Track Listing

1. when the saints go marching in
2. kisses sweeter than wine
3. tzena, tzena, tzena
4. last night i had the strangest dream
5. wimoweh
6. on top of old smokey
7. follow the drinking gourd
8. sixteen tons
9. guantanamera
10. wreck of the john b
11. rock island line
12. around the world
13. goodnight irene
14. erie canal
15. wild goose grasses in tarrytown
16. this land is your land
17. house of the rising sun
18. aunt rhodie
19. gotta travel on
20. michael row the boat ashore
21. old riley
22. brother can you spare a dime
23. if i had a hammer
24. darling corey
25. so long it's been good to know you

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7132 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
This Vanguard double-LP "twofer" captures the seminal folk group, the Weavers--Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Pete Seeger--in 64 minutes of classic songs. Borrowing from both live and studio recordings--including the historic 1955 Carnegie Hall concert--Greatest Hits covers a wide range of favorites, among them "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena," "Wimoweh," "Goodnight Irene," an intimate "Guatanamera," "Wreck of the John B.," "This Land Is Your Land," and "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You." --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

They and their music have sunk deep into my soul.
Most fans would reckon this to be as good a memento of The Weavers as could be devised. A series of twelve items from their various Carnegie Hall concerts has been synthesised, firstly, to provide uninterrupted listening, then comes six items selected from their studio recordings, and then finally comes a further blending of six more Carnegie Hall performances. 64 minutes in all.

As a music teacher in an Australian school, at the time of The Weavers' vogue, I made good use of many of their recordings. I recall that "Follow the Drinking Gourd" was voted highly. Otherwise, The Weavers vogue seemed to me to be over and gone fairly quickly here in Australia.

North American fans might find this Australian perspective of interest. I of course have continued to listen to them for all of forty years. They and their music have sunk deep into my soul by now - which is probably what they are all about. Powerful in all respects is the contributions of their one female singer, Ronnie Gilbert. If her singing in "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" is not powerful, then I don't know what is.

very enjoyable
If you don't mind that most of the recordings are live, this is as good a collection of Weavers' tunes as you can find. The sound quality and volume are a bit uneven, but the playing and singing are uniformly excellent and the song selection is like the greatest hits of a generation. The Weavers' harmonizing obviously heavily influenced Peter Paul and Mary, and is endlessly entertaining. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I thought the version of Goodnight Irene was quite good, even if the sound quality isn't perfect.

Excellent collection.
The Weaver's "Greatest Hits" CD lives up to its name, and presents the most memorable songs by one of America's most important and enjoyable folk bands. The CD is two albums in one, and part of Vanguard's "Twofer" series. The first 13 songs are live, and most of the remaining ones are studio (the order of the songs on the CD is completely different than that listed above). The Weavers' musical style varies greatly including American folk, blues, ethnic folk, and pop orchestration. They sound best - and most timeless -- in recordings with minimal studio production and no background musicians. It is this unique sound that inspired Peter, Paul and Mary, and this also comes out more strongly in their live recordings. The sound quality of this CD is nice and crisp, although the mixing on the live songs is sometimes uneven.