That time Pete Seeger called FDR a J P Morgan loving fascist warmonger...

[Recursion]

'39-'40 was a weird time in the US.

[leveymg]

1. Even Stalin thought he could stall and bluff Hitler.

Left isolationism didn't outlive the Non-aggression Pact.

[Recursion]

2. Round and Round Hitler's Grave was barely a year later

Like I said, weird time.

[appalachiablue]

3. This is a little late but that's ok.

[SunSeeker]

4. Interesting. Puts Pete Seeger in a new light.

He sure was young in those pics.

He was wrong about FDR and WWII, but he was right about Vietnam.

[Recursion]

5. It was during the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and CPUSA was urging singers to push for non-intervention

It can be a mistake to associate the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s with the folk music of the 1930s and 1940s; Seeger and Guthrie at that point were explicitly ideological (Pete uses "bourgeoisie" in a song at one point -- can you imagine Dylan or even an older Pete doing that?) And they almost never played concert halls; it was all union events for CIO and the Wobblies. That all collapsed after Hitler invaded the USSR (Pete and Woody's band even did some propaganda songs for the Army), but it was a very different time than now.

Also, I think it's interesting that he plays this bluegrass style, while in later life he is almost entirely known for his clawhammer work.