Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger never wanted to become the nation's cuddly old grandpa. But it's hard not to get a warm feeling from the TV version of his 90th birthday concert. Recorded in May at Madison Square Garden, the show features Seeger himself plus friends and admirers like Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Emmylou Harris and Toshi Reagan.

It's a fine round of song that supports Springsteen's description of Seeger as "a living archive" of American music. Seeger himself appears several times during the show, and while he doesn't sing much anymore, he shouts the words to each line of "This Land Is Your Land" before the performing ensemble and the crowd sing it. In the style of PBS concert productions, "90th Birthday Celebration" intercuts song segments with biographical reflections on Seeger, a few from himself and the rest from the guests.

While a few television minutes can't touch on everything in his eventful life, it does track him from his early days as a political artist through his "popular period" with the Weavers and finally into his longtime role as the elder statesman of folksong. His determination to still shake things up is reflected in his insistence that the crowd sing every verse of "This Land Is Your Land" - not just the feel-good stanzas everyone knows, but the ones that express concern about the hungry, the homeless and the concept of private property.