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We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)

Where the lyrics of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions take you, and where it was really made.

Springsteen's first album of entirely non-Springsteen material started from one 1997 track recorded for a Pete Seeger tribute, and the band was assembled in an informal session at his New Jersey farm.

Key places

Informal sessions at Springsteen's Colts Neck farm (2006)

Recording site Springsteen's home in Colts Neck — Soozie Tyrell gathered a group of lesser-known musicians from New Jersey and New York City, and they recorded with Springsteen in an informal setting at his Colts Neck farm. This group became the Sessions Band. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Bruce Springsteen's fourteenth studio album
• Released in 2006; peaked at number three on the Billboard 200
• Springsteen's first album of entirely non-Springsteen material
• Contains his interpretations of thirteen folk songs made popular by Pete Seeger
• Won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 49th Grammy Awards
• Released as a DualDisc, a CD/DVD double disc set, and as two vinyl records

Background

• Project began in 1997 with a recording of 'We Shall Overcome' for a Seeger tribute album
• The tribute album, Where Have All the Flowers Gone: the Songs of Pete Seeger, came out the following year
• Given his rock and roll upbringing, Springsteen knew little about Seeger and then studied his music
• While playing a Seeger record at home, his 10-year-old daughter's reaction gave him more reason to continue
• Soozie Tyrell, the E Street Band violinist, gathered lesser-known musicians from New Jersey and New York City
• The group recorded in an informal setting at Springsteen's Colts Neck farm
• The Miami Horns and Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, took part
• This group became the Sessions Band
• The later Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band Tour expanded on the album's musical approach

Recording

• Recorded in an informal setting at Springsteen's Colts Neck farm
• Recording credited to Toby Scott, with Kevin Buell, Ross Peterson and Richard Lowe assisting
• Mixing by Bob Clearmountain; mastering by Bob Ludwig
• Springsteen credited with production
• Studio band on tracks 1–15 included violin, upright bass, banjo, accordion, brass and drums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey; grew up in Freehold, New Jersey.
• Inspired by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, began playing with local bands in the 1960s, including the Castiles, Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band.
• Formed the band that became the E Street Band in October 1972; the name came into use in September 1974.
• Signed to Columbia Records in 1972 by John Hammond; debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. released January 1973.

Members

• Performs solo and with the E Street Band, his backing band since 1972.
• Long-time members include Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Steven Van Zandt, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg and Patti Scialfa.
• Clemons died June 18, 2011; Federici died in 2008.

Career

• Born to Run (1975) brought worldwide fame; Born in the U.S.A. (1984) became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• Won an Academy Award in 1994 for "Streets of Philadelphia"; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
• Has sold more than 140 million records worldwide; holds 20 Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award.
• The 2023–2025 tour with the E Street Band was among the highest-grossing tours in history.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic average score of 82, based on 25 reviews from mainstream critics
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): praised the modern take on Seeger's folk repertoire and called it the liveliest album of Springsteen's career
• Entertainment Weekly (David Browne): said Springsteen imbued the songs with 'rock & roll energy' instead of folk's blander aesthetic
• Rolling Stone (Jonathan Ringen): said the folk and Americana styles were used to find a moral compass for a nation, especially on 'Oh, Mary Don't You Weep', 'Eyes on the Prize' and 'We Shall Overcome'
• Uncut (Gavin Martin): called it a great teeming flood of Americana and a powerful example of how songs gain contemporary meaning
• The Observer (Neil Spencer): found the chosen songs lacking intrigue and edge, mostly too corny for drama
• The Village Voice (Robert Christgau): gave it a B in his consumer guide and felt Springsteen relied too much on a rural drawl and overblown sound

Reappraisal

• Seeger himself was pleased with the result
• Pazz & Jop critics poll in The Village Voice ranked it 19th best album of the year

Records

• Peaked at number three on the Billboard 200
• Won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007
• Sold 700,000 copies in the United States by January 2009
• RIAA certified it gold

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Springsteen's project began when his 10-year-old daughter reacted to a Seeger record he was playing at home, saying it sounded like fun.
• The album's Pazz & Jop result was 19th best album of the year among critics polled by The Village Voice.
• Some sessions outtakes went unreleased; Springsteen first recorded 'Long Walk Home' during these sessions, and that version remains unreleased.
• Seeger himself was pleased with the result.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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