![]() ![]() In the 1960s he sang with civil rights workers in the South and at the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and helped popularize “We Shall Overcome.” But ABC refused to allow Seeger to appear on Hootenanny, which owed its existence to the folk music revival Seeger had helped inspire. ![]() Most colleges and concert halls refused to book him and he was banned from network television.ĭuring the blacklist years, Seeger scratched out a living by giving guitar and banjo lessons and singing at the small number of summer camps, churches, high schools, colleges, and union halls that were courageous enough to invite the controversial balladeer. (He never spent time in jail and the conviction was overturned on appeal in May 1962). In 1955, Seeger was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to discuss his political affiliations before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Seeger left the Weavers but his solo career also fell victim to the Red Scare. Radio stations stopped playing their songs and their records stopped selling. They lost their television show contracts and nightclub bookings. ![]() For a brief period in the early 1950s, as a member of the Weavers quartet, he performed in prestigious nightclubs, appeared on network television shows, and recorded several hit songs, including “Goodnight, Irene,” “Tzena Tzena,” “Wimoweh,” and “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You.” But as engaged radicals, they were an easy target for the Red Scare’s blacklist. Seeger had been blacklisted from network television since the 1950s because of his leftist politics. ![]()
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