Stranger Songs
Tuesday November 25th, 2025 with Mike Regenstreif
If It Wasn’t for the Work of The Weavers
The theme on this edition of Stranger Songs is If It Wasn’t for the Work of The Weavers.
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| fragment of The Stranger Song Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen - Columbia/Legacy 
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| The Weavers – who came together in 1948 – were Pete Seeger (1919-2014) and Lee Hays (1914-1981), who had sung together earlier in The Almanac Singers, Ronnie Gilbert (1926-2015) and Fred Hellerman (1927-2016). Despite being victims of the McCarthy Era blacklist, The Weavers were the folk group that inspired The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, and all the other folk groups of the 1950s and ‘60s who fueled the folk boom. Pete left the group in 1958 and was replaced by Erik Darling (1933-2008) for four years, and then briefly by Frank Hamilton (1934-) and Bernie Krause (1938-) before disbanding in 1964. The original Weavers continued to come together occasionally – most notably in 1963 and 1980 – for reunion concerts. |
| Kisses Sweeter Than Wine The Weavers - The Weavers at Carnegie Hall - Vanguard |
| When the Saints Go Marching In Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band - Live in Dublin - Columbia |
| Lonesome Traveller The Travellers - The Travellers 1960-1966: This Land is Your Land - Sony
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| Darlin' Corey The Balladeers - It's About Time - The Balladeers
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| Erie Canal The Weavers - Traveling On with The Weavers - Vanguard |
| If I Had a Hammer Peter Paul & Mary - Peter Paul and Mary - Warner Bros. |
| Dig My Grave Chaim Tannenbaum, Dane Lanken and Kate & Anna McGarrigle - The McGarrigle Hour - Hannibal
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| Go Tell Aunt Rhody The Wainwright Sisters - Songs in the Dark - MapleMusic
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| Wasn’t That a Time The Weavers - The Weavers On Tour - Vanguard |
| fragment of The Stranger Song Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen - Columbia/Legacy
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| Follow the Drinking Gourd Kim & Reggie Harris - Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad - Appleseed |
| Die Gedanken Sind Frei John McCutcheon with Finest Kind - To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger - Appalsongs |
| Guantanamera Perla Batalla - Discoteca Batalla - Mechuda Music |
| Wimoweh Weavermania - Live - Depot |
| Twelve Gates to the City Bruce Cockburn - Bone on Bone - True North
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| Run Come See Jerusalem Arlo Guthrie - Precious Friend - Warner Bros. |
| Wreck of the “John B” The Weavers - The Weavers On Tour - Vanguard |
| Old Riley Lead Belly - Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1 - Smithsonian Folkways |
| Bring Me Little Water Sylvie The Wailin' Jennys - Live at The Mauch Chunk Opera House - Outside Music
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| Rock Island Line Long John Baldry - Remembering Leadbelly - Stony Plain
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| Midnight Special Odetta - Lookin’ for a Home: Thanks to Leadbelly - M.C. |
| Goodnight Irene The Weavers - The Weavers at Carnegie Hall - Vanguard |
| Jackhammer John Woody Guthrie - Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection - Smithsonian Folkways |
| Hard, Ain't It Hard Ramblin' Jack Elliott - Best of the Vanguard Years - Vanguard |
| The Sinking of the Reuben James James Talley - Woody Guthrie and Songs of My Oklahoma Home - Cimarron |
| Roll On, Columbia Work O' The Weavers - Live in Concert - WorldWind |
| So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh The Weavers - Best of the Vanguard Years - Vanguard |
| Michael Row the Boat Ashore The Weavers - The Weavers On Tour - Vanguard |
| fragment of The Stranger Song Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen - Columbia/Legacy
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Mike, thank you so much for this wonderful program. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the Weavers in their influence on the rise of folk music to the mainstream in the 50’s, 60’s and on into the 70’s. It’s a trend that changed my life starting when I was in high school and me and three friends formed a folk group called The Balladeers. Thanks for playing our version of “Darlin’ Cory” on this show! After a brief spell as an engineer I went on to become a full-time record producer specializing in folk music. Thank you Weavers and thank you Mike!
10:10 AM, November 23rd, 2025