Having long since decided to give up recording,
Pete Seeger was coaxed into making a new album (his first in 17 years) by
Paul Winter, who co-produced this 18-track, nearly 64-minute collection and recorded it at his studio. Winter's approach was to have
Seeger sing his usual repertoire, accompanied on most of the tracks by one of three choruses: the 30-member Gaudeamus, the Union Baptist Church Singers, or
the Cathedral Singers. The result is like a
Pete Seeger concert in which the audience sings along with much better harmony, but in a much more formal manner than usual. There are three songs previously unrecorded by the artist, including a tribute to
Lead Belly, but the other 15 are familiar songs such as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" and "The Water Is Wide." "Singing an old song is an act of reaffirmation," he writes in the CD booklet. But recording a bunch of them makes this album more a coda to
Seeger's recording career than another milestone.
–
William Ruhlmann, Rovi