Peggy Seeger

b. Margaret Seeger, 17 June 1935, New York City, New York, USA. Seeger was accomplished on guitar, banjo, Appalachian dulcimer, autoharp and concertina. Her parents, Ruth Crawford and Charles Seeger were both professional musicians and teachers. They insisted that their daughter receive a formal musical education from the age of seven years. At the same time they encouraged her interest in folk music and, at the age of 10 Peggy started to learn guitar. A few years later she began to play 5-string banjo. After majoring in music at college, she started singing folk songs professionally. In 1955, Seeger relocated to Holland and studied Russian at university. Peggy first came to the UK in 1956 as an actress, to take part in a television film, Dark Side Of The Moon, and also joined the Ramblers, a group which included Ewan MacColl, Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins. In 1957, together with MacColl and Charles Parker, she worked on a series of documentaries for the BBC which are now commonly known as "The Radio Ballads". These programmes were highly innovative and, together with music, brought the thoughts and views of a whole range of workers to a large listening public. In 1959, Peggy became a British subject, since she has been in much demand at folkclubs and festivals. In addition, she holds workshops and seminars, both at home and abroad. Along with Frankie Armstrong, Seeger has long championed women's rights through many of her songs. One such song, Gonna Be An Engineer is possibly her best-known on the subject of equal rights for women. Due to her knowledge of folk music, Peggy was a leading-light in the English folk song revival. After Ewan died in 1989, Peggy again launched a solo career, touring both the USA and Australia. Her collaboration with MacColl produced hundreds of songs and she has recorded a substantial number of albums in her own right, as well as with Mike and Penny Seeger. THE NEW BRITON GAZETTE NO.3 and FIELDS OF VIETNAM, both recorded on Folkways in the USA, with Ewan MacColl and the Critics Group, were never released.