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With its 1950 recording of Goodnight Irene, the Weavers brought folk music to the 'American Hit Parade. ' The public immediately responded to the song's catchy melody and Gordon Jenkins' lush arrangement. But the quartet's dynamic, passionate vocals was what really made the record stand apart from everything else in pop music. No one could escape the song or its popular flip side, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena. Juke boxes and radio stations kept both songs in constant rotation, and record sales snowballed into the millions. During the next eighteen months the Weavers dominated the charts with such folk anthems as So Long (It's Been Good To Know Yuh), The Roving Kind, On Top Of Old Smokey and Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. Suddenly, the creamy 1940s harmonies of the Pied Pipers, Six Hits and a Miss, the Merry Macs and the Modernaires seemed dated. Pop music would be different in the 1950s, and the Weavers were among the first artists to signal this new era.

No one was more surprised by this rush of success than the Weavers themselves: Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman and Pete Seeger. Emerging from the embers of the postwar People's Songs movement, the group polished its sound and repertoire at New York hootenannies, union halls and political rallies. An extended booking at the Village Vanguard in early 1950 led to a friendship with arranger Gordon Jenkins, who convinced skeptical Decca Records executives to sign the quartet. But the Weavers' fortunes ultimately fell as quickly as they rose. Under the guise of patriotism, rightwing zealots gleefully exposed its leftist political affiliations. Through fear and intimidation, organizations like the American Legion pressured promoters, bookers and media executives to boycott the group. Airplay disappeared and jobs dwindled, yet Seeger, Hays, Gilbert and Hellerman persevered until they disbanded in 1953.
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