NaN/100 votes#1 - Tom Paxton, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 3/3/1965
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem from Ireland sing traditional and contemporary Irish songs, including "Butcher's Boy." Seeger joins Tom Paxton, a singer/songwriter, on his song "Ramblin' Boy."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#2 - 'Leadbelly'
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired Unknown
This is a solo performance by Seeger in which he sings some of the songs composed by the famous black folksinger Huddie Ledbetter. He also performs his well-known allegorical story about the power of music, "Abiyoyo." Rare films of Leadbelly are included.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#3 - Elizabeth Cotton, Rosa Valentin and Rafael Martinez
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired Unknown
Seeger and Elizabeth Cotton sing her famous song, "Freight Train" and she demonstrates her left-handed guitar playing. Rosa and Rafael sing songs from their native Puerto Rico, including "Las Popules de la Tierra" (The Poor People of the World).
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#4 - Ruth Rubin
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired Unknown
Ruth Rubin is America's foremost collector of Yiddish folk music and the translator of countless Yiddish songs. Here she performs several well-known Yiddish songs including "Chanuke O Chanuke" and "Tumbalalayka."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#5 - Jean Ritchie and Bernice Reagon
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired Unknown
Jean Ritchie, long-time collector of Cumberland Mountain songs, sings from her extensive repertoire and plays the dulcimer. She also displays several folk toys. Bernice Reagon sings gospel and freedom songs a cappella.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#6 - Malvina Reynolds and Jack Elliott
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired Unknown
Malvina Reynolds, who made up songs almost daily from stories she read in the newspapers, sings her famous "Little Boxes" among others. Jack Elliott, a protege of Woody Guthrie, sings some of Guthrie's songs including "Talking Dust Bowl" and "Talking Sailor Blues."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#7 - Bessie Jones and Children from the Downtown Community School
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired Unknown
Bessie Jones and the children sing and dance a number of children's play-party songs such as "Thread & Needle" and "Drawing a Bucket of Water." Seeger sings Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and several children's songs.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#8 - New Lost City Ramblers
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired Unknown
The group includes Pete Seeger's brother Mike, his brother-in-law John Cohen, and Tracy Schwartz. Among them they play fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin and autoharp on such songs as "Maid of Constant Sorrow," "Cuckoo Bird" and "Arkansas Sheik." Mike shows films of a Japanese fiddle band.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#9 - The Beers Family
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired Unknown
Robert Beers, his wife and daughter, sing in a hauntingly beautiful style including their own "Dumbarton's Drums." Mr. Beers plays the Psaltry, an ancient instrument that is plucked with feathers.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#10 - Herbert Manana
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired Unknown
South African singer, dancer, songwriter Herbert Manana sings and dances several African songs including "Zula", "Wimoweh" and "Tinasizsw" (We Africans).
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#11 - Martha Schlamme
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired Unknown
German-born Martha Schlamme, accompanied by Abraham Stockman on piano, sings several songs in German including the Brecht/Weill songs "Bilboa Moon" and "Pirate Jenny." She also sings several songs in Yiddish and Spanish and joins Pete in the World War II concentration camp song "Peat Bog Soldiers."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#12 - Doc Watson, Clint Howard and Fred Price
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired Unknown
Three legendary figures of country folk music join Seeger with their guitars and fiddle in a long list of traditional songs, including "Old Dan Tucker" and "My Mother Chose My Husband."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#13 - Norman Studer and Grant Rogers
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired Unknown
Scholar Norman Studer talks about the folklore of upstate New York and introduces composer-fiddler-guitarist-quarry worker Grant Rogers. Rogers and Seeger trade songs, including "Down by the Glenside," "Bessie the Heifer" and "My Dirty Stream," one of Seeger's recent songs about the Hudson River.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#14 - Pete Seeger: Solo
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired Unknown
With his songs and a display of cartoons and unusual documents, Seeger traces the history of political satire from the early days of the U.S. He sings such songs as "John Brown's Body,", "Casey Jones," "We Shall Overcome" and his own anti-Vietnam War song "King Henry."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#15 - Lino Manocchia, Ralph Marino and Federico Picciano
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired Unknown
Italian folk music is the subject of the program, including a film of a group sing in an Italian village. His guests, with two of their friends, accompanying themselves on guitars and accordion, sing songs from both northern and southern Italy, including "Eh Volla Volla" and "Manuela." Seeger sings "D-Day Dodgers," a song about the Italian campaign in World War II.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#16 - Mimi and Richard Farina
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/26/1966
This program was taped a short time before Richard Farina's death in an auto accident on April 30, 1966, and contains many of the songs he wrote including "Celebration for a Grey Day," "Bold Marauder" and "Pack Up Your Sorrows." Richard plays harmonica and dulcimer (in a style all his own) and Mimi plays guitar.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#17 - Roscoe Holcomb and Jean Redpath
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired Unknown
Seeger and Roscoe trade traditional American songs including "John Hardy" and "Birdie, Pretty Birdie." Jean Redpath sings several songs from her native Scotland: "The Beggar Laddie," "The Sky Fisher's Song," I Lost Ma Love" and "The Branca's Gotten Loose and Etten all the Corn."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#18 - The Stanley Brothers and Cousin Emmy
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired Unknown
The Clinch Mountain Boys, which includes the well-known Stanley Brothers, sing a number of old-time favorites, including "Worried Man Blues," "The Clinch Mountain Backstep" and "I'm Thinking Tonight of My True Love."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#19 - Sonia Malkine
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired Unknown
Ms. Malkine specializes in songs from France, especially those from the Auvergne, a mountainous area in southern France whose songs are well-known in America. She sings "Baylero", a shepherd's song, accompanying herself on an unusual 6-string lute (with a simultaneous translation in subtitles on the screen). She also provides a French rendition of Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and Seeger counters with a German translation.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#20 - 'Woody Guthrie'
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired Unknown
This is a solo performance by Seeger, in which he sings some of the hundreds of songs composed by Woody, including "Philadelphia Lawyer," "Roll on Columbia" and "Put Your Finger in the Air," the popular children's song. Rare film footage and photos of Woody are included.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#21 - Pat Sky and the Pennywhistlers
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired Unknown
A combination of recent and traditional songs, including Pat Sky's well-known "Separation Blues" and Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" The Pennywhistlers perform songs from Bulgaria, Russia and South Africa in the original languages, including the original Russian song on which Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is based.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#22 - Len Chandler
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired Unknown
Seeger and Chandler trade songs they have written, including Chandler's "Keep on Keeping On," "Beans in My Ears" and "Move on Over" and Seeger's "Walking Down Death Row," Seeger also sings such traditional songs as "Mrs. McGrath" (Irish) and "Die Gedanken Sind Frei" (Thoughts are Free) in German.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#23 - Donovan and Rev. Gary Davis
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired Unknown
Donovan, the British recording star, sings a number of songs, accompanied on the sitar by Shawn Phillips, who also demonstrates the Indian instrument in detail. Rev. Gary Davis plays his guitar and sings some gospel songs including "I'm Feeling More Like Shouting" and "Oh Glory, How Happy I Am."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#24 - Alexander Zelkin
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired Unknown
A young Russian emigré living in Canada, Alexander Zelkin trades songs from all over the world with Seeger. Sometimes they sing two songs to the same melody in two different languages. Seeger discusses the use of the tune to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in different cultures. Zelkin sings "Sylvestrik," a French song, and "Oy Tumani," and Seeger sings his song "Bells of Rhymney," which is based on a Welsh poem.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#25 - The Cajun Band
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired Unknown
Descendants of the Acadians who moved to Louisiana when the British made the French leave Nova Scotia, the Cajun Band shares its traditions and music. They sing a number of songs in their native language including (titles are translated) "I Passed Your Door and Didn't See Any Light" and "While Your Mother's Not Here Let's Dance Real Close." Seeger demonstrates his style of banjo playing and sings several "play-party" songs, including "Skip to My Lou," "Big Mammoo" and "Colinda."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Rainbow Quest Season 1
Every episode of Rainbow Quest Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Rainbow Quest Season 1!
Legendary folk musician Pete Seeger shares stories and songs with some of the folk and country music greats of the 1960s such as Johnny Cash,...
Network:PBS
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Tom Paxton, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem" is the best rated episode of "Rainbow Quest" season 1. It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 3/3/1965. This episode is rated NaN points higher than the second-best, "'Leadbelly'".