Bruce Springsteen We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

A late-1990s gathering at Bruce Springsteen’s farm with a band of friends, family members and other musicians was the foundation for We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, released in 2006. Despite the earnest title, this record is meant to be a celebration: As Springsteen himself writes in the album’s liner notes, the songs on We Shall Overcome consist of “street corner music, parlour music, tavern music, wilderness music, circus music, church music, gutter music”. The record, a lively collection of folk songs and traditional American music popularised by Pete Seeger, the folk singer and activist who believed that music could help everyday people change the world. Springsteen introduced him as “a walking, singing reminder of all of America’s history” when the two appeared onstage together at Barack Obama’s 2008 inauguration celebration. The album sounds and feels like a hootenanny, a term popularly used to describe impromptu, open mic-type folk-music gatherings featuring communal singing. Springsteen and his Seeger Sessions Band emphatically continue that spirit with their performances of traditional folk standards such as “O Mary Don’t You Weep”, “We Shall Overcome”, “Eyes on the Prize”, “Pay Me My Money Down” and even “Froggie Went A-Courtin’”. But unlike a hootenanny—which often features limited instrumentation—the Sessions Band were expansive: A horn section adds texture on We Shall Overcome, as do banjo, accordion, fiddle, tuba, mandolin and even a penny whistle for good measure. Springsteen took an expanded version of the Sessions Band on tour, including a notable post-Katrina appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “O Mary Don’t You Weep” had special resonance.