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The Weavers: The Best Of The Decca Years

Remastered

The Weavers Format: Audio CD
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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Audio CD, Original recording remastered, October 22, 1996
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Track Listings

1 On Top Of Old Smokey
2 Hard, Ain't It Hard
3 Goodnight Irene
4 Around The Corner (Beneath The Berry Tree)
5 Old Paint (Ride Around, Little Doggies)
6 (The Wreck Of The) John B
7 The Roving Kind
8 Tzena, Tzena
9 Wimoweh (Mbube)
10 Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
11 So Long (It's Been Good To Know You Yuh)
12 The Midnight Special
13 Rock Island Line
14 Sylvie (Bring Me Li'l' Water, Silvy
15 Lonesome Traveler
16 When The Saints Go Marching In

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Weavers--comprised of Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert--were the most important group of the folk revival. They helped invent hootenany culture, and charged it with a political urgency. They sang everything: Maoist anthems, civil rights hymns, even children's songs like "If I Had a Hammer." The Decca recordings are historic but not always indicative of the Weavers art. "Tzena, Tzena" and "Goodnight Irene" are given more production than suited the quartet's ethos, even if those songs would help change America forever. --Roy Francis Kasten

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 4.94 x 0.45 inches; 2.88 ounces
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Decca / MCA
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ November 18, 2006
  • Label ‏ : ‎ Decca / MCA
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000002P1S
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Walter Stecher
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2016
Verified Purchase
I LOVE THE WEAVERS
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Gerald Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars Early Vintage Recordings of the Weavers Which Conjure Cherished Memories of the Group
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2013
For anyone of my age (70, writing in Nov. 2013), the Weavers are a cherished and joyous remembrance of childhood and youth. Growing up in L.A. County in the 1940s through mid-1960s, the Weavers often, as I recall, made television appearances on variety shows and the like during my early years, when we had T.V. several years before it finally reached Québec or Canada, where I by now have lived most of my life. The Weavers' recordings were heard frequently on radio and sold well, too, on 78, 45, and eventually 33.3 r.p.m. discs, of which I have many in my personal collection.

Along the way, the group acquired a reputation, and at times censure from right-wing politicians, for their political and social stands. By the time that I saw the Weavers live at a Newport Folk Festival concert in the early 1960s, singing with Joan Baez, the group had become iconic among broad-minded and progressive North Americans.

The fame of the Weavers was thoroughly due them. The singers had a direct, unaffected, manner, which was even agreeably rough at times, but not bare and at times tiresome as the likes of folk and (sometimes) country soloist Burl Ives; the Weavers certainly avoided the slickness or superficiality of performers (such as the Kingston Trio) who eventually followed in their wake.

Although one thinks of the Weavers as a folk group, they sang many "old time" (and even current) pop songs as well, and their style embraced American folk, commercial pop, swing music, and even "trad jazz", evidences of all of which are on these recordings from the years which this reissue embraces; despite their versatility, the Weavers always were consistently themselves, with lively arrangements that, however styled, never sink into mere glitziness. Although the members were known for their liberal to radical political stances, the group seldom performed material with truly blatantly activist lyrics, especially during these early years.

The recordings, given their vintage, are not the last word in sonic vividness, so younger listeners, unaccustomed to the sound of late electrical "78s" and of likewise monaural recordings on 45 r.p.m. discs, should bear patiently with an honest CD reissue like this one (M.C.A.-Decca CMCAD-11465), which does not attempt to falsify their sound by a wrong-headed attempt to "update" them. This reissue is a good sampling of what made the Weavers so beloved and so justly successful.
2 people found this helpful
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Alan Brody
3.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Decca Years
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2000
For the Weavers lover, this is a must have. For someone wanting to discover the Weavers, the concert recordings are much better. On this album 1950s production met a small folk group and the result is very much a 50s sound. Big orchestra backing, instrumental choices that reflected the taste of the day rather than a folk approach. I prefer the Weavers as they stood on stage with their voices, their instruments, and their hearts out there for everyone to enjoy.
21 people found this helpful
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LZF0
5.0 out of 5 stars Pete Meets Gordon
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2012
In the early 1950s, Decca tried to make the folksy Weavers into a pop group. Until Decca dropped them in 1953 due to left wing political affiliations, the Kapp organization was very successful. Much of this success was due to the iconic orchestral arrangements by Gordon Jenkins. Jenkins has never swung so hard before or since. "Wimeweh" is, in my opinion, the most swinging chart Jenkins ever wrote. This proves that Jenkins was indeed capable of writing charts that swing more than his lame attempt to swing on "Jingle Bells" on the Sinatra Christmas album. Normally, Jenkins' string-laden, chromatic arrangements backed ballads by the best jazz influenced singers from Nat Cole and Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. While these arrangements for the Weavers are truly at odds with the music Pete Seeger, Lee Hayes, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman are trying to make, they are very well written and inventive. However, folkies interested in authenticity have got to hate them. Jenkins' individual style is easy to identify and often, his charts are the stars of the recordings. If the Weavers had to record with a large Hollywood orchestra, Jenkins is definitely the best choice of arranger. Other Decca staff arrangers like Sy Oliver, Buster Harding, or Vic Schoen would have been much too jazz oriented for the Weavers. But I wonder -- what did Pete Seeger dislike more, Jenkins' Hollywood arrangements or Bob Dylan's electric guitar?
One person found this helpful
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Lee Hartsfeld
5.0 out of 5 stars Sixties pop-folk, only ten years earlier!
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2001
Prior to purchasing this CD, I had heard one or two Weavers sides and hadn't formed any impression of the group. Now I can hear that they were remarkably ahead of their time when these sides were made (1950-1953), at least insomuch as 1960s groups like The Seekers were presenting almost exactly the same sound years later, with or without an orchestra and chorus. And the songs themselves are not out of keeping with other tunes of the early 1950s--for example, Terry Gilkyson's "Christopher Columbus," recorded by Guy Mitchell, or the novelty songs of Bob Merrill. It's true that The Weavers were rather rough-cut compared to the smooth pop sound listeners were used to hearing right after World War II. However, they were Vegas-smooth compared to quartets like The Chuck Wagon Gang, even if Pete Seeger, vocally, makes Wayne Newton sound like Placido Domingo. In a mass-mediated world, authenticity is one of the most relative of concepts.
At any rate, these are tremendously enjoyable sides made no less enjoyable by the Lawrence Welk feel provided on several sides by arranger Gordon Jenkins, whose Basie-style introduction to "Wimoweh" is both anachronistic and quite effective. (Listen for Pete Seeger's favorite chord throughout, the dominant 11th.) The Jenkins orchestra and chorus also greatly enhance the CD's best track, "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena," one of the shortest songs ever created, and here featuring a delightful mid-arrangement round. "(The Wreck of the) John B." predates The Beach Boys' "Sloop John B." by many years and is typical of pre-"Pet Sounds" renderings of the tune. All of the tracks are exceptional, and the sound is astonishing. The Weavers may not have started pop-folk (think Burl Ives, for example), but they appear to have established its conventions for a number of years to come.
11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Gerald Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Memories of the Early 1950s Return When Listening to This Fine Reissue of the Weavers' Early Recordings
Reviewed in Canada on November 27, 2013
Verified Purchase
For anyone of my age (70, writing in Nov. 2013), the Weavers are a cherished and joyous remembrance of childhood and youth. Growing up in L.A. County in the 1940s through mid-1960s, the Weavers often, as I recall, made television appearances on variety shows and the like during my early years, when we had T.V. several years before it finally reached Québec or Canada, where I by now have lived most of my life. The Weavers' recordings were heard frequently on radio and sold well, too, on 78, 45, and eventually 33.3 r.p.m. discs, of which I have many in my personal collection.

Along the way, the group acquired a reputation, and at times censure from right-wing politicians, for their political and social stands. By the time that I saw the Weavers live at a Newport Folk Festival concert in the early 1960s, singing with Joan Baez, the group had become iconic among broad-minded and progressive North Americans.

The fame of the Weavers was thoroughly due them. The singers had a direct, unaffected, manner, which was even agreeably rough at times, but not bare and at times tiresome as the likes of folk and (sometimes) country soloist Burl Ives; the Weavers certainly avoided the slickness or superficiality of performers (such as the Kingston Trio) who eventually followed in their wake.

Although one thinks of the Weavers as a folk group, they sang many "old time" (and even current) pop songs as well, and their style embraced American folk, commercial pop, swing music, and even "trad jazz", evidences of all of which are on these recordings from the years which this reissue embraces; despite their versatility, the Weavers always were consistently themselves, with lively arrangements that, however styled, never sink into mere glitziness. Although the members were known for their liberal to radical political stances, the group seldom performed material with truly blatantly activist lyrics, especially during these early years.

The recordings, given their vintage, are not the last word in sonic vividness, so younger listeners, unaccustomed to the sound of late electrical "78s" and of likewise monaural recordings on 45 r.p.m. discs, should bear patiently with an honest CD reissue like this one (M.C.A.-Decca CMCAD-11465), which does not attempt to falsify their sound by a wrong-headed attempt to "update" them. This reissue is a good sampling of what made the Weavers so beloved and so justly successful.
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Leah Christensen
5.0 out of 5 stars Their harmony is wonderful, and as I've read more and more about ...
Reviewed in Canada on June 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
I could listen to the music of The Weavers all day long!!! Their harmony is wonderful, and as I've read more and more about them, they seemed like really wonderful people. I highly recommend this CD, and anything else of theirs.
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