeger & procedded to tell the story of how he met & kenw Pete. My dad said who in the H is Pete Seeger & asked if that was my Uncles neighbor. LOL! We had to explain to him he was a folk singer. My dad asked what folks music was & we had to explain it to him. We mentioned Woody & he was like he rermembered him & this land but had no idea that was folk music. He said Oh yeah, those songs they used to sing along time ago before everyone was born lol. It then hit me that my Uncle used to tells toreis about Pete when I was a kd but I never knew he was talking about Pete Seeger the folks singer. Long live Pete...

A lot of history in those three posts!

Pete sounds like my Father in law.....who will get out of the car at a signal light if he spots a nail in the road and pick it up.

So in essence...whilst Pete was sitting at the Old Grove Pub, he was looking around and thinking to himself... If I had a hammer...

..then put it into action!

Great stories about a great man!

Dang Stephanie, after carrying that story around with me for 30 years I feel very stupid for never making that beautiful song connection. I feel like I've been bling-blanged with a hammer! Or maybe a Blunderbuss? Thanks for shining your light, Kevin

Well, I suppose we all now know what Pete would do if in fact he did have a hammer.

Huh? What would he do? I don't get it.....

Memories come flowing back...back in 68 or 69 I saw Pete in a little chapel at the University of Chicago. The men in 'suits' were outside, eyeing everyone. I remember it feeling tense - but I also remember the gentleness and determination of Pete. What a great memory I have of that concert.

Those old folks can sure surprise you sometimes. I remember in 1977 as a 20 year old, I traveled to Norway, where my grandmother was born. My grandmother's sister(my great aunt of course) whom I had never met before, toured me around Oslo for a day or two. We basically walked everywhere. she was 78, and I was 20. She wore ME out!

IF I HAD A HAMMER (The Hammer Song)
words and music by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger

If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a bell
I'd ring it in the morning
I'd ring it in the evening
All over this land
I'd ring out danger
I'd ring out a warning
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a song
I'd sing it in the morning
I'd sing it in the evening
All over this land
I'd sing out danger
I'd sing out a warning
I'd sing out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Well I've got a hammer
And I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's the song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

I just missed Pete here in Ottawa .....

It's just that I'm new to this BlunderCrew and my research is still fresh.

Truly though...most of my life, whenever I hear or see the word "hammer" that song has always come to mind.
If I had a nickle for every time I said "If I had a hammer" I could have skipped that summer working at the Drive-in.

of course we mustn't forget the AXE story!

"D**n it, if I had an axe, I'd cut the cable right now"

Shouting to Dylan...that one?