you can't get left politics out of woody guthrie or pete seeger.nwich village movement was there to celebrate people's culture. >> if you like the music, you were really signing on for their ways of looking at the world, too. ♪ and then, eventually, one guy emerges as being special. ♪ ♪ a bullet from the back of a bush took medgar evers' blood ♪ >> during that time in the '60s, as that cultural revolution was slowly bubbling and kids were starting to question authority, question what was happening in their country, they're looking for answers. >> bob dylan thought that folk music was poetry. he took beat energy and mixed it with folk culture, and it's more lyrical intensity than anybody's put to song before. ♪ and the negro's name is used, it is plain ♪ ♪ for the politician's gain as he rises to fame ♪ >> up until the time of bob dylan, there were the songwriters and there were the singers. dylan started writing his own music. >> he says, i am going to comment on the world, i'm going to comment on the nature of this human experience. bob dylan was

. >> they felt betrayed, like you're supposed to be our woody guthrie, you know, you sold out. ♪ howree ♪ >> it was obvious to me and the hollies that we had a responsibility as artists to reflect our world around us, and we utilized our music to be able to reach people. >> pop musicians in today's generation are in a fantastic position. they can rule the world. >> well, i don't argue -- >> they could rule the world, so why don't we do more of it? we can stop world wars before they ever started. >> i disagree. >> you know who starts world wars? people that are over 40. >> really? >> that conversation was unstoppable. you couldn't shut it down. ♪ he's oh so good and he's oh so fine and he's oh so healthy in his body and his mind ♪ ♪ he's a well respected man about town ♪ >> i think ray davies from the kinks and pete townshend from the who were the two social commentators. ♪ people try to put us down, talking about my generation ♪ ♪ just because we get around, talking about my generation ♪ ♪ things they do look awful cold talking about my generation ♪ ♪ hope i die before i get old ♪ ta

. >> well, as the folk singer woody guthrie said the peace hit st. louis a lot farther than the war did. we have some time for questions and answers and also for you to be able to share your memories of the war as well and linda here will pass the meicrophone. please wait until you get it so the cameras will be able to pick up the audio. >> being young during that time, in my studies at school when i was getting my phd we talked to a lot of wives who lost their husbands in the current wars. what did the home front -- what did the men and women do when a neighbor or a friend got news they lost a husband? >> are you speaking to me? >> anybody on the panel. >> oh. i lost three friends in the war. one, his ship was bombed and split in half. and he was asleep on the bottom deck at that time. and the other one, jerry's plane was bombed and of course, they were all killed on the plane. and then ben worked at firestone with me. and i always felt so bad that he enlisted because he was all that his mother had. he had no reason to enlist. he wouldn't have had t

his most recent, this land is your land, woody guthrie and the journey of an american folk song. frequent lecturer at the white house and performance at the white house. please welcome bob santelli. >> thank you for doing this, it's an honor to have you here. the last time we got a chance to sit like this we were at the white house talking about soul music and the importance of music in the civil rights movement. >> yes, we were, and it was around the same time. so it's getting to be a habit. next year at this time i'll look for you. >> the staples singers are generally recognized in music history as one of the seminole groups of american history, particularly in the post world war ii period. yourself and sisters and pops, of course bridge the gap between rhythm and blues, soul music and gospel music. and sometime during that transition of moving from the sacred into the secular, of course, you and your family get involved in the civil rights movement. talk a little bit about how that happened. >> you know, back in. actually we started singing in 1950 and 1960, pops had started h

here to prove the words of woody guthrie's timeless ode to the american spirit, this land is your landon baltimore francis scott lee, a lawyer sent to negotiate a prisoner exchange was on the british ship and witnessed that attack. the bombardment of ft. mchenry. imagine how his worry turned to joy in the morning when the smoke began to clear and high above the fort he saw the red, white and blue of a hand-sewn wool flag waving strongly. declaring that the young nation was still sovereign. i'd like to invite all of our speakers as well as all of you here and everyone watching us online, in honor of all those who have served our country, soldiers, officials, teachers, doctors, tradesmen, friends, parents, children, visitors, everyone who appreciates the ideals and cultures of freedom on which we stand to join with me and all my friends here in song this flag day for the 200th year of its existence, please stand and sing with me the united states national anthem, the star spangled banner. ♪ ♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight'sh@@@

his most recent, this land is your land, woody guthrie and the journey of an american folk song.ot a chance to sit like this we were at the white house talking about soul music and the importance of music in the civil rights movement. >> yes, we were, and it was around the same time. so it's getting to be a habit. next year at this time i'll look for you. >> the staples singers are generally recognized in music history as one of the seminole groups of american history, particularly in the post world war ii period. yourself and sisters and pops, of course bridge the gap between rhythm and blues, soul music and gospel music. and sometime during that transition of moving from the sacred into the secular, of course, you and your family get involved in the civil rights movement. talk a little bit about how that happened. >> you know, back in. actually we started singing in 1950 and 1960, pops had started hearing dr. king on the radio. dr. king had a radio program, and pops was hearing his program, we happened to be in montgomery alabama on a sunday morning and we didn't have to work o

his most recent, "this land is your land, woody guthrie and the journey of an american folk song."use talking about soul music and the importance of music in the civil rights movement. >> yes, we were, and it was around the same time. so it's getting to be a habit. next year at this time i'll look for you. >> the staples singers are generally recognized in music history as one of the seminole groups of american history, particularly in the post world war ii period. yourself and sisters and pops, of course bridge the gap between rhythm and blues, soul music and gospel music. and sometime during that transition of moving from the sacred into the secular, of course, you and your family get involved in the civil rights movement. talk a little bit about how that happened. >> you know, back in. actually we started singing in 1950 and 1960, pops had started hearing dr. king on the radio. dr. king had a radio program, and pops was hearing his program, we happened to be in montgomery alabama on a sunday morning and we didn't have to work on that night. pops called my sisters and i to his ro

einstein, stravinsky, twain whitman, hughes, kelly, the marx , brothers, woody guthrie and pete seegertommy morello, just to name a few. in a free and democratic society we learn to live with questions. and in dialogue. we learn to speak with the possibility of being heard and we learn simultaneously to listen with the possibility of being changed. remember the brief but famous dialogue in the form of two simple questions between ralph waldo emerson and henry david thoreau, shouted over a prison wall not far from here? what are you doing in there, henry david? emerson asks his incarcerated friend, locked up for refusing to pay taxes to a war-making state, a slave state. thoreau responds, what are you doing out there? that's a good question. what are you doing with your spirit of democracy, your rumors of freedom, and your various quests for justice? there is a wisdom simple to -- there is a rhythm simple to state but excruciatingly difficult to enact, to state to -- staying true to the spirit of democracy and justice. simple to state. open your eyes, pay attention, as step one, be asto

einstein, stravinsky, twain whitman, hughes, kelly, the marx , brothers, woody guthrie and pete seegertommy morello, just to name a few. in a free and democratic society we learn to live with questions. and in dialogue. we learn to speak with the possibility of being heard and we learn simultaneously to listen with the possibility of being changed. remember the brief but famous dialogue in the form of two simple questions between ralph waldo emerson and henry david thoreau, shouted over a prison wall not far from here? what are you doing in there, henry david? emerson asks his incarcerated friend, locked up for refusing to pay taxes to a war-making state, a slave state. thoreau responds, what are you doing out there? that's a good question. what are you doing with your spirit of democracy, your rumors of freedom, and your various quests for justice? there is a wisdom simple to -- there is a rhythm simple to state but excruciatingly difficult to enact, to state to -- staying true to the spirit of democracy and justice. simple to state. open your eyes, pay attention, as step one, be asto

music in the 1960s and author of more than a dozen books, his most recent this land is your land, woody guthrie and the journey of american folk song, frequent lecturer at the white house and executive producer of the concert series and performers at the white house, please welcome bob santelli. >> mavis, first of all, thank you for doing this, it's an honor to have you here, i think the last time we actually got a chance to sit like this, we were at the white house talking about soul music and the importance of music in the civil rights music. >> yes, we were. actually it was around the same time. so it's getting to be a habit. [laughter]. next year at this time i'll look for ya. yeah. [laughter] >> the staples singers are generally recognized in music history as one of the seminal groups in american music history, particularly in the post world war ii murder. because yourself, your sisters, pops, of course, bridged the gap between rhythm and blues, soul music and gospel music. >> yes. >> sometime during that transition of moving from the sacred into the secular, of course, you and your family