Iconic folk music pioneer Pete Seeger's successful campaign to clean up New York's Hudson River is highlighted in this documentary. At the time, the river was so polluted that every mile was unsafe for swimming. Seeger is seen with his family at home, as well as working on the campaign and protestin

This biographical documentary follows folk musician-activist Pete Seeger over the course of eighteen months, showing him in concert, interviews and previously filmed footage, and interacting with family, friends and fellow musicians. The film begins with his breakthrough television appearance on The Johnny Cash Show , after seventeen years of being blacklisted from radio and television due to his refusal to testify for the House of Un-American Activities Committee in the mid-1950s. Popular country-western performer Cash, who once called Seeger the "finest American and patriot I know," relates the opposition he had to overcome to have Seeger as a guest on his show. Seeger is shown singing several of his own songs, as well as those of others, among them, a song written by his protégé, Don McLean of the musical group American Pie. Seeger is also seen with his contemporaries, musicians such as Lester Flatt and Rev. F. D. Kirkpatrick. At a Brandeis University concert and a peace demonstration held in Washington, D.C., Seeger expresses his anti-war political sentiments. Appearing in the film are Seeger's wife Toshi and his father Charles, an eminent musicologist, who claims in an interview that, "There's nothing bad about Peter, except he's getting bald." Highlighting Seeger's concern for the environment, the musician is shown sailing the Hudson River on the boat The Clearwater and expressing his views on water and air pollution. The film ends at a huge rally, during which Seeger shows the crowd a small stone that he keeps with him. Although he says he would never use it to harm a person, he admits that lately he has had a desire to throw it, and might be tempted to smash a window.