GILBERT

American folk singer, songwriter and political activist Ronnie Gilbert was one of the founding members of The Weavers. Her bold contralto voice along with those of Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman helped propel folk music to wide popularity and establish its power as an agent of social change. The Weavers were known for their pop chart hit versions of folk standards “Goodnight, Irene”, “So Long It’s Been Good To Know Yuh”, “If I Had A Hammer” and songs from other cultures including “Wimoweh” from South Africa. “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” and their version of “The Midnight Special” and “Bring Me Li’l’ Water, Silvy” entitled “Sylvie” were based on Lead Belly songs, In the early ‘50s The Weavers were among the biggest musical stars in the country but were blacklisted during a period of widespread anti-communist feeling because of the group‘s left-wing sympathies. They emerged in 1955 with a sold out Carnegie Hall concert and continued to perform and record until 1964 when they gave a farewell concert in Chicago. In 1980 they performed one last time at a reunion concert in Carnegie Hall and made a 1982 documentary The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time. In 2006 the Weavers received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award.

Ms. Gilbert also recorded and performed with the folk singer and activist Holly Near. They toured in 1984 with Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie in a group they called HARP melding the first letters of the performers’ names.

She spent much of her creative energy in the theater. Among her theatrical appearances were a one-woman show she wrote about Mary Harris, the labor organizer known as “Mother” Jones and another work based on author Studs Terkel’s book Coming of Age. Her memoir Ronnie Gilbert: A Radical Life in Song was published in 2015.