We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

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Professional reviews
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

Studio album by Bruce Springsteen
Released	April 25, 2006
Recorded	1997, 2005, 2006
Genre	Folk
Length	60 min
Label	Columbia Records
Producer(s)	Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau
All Music Guide link Being There link FasterLouder link Rolling Stone link
Bruce Springsteen chronology
Hammersmith Odeon London '75 (2006)	We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions is the fourteenth studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 2006 (see 2006 in music).

1 History
2 Track listing
- 2.1 DualDisc additional tracks
- 2.2 American Land Edition additional tracks
3 Album Charts
4 Personnel
5 External links

[edit] History

This is Springsteen's first and only album of non-Springsteen material and contains his interpretation of thirteen folk music songs written or made popular by Pete Seeger and recorded in an informal, large band setting. On it he hired a group of lesser-known musicians from New Jersey and New York, augmented by Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and The Miami Horns, who had all contributed to previous albums.

To the dismay of some Springsteen fans, it was his second consecutive non-E Street Band, non-rock music project. Nevertheless, the critical reception to the album was very positive, with E! Online calling it his "best album since Nebraska [1] and All Music Guide labeling it "rambunctious, freewheeling, [and] positively joyous" [2]. PopMatters called it a "a sonic transfusion on the order of the Mermaid Avenue records" [3], which were Woody Guthrie songs recorded by Billy Bragg and Wilco.

The album, like its predecessor Devils and Dust, has been released on both DualDisc and in a CD/DVD double disc set. The full album is on the CD(-side), while the DVD(-side) side features a PCM Stereo version of the album and a short film about the making and recording of the album. Two bonus songs also appear on the DVD(-side).

The subsequent Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour took this musical approach even further.

The album has sold near 600,000 copies in the United States. The RIAA certified it with Gold award.

On October 3, 2006, the album was reissued as We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition with five additional tracks (the two bonus tracks from before and three new numbers that had been introduced and heavily featured on the tour), new videos, an expanded documentary and liner notes, and a ridding of the disliked dual disc format. Added sales were minimal.

[edit] Track listing

All songs traditional with unknown songwriters, unless otherwise noted.

"Old Dan Tucker" – 2:31
"Jesse James" (Billy Gashade) – 3:47
"Mrs. McGrath" – 4:19
"O Mary Don't You Weep" – 6:05
"John Henry" – 5:07
"Erie Canal" (Thomas S. Allen) – 4:03
"Jacob's Ladder" – 4:28
"My Oklahoma Home" (Agnes "Sis" Cunningham and Bill Cunningham) – 6:03
"Eyes on the Prize" (Alice Wine) – 5:16
"Shenandoah" – 4:52
"Pay Me My Money Down" – 4:32
"We Shall Overcome" (long story) – 4:53
"Froggie Went a Courtin'" – 4:33

[edit] DualDisc additional tracks

"Buffalo Gals" -
"How Can I Keep From Singing" (attr. Robert Wadsworth Lowry) -

[edit] American Land Edition additional tracks

"Buffalo Gals" -
"How Can I Keep From Singing" (attr. Robert Wadsworth Lowry) -
"How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live" (Blind Alfred Reed, Bruce Springsteen) -
"Bring ’em Home" (Pete Seeger) -
"American Land" (Bruce Springsteen) -

[edit] Album Charts

U.S. Billboard 200 Album Chart + Week Sales (I)
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12
Position (Sales)	3 (149,713)	9 (75,133)	11 (70,708)	19 (37,978)	27 (31,823)	28 (25,881)	33 (24,752)	31 (31,498)	44 (19,493)	57 (16,260)	70 (13,110)	78 (11,989)

U.S. Billboard 200 Album Chart + Week Sales (II)
Week	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Position (Sales)	92 (9,795)	110 (8,109)	131 (6,795)	136 (6,212)	144 (5,713)	161 (5,036)	164 (5,020)	165 (4,751)	out 200 (?)	out 200 (?)	out 200 (3,383)	111 (9,342)