HAYS

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of a Methodist minister, Lee Hays founded the The Weavers in 1949 with Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman and sang bass with the folk singing group until its last performance in 1963.

Lee Hays had been teaching dramatics at Commonwealth College, a cooperative school in Arkansas and used union songs, original songs and traditional folk songs in his college productions. It was decided that he should go to New York to form a singing group in order to spread this music. On his way he met Woody Guthrie in Philadelphia and when he reached New York he met Millard Lampell and Pete Seeger with all of whom he formed the Almanac Singers in the late 1930s, disbanding in 1942 with the outbreak of World War II. The Weavers became its outgrowth.

Among his best known songs are “Lonesome Traveler” and “If I Had a Hammer” , the latter co-authored with Pete Seeger as well as “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” written with members of the Weavers and Huddie Ledbetter.

Songs

Songs	Writer	Publisher
ALONG THE COLORADO TRAIL	HAYS SANDBURG	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
AUNT RHODY	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
BAY OF MEXICO	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER GERACI	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
BRING A LITTLE WATER SYLVIE	DONEGAN LEDBETTER, HUDDIE HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
CLEMENTINE	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER MONTROSS	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
COME ALONG	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER ROSE	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
DARLING COREY	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
DOWN IN THE VALLEY	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
EASY RIDER BLUES	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN	HAYS HELLERMAN GILBERT SEEGER	FOLKWAYS MUSIC PUBLISHERS, INC.

Disclaimer: Information on this page is intended for research purposes only. All information, including publisher, writer and split information is subject to change.
Please contact the appropriate performing rights organization to verify the information above.