The Weavers were formed in New York City in 1948 by Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, a quartet of folk singers from the Greenwich Village scene. Their first major release was the 1950 single "Goodnight, Irene"backed with "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", which stayed at number one on the pop charts for thirteen weeks and sold over one million copies, marking the first folk song to reach that position. A reunion concert at Carnegie Hall in 1955 was later issued as the album The Weavers at Carnegie Hall in 1957 on Vanguard Records. The period around 1957 saw releases including The Weavers at Carnegie Hall and The Weavers at Carnegie Hall Vol. 2, and the group toured extensively, popularizing songs like "On Top of Old Smoky" and "The Midnight Special". After Pete Seeger departed in 1958, the group continued with Erik Darling, Frank Hamilton and Bernie Krause, releasing compilations and live recordings through the 1960s until disbanding in 1964. The Weavers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Their influence on the American folk revival remains documented in retrospectives and posthumous collections.
