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MIKE SEEGER & PEGGY SEEGER - Fly Down Little Bird

MIKE SEEGER & PEGGY SEEGER - Fly Down Little Bird
Appleseed APRCD1125

These two siblings, folk royalty in the US, were strangely seldom recorded together, despite having a shared upbringing at the feet of parents who exerted a towering influence in the field of song collections and early recordings, in partnership with John and Alan Lomax. In a seemingly prophetic attempt at recapturing their formative years, some seven decades previous, they collaborated on this collection of 14 tracks of mostly children’s song. Unknown to the pair at the time, these were to be the final swansong for Mike Seeger, who succumbed to an aggressive cancer a few short months later – although you can’t detect any sense of impending doom in his contribution.

This is a defining example of an album being far greater than the sum of its constituent parts, and if old-timey Americana from two of its most accomplished exponents is your bag, then there is little to disappoint here. On tracks such as Fod!, Red River Jig and Little Birdie, there are sparks of outstanding brilliance. A few are passably acceptable in a quaint way, and a couple are cringeworthy in the extreme. But as a historical artefact from the sunset of MS’s time in this place it has a certain merit, and for the participants, no better way of saying farewell than harmonizing on instruments and vocals with such gusto. And sadly never to be repeated.  You cannot detract from the courage of conviction enshrined here, from two artistes who never had any doubt about the verity of the path that they chose to tread, and strove to uphold such truths always – and I pray that I can still knock out a tune after I’ve collected my bus pass just like this pair.

Grem Devlin

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This album was reviewed in Issue 89 of The Living Tradition magazine.