If I Had a Hammer

The song was first publicly performed by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays on June 3, 1949, at St. Nicholas Arena in New York City at a dinner in support of prominent members of the Communist Party of the United States, including New York City Councilman Benjamin J. Davis, who were then on trial in federal court, charged with violating the Smith Act by advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government."Town Talk," The Daily Worker, June 1, 1949 Four months later, it was one of three songs Seeger played as the warm-up act for Paul Robeson's September 4 concert near Peekskill, New York, attended by Davis, which subsequently erupted into the notorious, anti-Communist Peekskill Riot.Frillmann, Karen. [http://www.wnyc.org/story/87258-today-in-history-peekskill-riots/ "Today in History: Peekskill Riots"]. WYNC (New York), 4 September 2009. Accessed 25 January 2015. In 1950 Seeger and Irwin Silber featured a copy of the sheet music of "The Hammer Song" for the cover of Sing Out!, their new magazine (the successor to People's Songs and the People's Songs Bulletin), whose title was taken from the song's chorus.Irwin Silber, in "Notes from an Editor’s Diary", recalls he borrowed the name Sing Out! from the third verse of "The Hammer Song" written by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger, which incidentally was printed on the cover of issue number one. It seemed to the publishers an appropriate aim to "sing out danger ... sing out a warning ... sing out love between all my brothers (and my sisters) all over this land". [https://www.singout.org/sohistry.html "Sing Out, History"] Due to the Red Scare and subsequent blacklists, the song when first released did not receive wide exposure outside of activist circles.

It fared notably better commercially when it was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary 12 years later. Their version of the song, released in July 1962 from the group's debut album became a top 10 hit, and won the Grammy Awards for Best Folk Recording and Best Performance by a Vocal Group. It reached number 17 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/62-08-27-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - August 27, 1962}} Trini Lopez's 1963 single went to number three on the same Billboard chart and number five in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/63-09-02-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - September 2, 1963}} It was included on his album Trini Lopez at PJ's (Reprise R/RS 6093).{{Gilliland|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19772/m1/|title=Show 21 - Forty Miles of Bad Road: Some of the best from rock 'n' roll's dark ages. [Part 2]|show=21 |track=2}} Rita Pavone's Italian-language adaptation "Datemi un martello", with lyrics by Sergio Bardotti, was a major hit in Italy and also charted in South America.{{cite book|author=Salvatori, Dario |title=Dizionario delle canzoni italiane|publisher=Elle U|isbn=8888169016|page=119|chapter=Datemi un martello|year=2001}}

• The Limeliters titled their version The Hammer Song on the 1960 album The Limeliters.
• Martha and the Vandellas performed it on their 1963 album Heat Wave.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZRxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |page=20 |title=Story behind the Protest Song: A Reference Guide to the 50 Songs That Changed the 20th Century |first=Hardeep |last=Phull |date=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781567206852}}
• Ross MacManus, father of Elvis Costello, sang the song with the Joe Loss Orchestra on the Royal Variety Show in 1963.{{cite news|last1=Laing|first1=Dave|title=Ross MacManus Obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/21/ross-macmanus|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=23 September 2017|date=December 21, 2011}}
• The Sam Cooke album Sam Cooke at the Copa (1964) contains a live version of the song.
• Leonard Nimoy covered the song in 1968. It was republished in 1993 as part of the Highly Illogical compilation, and in 1997 as part of the Spaced Out compilation. Critics derided Nimoy's version,{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide to Cult Pop |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Simpson |date=2003 |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7hpXcrqA-8C&pg=PA80 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=9781843532293}} calling it "a real lowlight".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YP1bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT223 |page=223 |first=Robert |last=Schnakenberg |title=The Encyclopedia Shatnerica: An A to Z Guide to the Man and His Universe |publisher=Quirk Books |date=2014 |isbn=9781594747762}} Sado-masochistic performance artist Bob Flanagan pounded nails into his scrotum while playing Nimoy's version.{{cite journal |last=Sandahl |first=Carrie|date=2000 |title=Bob Flanagan: Taking It Like a Man |journal=Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism|pages=97–105}}
• Chilean singer Victor Jara included a Spanish-language version of the song titled "El martillo" ({{langx|es|The Hammer}}) on his 1969 album Pongo en tus manos abiertas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000365545|title=Pongo en Tus Manos Abiertas - Victor Jara {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|language=en-us|access-date=2020-03-23}} Promoting left-wing political ideas, Jara was making a connection between U.S. civil rights concerns and the same in Chile. Later, in 1971, he covered another U.S. song: the political satire of "Little Boxes".{{cite book |title=Music, Politics, and Nationalism In Latin America: Chile During the Cold War Era |page=94 |last=Mularski |first=Jedrek |date=2014 |publisher=Cambria Press |isbn=9781621967378}}
• Johnny Cash released the song in 1972 with his wife June Carter Cash singing harmony. The song hit number 29 on the US country chart in August 1972,{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/johnny-cash/chart-history/csi/|title=Johnny Cash|magazine=Billboard}} and it was included on his album Any Old Wind That Blows (1973). Cash's version was more in the rock music vein, powered by two electric guitarists: Carl Perkins on lead and solo, and Bob Wootton handling rhythm.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NCGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT208 |page=208 |title=Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black |first=C. Eric |last=Banister |date=2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781617136092}}
• Wanda Jackson released the song as a single in 1969. It was included on her album The Many Moods of Wanda Jackson. It reached number 41 on the US country chart in April 1969.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/wanda-jackson/chart-history/csi/|title = Wanda Jackson|magazine = Billboard}}
• French singer Claude François released a version in a single in 1963. It was translated and adaptated by Vline Buggy. This version does not contain the protest dimension of the original song. On the contrary, it values the idea of family and work. In this context, the bell evokes the church and places the song in a conservative French tradition. It reached number 1 on the French country chart in 1963, and number 2 in Belgium (WA).
• Bruce Springsteen recorded an unrehearsed version of the song with a star-studded group in 2004, but the track was left out of the resulting album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) because Springsteen was concerned that the song's fame would upstage the lesser-known songs on the album. The album was successful, attracting more fans to Seeger's music. In 2018, Springsteen's Seeger Sessions version of "Hammer" was released in a compilation album titled Appleseed's 21st Anniversary – Roots And Branches.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/appleseeds-21st-anniversary-roots-and-branches-mr0004933762 |title=Various Artists – Appleseed's 21st Anniversary: Roots and Branches |website=AllMusic |access-date=July 14, 2021}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.pointblankmag.com/tag/if-i-had-a-hammer/ |magazine=Point Blank |title=Appleseed will release unreleased Springsteen recording |date=August 28, 2018 |access-date=July 14, 2021}}

The song "If I Had a Hammer" was a freedom song of the civil rights movement. It had a tremendous impact on the American youth in the 1960s who protested against the American culture. It helped to spark the hippie movement.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050407084710/http://www.arlo.net/lyrics/hammer-song.shtml Lyrics on Arlo Guthrie website]
• [http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/i/ifihhamm.html Lyrics and a collection of quotes about "If I Had A Hammer"]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK3xJ2nyHiI Ross MacManus performing the song]

{{Pete Seeger}}

{{Johnny Cash}}

{{Peter, Paul and Mary}}

{{Wanda Jackson}}

{{Trini Lopez}}

{{The Coasters}}

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Category:1949 songs

Category:1962 singles

Category:1963 singles

Category:Songs written by Pete Seeger

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