It has taken Peggy Seeger nearly 70 years to bring out a new version of the world famous love song inspired by and written for her.
Peggy, 87, first recorded “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1957, when it was composed by her lover, fellow singer and activist Ewan MacColl. It was later made famous by Roberta Flack. Peggy stopped performing it in 1989 when MacColl, by then her husband, died.
“People would ask me to sing it at concerts, but I just kept breaking down,” she told me when I interviewed her at her home in Oxford. But she has now found novel inspiration to bring out a new version of the song.
Sitting opposite Peggy, sister of fellow American-born radical songwriter Pete Seeger, you can see why she was MacColl’s muse. The luminosity that bewitched him then is as bright now.
Peggy, who has lived in Britain for most of her life,...
Peggy, 87, first recorded “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1957, when it was composed by her lover, fellow singer and activist Ewan MacColl. It was later made famous by Roberta Flack. Peggy stopped performing it in 1989 when MacColl, by then her husband, died.
“People would ask me to sing it at concerts, but I just kept breaking down,” she told me when I interviewed her at her home in Oxford. But she has now found novel inspiration to bring out a new version of the song.
Sitting opposite Peggy, sister of fellow American-born radical songwriter Pete Seeger, you can see why she was MacColl’s muse. The luminosity that bewitched him then is as bright now.
Peggy, who has lived in Britain for most of her life,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Simon Walters
- The Independent - Music
When I heard Elizabeth Cotten (1895-1987) was going into the Rock Hall, I nearly fell out of my chair! As host of “The Village Folk Show,” I regularly hear Cotten’s name from the mouths of prominent folk artists — Guy Davis, David Bromberg, Gillian Welch, Eliza Gilkyson, Amy Ray. Credited with the “Cotten-picking” guitar-playing style — she played left-handed and upside-down — this master’s impact on roots music is strong, deep and continuing.
Meanwhile, her story is amazing: While working in a department store in 1940s Washington D.C., Cotten discovered a crying, lost, little girl and returned her to her mother. The grateful mom: singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger, sister of legendary Mike Seeger, who promptly hired Cotten as a domestic for the family. When Mike Seeger discovered her long-dormant talent with a six-string, he recorded and released the 62-year-old’s first record, “Elizabeth Cotten: Folk Songs and Instrumentals with Guitar.”
Following...
Meanwhile, her story is amazing: While working in a department store in 1940s Washington D.C., Cotten discovered a crying, lost, little girl and returned her to her mother. The grateful mom: singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger, sister of legendary Mike Seeger, who promptly hired Cotten as a domestic for the family. When Mike Seeger discovered her long-dormant talent with a six-string, he recorded and released the 62-year-old’s first record, “Elizabeth Cotten: Folk Songs and Instrumentals with Guitar.”
Following...
- 11/5/2022
- by MarySue Twohy
- Variety Film + TV
For this year’s Icons & Influences issue, we asked 10 artists to pay tribute to the women who have shaped their sound, provided an example, and inspired them to break down barriers. Peggy Seeger is an accomplished artist in her own right, following an unconventional path that has inspired Rhiannon Giddens’ life and music.
I’ve been following Peggy Seeger for years. What I liked immediately when I heard her was, obviously, her stance on life. She’s such an influence on me, because I saw her in the beginning of my folk career,...
I’ve been following Peggy Seeger for years. What I liked immediately when I heard her was, obviously, her stance on life. She’s such an influence on me, because I saw her in the beginning of my folk career,...
- 3/7/2022
- by Brittany Spanos
- Rollingstone.com
From May 19-22, the town of Malpas in the UK will be host to some of Britain’s finest writers, musicians, actors and artists when it hosts ‘Malfest’ in support of Mersey Kidney Research.
A far cry from your average country festival, the event’s impressive line-up will be sure to draw in visitors from far and wide. To name but a few: Welsh actress Sian Phillips is performing her one-woman cabaret show (her debut show out of London), Peggy Seeger – international folk legend – is booked to close the festival and the internationally acclaimed writer Jimmy McGovern will be talking scripts, plots and all things literary.
Read more...
A far cry from your average country festival, the event’s impressive line-up will be sure to draw in visitors from far and wide. To name but a few: Welsh actress Sian Phillips is performing her one-woman cabaret show (her debut show out of London), Peggy Seeger – international folk legend – is booked to close the festival and the internationally acclaimed writer Jimmy McGovern will be talking scripts, plots and all things literary.
Read more...
- 5/16/2011
- Look to the Stars
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