The Spirit Of Sing Out South

Another Photo Gallery of a Special Weekend

2011-03-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Pam Jones Hazelwood, here's another photo gallery looking back at the wonderful weekend we all had for the 45th Reunion of Sing-Out South at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel. The photo above includes (on either side of me) my two "little sisters" from the cast, Debbie Jones Bauder and Ann Garrett Clay.

It's always great to see both of them! Ann was a valuable member of our Planning Committee and Debbie played an important role over the Reunion weekend making sure everyone's nametag was large enough to be read. Take close look at the name badges and I think you'll see what I mean.

The former SOS cast members who made the longest journey to attend the Reunion had to be Bob and Harriet Hall Cates who have been living in Costa Rica for the past few months. Thanks to Harriet for making availalable (courtesy of her late grandmother who saved it all back in the day) a lot of the memorabilia items on display during the Reunion. There was always a crowd of people at the memorabilia tables looking at what was there. That sparked lots of special memories and stories and answered a few questions as well.

Thanks as well to Bob Cates (above center) for his rendition of the song he used to sing in Up With People called "Up The Holler." The song was written by his brother Bill Cates of Sing-Out South & UWP, and complete with kazoos and help from Buster Barry (left) and Hazel Robinson (right) their performance (above) of the "Holler" song (which was also performed by SOS) was one of the many highlights of our talent show Saturday evening.

Another person everyone was so glad to see (he was a last minute addition to the list of those coming to the Reunion) was Ted Overman (above). Ted is an original SOS cast member, our first music director, and a member of the original trio (along with Eddie Lunn and Cabot Wade). Later, after traveling with the national cast of Up With People, Ted returned to Nashville to be our cast director from the fall of 1966 to the late spring of 1967. Ted, along with Paula Thompson and her husband, made the longest journey to come to the SOS Reunion from within the continental United States, flying in from Arizona.

Another original SOS cast member who attended the Reunion weekend was George Thomas (seen above). The Reunion dates actually coincided (to the day) of when the premiere shows of Sing-Out South were performed at Hillsboro High School 45 years ago on March 25-26, 1966.

Along with having close to 60 former cast members (along with some spouses and friends) from all eras of Sing-Out South (1966-1971), we were blessed to have 15 original cast members join us for this 45th Reunion weekend. That includes (above) not only Buster Barry (left) but also Bobby Johnston (right). Bobby was able to complete a couple several business trips to South Africa early in order to be in attendance.

All the original cast members were honored Saturday night with the presentation of a special commemerative book about the history of the cast.

Thanks again to Pam Jones Hazelwood for providing this photo gallery. We plan to post even more photos from other sources in the days to come. So, if you attended the Reunion, and have some of your own photos to share, please e-mail them to me and we get them up on this blog.

Thanks! And thanks to everyone who came to the Reunion weekend. As we hoped, it truly was a special weekend for all of us!

An Evening To Remember! A Photo Gallery

2011-03-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful evening Friday night, March 25 for former members of Sing-Out South to renew old friendships at our 45th Reunion held at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.

We began with a dessert reception where (see above) Paula Thompson Winter (center) got a chance to reconnect with old friend, Edna Vilars Grable and introduce Edna to her husband, Chris.

See all the smiling faces in the photos below as linking up with former friends was the order of the evening and the sweetest thing about this dessert reception.....

Margaret Stokes Johnson and Tommy Sloan

Allison Smith Ricks, Edna Vilars Grable and Ann Graham Bozman

Dave Cannon and Ted Overman

Ann Garrett Clay reads a letter of welcome and congratulations to Sing-Out South for its 45th Reunion from Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. We also received similar proclamations from Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Nashville State Senator Thelma Harper.

Hazel Robinson, a member of both Sing-Out South and the international cast of Up With People, played a major role in getting those proclamations and letters of support from our political leaders. She also spearheaded putting together those wonderful goodie bags we are giving out to everyone who is attending the Reunion. It's a lot great stuff!

Linda Blackmore Cates, one of the original stars of Sing-Out '66 and Up With People (and married to SOS Musical Director Bill Cates), closes our memorial service remembering those SOS and UWP cast members who have passed away.

Thanks to Alan Mayor for all the photos....more to come!

The SOS 45th Reunion---Day II

2011-03-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

We had quite an opening evening at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel last night for our Sing-Out South 45th Reunion!

Over 50 former cast members, spouses and friends attended the opening event, a dessert reception where the best treat for everyone was reconnecting with people who, in some cases, they had not seen in over 40 years. The laughter and squeals of delight echoed throughout the hallways of the hotel. Soon conversations were picked up in mid-sentence as if the years had melted away. (photos will soon follow)

Echoing back to the days when Sing-Out South was active (1966-1971), local and state political leaders sent their greetings and strong support to those attending the Reunion. That included Nashville Mayor Karl Dean (seen above) along with new Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Nashville State Senator Thelma Harper.

All their special proclamations and letters of welcome were read to those attending the Reunion, receiving rounds of applause and several requests for personal copies.

Day II of the Reunion promises to be even more fun. After time this morning and early afternoon for smaller personal gatherings and for some to rehearse and get ready for tonight's talent show, we will all gather back at 4:00 p.m. for a group discussion about our thoughts and memories of Sing-Out South and Up With People 45 years later.

A special DVD video produced by former SOS member and cast photographer, Alan Mayor, will begin our look back (to get the memories and thoughts flowing). The DVD will feature photos from all eras of Sing-Out South and will also contain the soundtrack of one of SOS's TV shows (seen in the photo above). Entitled "Memorial For Tomorrow", the 30-minute special was taped at the studios of (then) WSIX-TV, Channel 2 for broadcast Memorial Day weekend of 1967.

Hopefully our retrospective discussion will continue and enhance our fellowship later in the evening when we gather for a buffet dinner and then the talent show.

It's already been a wonderful weekend and it's not even halfway over!

After 45 Years, Today's The Day

2011-03-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

It was 45 years ago this very day, March 25, 1966 that Sing-Out South burst on the Nashville scene performing its premiere shows at Hillsboro High School before jam-packed audiences who (according to reports in THE NASHVILLE BANNER)cheered for up to 20 minutes during encores at the end of the show.

It was the beginning of a five-year adventure that saw hundreds of SOS cast members perform dozens of shows entertaining and inspiring thousands of Middle Tennesseans.

Tonight and over this coming weekend (March 25-26) at the Millenium Maxwell House in Nashville, up to 60 former SOS cast members will be joined by family and friends to look back on those exciting times with a special Reunion.

At least 17 original SOS cast members are expected to be present along with a strong representation from all eras of the cast (1966-1971).

One of those coming who has just confirmed his attendance is Ted Overman (seen far right in the photo above), who played a number of different roles in the cast, beginning as a drummer, bass player, trio member and Musical Director of the original SOS group and then (after a stint traveling with the national cast of Up With People) came back to reform Sing-Out South in the late summer and fall of 1966, serving then as Cast Director until the late spring of 1967.

We are so happy Ted can join us, traveling all the way from Arizona, which is also where former cast member Paula Thompson Winter is coming. Both appear to be tied for the longest distance to come, within the continental United States. Bob and Harriet Hall Cates are coming back from Costa Rica where they now live!

We will begin this 45th Reunion with a dessert reception Friday evening beginning at 7:30 p.m.. The event will allow everyone attending to get back together and get requainted, as well as begin to look through the massive memorabilia display that will be on hand all weekend. A special memorial service will also be conducted to honor those cast members who have left us over the years.

Saturday morning will be free time followed an opportunity at 1 p.m. at the hotel for those participating in Saturday night's talent show to get ina little practice. At 4 p.m a special DVD video on SOS history will be shown followed by a group discussion looking back on our Sing-Out/Up With People experience 40-plus years later. Bring your best stories, especially the funny ones!

Then at 6:30 Saturday night will be our buffett dinner followed by the talent show where many of our colleges will show us how they've progressed musically over the years.

Don't forget the weather will be rainy and a bit cool this weekend in Nashville (highs in the upper 50s, lows in the high 30s) and there will be some road construction near the hotel and interstate so bring your patience and some extra time while traveling.

It is going to be a special weekend! See you tonight!

Five Years Ago

2011-03-23T07:56:00.001-07:00

Our second and most recent Sing-Out South Reunion (before this weekend) was back in March, 2006.

This 40th anniversary gathering was also held on the same weekend as SOS held its original premiere shows at Hillsboro High School (March 25-26, 1966).

The Reunion began with an impromptu reception at the Holiday Inn Vanderbilt Friday evening where many of the out of town guests were staying. The next day, there was a special SOS memorabilia display unveiled at the Metro Archives and all those attending the Reunion were special guests at a reception held at the Archives that afternoon.

That Saturday evening the Reunion partcipants gathered on the campus of Belmont College (where the first and several of the earlier practices of Sing-Out South were held. There was no formal program (such as the talent show we have planned this weekend on Saturday, but as you can see from the photo below, we did do some informal singing with some help from Bob Johnston and Eddie Lunn (Bill & Linda Blackmore Cates also performed during the evening....

Here's an early forecast for the weekend, after all our sunny and very warm weather, there's appears to be a good chance (up to 60%) of showers on Saturday with high temperatures in the 50s and low 60s over the weekend. Bring a jacket or a light sweater or coat!

Here's Who Is Coming This Weekend

2011-03-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest list of those who are joining us this weekend (March 25-26) at the Millennium Maxwll House Hotel for the 45th Sing-Out South Reunion. There have been some late additions so read the list closely to find some new names just added:

(cast members only)

Revised Friday, March 25, 2011

Pat Nolan
Gene Nolan
Linda Blackmore Cates (Sing-Out '66 & UWP)
Bill Cates
Bob Cates
Harriet Hall Cates
David Cannon
Mrs. Raymond Cannon
Darlene Cannon Duncan
Hazel Robinson
Ann Garrett Clay
Patsy Hankins Kemper
Pam Jones Hazelwood
Lyn Neal-Walker
John Anderson
Debbie Jones Bauder
Molly Hudgens Fox
George Thomas
Randy Diamond
Paula Thompson Winter
Ricky Trotter
Scott Mayberry
Tommy Sloan
Jeanette Denami Coke
Michelle Abston
Buster Barry
Ann Graham Bozman
Colleen Dowd (UWP' 84)
Terry Hendrixson
Margaret Stokes Johnson
Ruth Hammontree Anstey
Allison Smith Ricks
Pam Mark Hall
Beth Amonett (Sing-Out Smithville)
Alan Mayor
Loie Vilars Diggs
Edna Vilars Grable
Jerry Baker
Ted Overman
Bobby Johnston
Wanda Ricks Horrell

Possible late additions:

Deborah Hutchison Fries
Jacki Hutchison

With spouses and friends, the total attending will just over 50.

It is going to be a very special weekend!

We've Done This Twice Before

2011-03-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

As we gather this coming weekend at the Millenium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville (Friday evening, March 25 & Saturday, March 26), it will mark only the third time there has been a Reunion of the cast since Sing-Out South ended its 5-year run back in 1971.

The first Reunion was held Saturday, December 29, 1989, also at the Maxwell House Hotel,(see the group shot above being taken by Alan Mayor). My wife Betty Lee, actually took all the Reunion photos seen in this posting, although Alan will take some again this time around at the Reunion this weekend.

The idea of a reunion started with a small group of us (Wendy Jones Sisson and I first discussed it over lunch when she was in Nashville visiting her folks that summer). More people got involved (Patsy Hankins Kemper, Ann Garrett Clay, Gene Nolan, Alan and others) and we thought doing the Reunion during the holiday season might make sense as it appeared a number of former cast people would either be in town to visit family for the holidays or already lived in the area.

While we started from almost zero in putting together contact lists and other information (no one had e-mail addresses or blogs or Facebook and only Al Gore had the Internet in those days), nevertheless using old cast rosters, letters and phone-a-thons, we gathered over 80 people from 20 different states to come. Some are coming back again this year!

One thing we will have more of for this 45th Reunion is memorabilia. The photo above shows about all we had then, along with a slide show Gene, Alan and I crafted together.

This time, Alan has put together a 30-minute DVD with photos from all eras of the cast along with the audio track music from our half-hour "Memorial for Tomorrow" TV show we did for Memorial Day weekend in 1967. It aired on then WSIX-TV, Channel 8 (now WKRN-TV, Channel 2). A photo from that show can be seen below.

The DVD will be shown to begin our Saturday afternoon session at 1:00 p.m. at the hotel. It will replace the SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS documentary. That's unfortunate in a way, because I know several people really want to see it. The problem is the film has not yet been released on DVD and we faced possibly having to pay a $250 performance fee for showing it. While the producer Lee Storey was very gracious in trying to work something out, it still appeared someone would have to pay the fee and it could NOT be us (there is no money in our budget for it).

Nevertheless, Alan's DVD will do a great job in getting us in the mood Saturday afternoon to look back and reflect on our time in Sing-Out and Up With People from the perspective of 40 years plus! So be thinking about your best stories, especially the funny ones or the ones that still stick out in your mind so many years later.

Here's a brief re-cap of our schedule of events. I will try and e-mail this to everyone coming (about 50 folks) as well as post this again here on the blog several more times before the weekend!

Also if you have your own memorabilia, please feel free to bring it as well. The more the merrier. Just mark your name on it so it won't get lost or confused for someone's special stuff.

ALL EVENTS AT THE MILLENIUM MAXWELL HOUSE HOTEL ON ROSA PARKS BLVD NEAR METRO CENTER

FRIDAY, MARCH 25,2011

7:30---9:30 P.M.....An opening dessert reception, come get back in touch your former cast members (pick up those conversations again in mid-sentence) and see all our memorabilia. It will take you all weekend to see everyone (and everything). This will be a great beginning!

SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2011

1:00 P.M.........Our look back at our time in Sing-Out and Up With People from a perspective of 40 years plus. Bring your best and funniest stories, then watch our 30-minute DVD that will bring back even more memories.

3:00---5:00 P.M......Time for those performing in the evening's talent show to practice and prepare! Will do our practicing somewhere in the hotel, maybe even the hallways if we don't disturb too many people. Don't forget, if you want to perform, please contact David Cannon (and he has a NEW E-MAIL address) rdavidcannon3@comcast.net.

6:30-----9:30 P.M....a buffet dinner and one last chance to see everyone, look back at the memorabilia (and try to remember again exactly who that person standing next to you in that picture really was back in the day), and then enjoy our talent show!

ONE LAST IMPORTANT NOTE: NAMETAGS WILL BE PROVIDED AND IT IS MANDITORY THAT EVERYONE WEAR THEM AT ALL TIMES AT THE EVENTS THIS WEEKEND!

It is going to be a special time! We will take time to remember our departed cast members. And we will take special note of the original SOS cast members who are with us. It was on this very weekend, 45 years ago to the day, that they performed in Sing-Out South premiere shows at Hillsboro High School.

We'll talk more about that in a future posting here, as well as look back on our second Sing-Out South reunion held five years ago this weekend in 2005.

Generally Speaking Very Well Received On The Hill

2011-03-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

It was 45 years ago this week in March, 1966 that in preparation and promotion of our premiere shows to be held at Hillsboro High School, the original cast of Sing-Out South gave a thirty-minute performance to members of the Tennessee General Assembly on Capitol Hill in Nashville.

That's an honor not often given to a singing group and the cast was enthusiastically received by lawmakers who gave a standing ovation (see above) at the end of the show.

Governor Frank Clement was also a huge supporter of SOS and he met with a group of cast leaders while they were on the Hill that day. Later in the week, a letter of support from the Governor (as well as another from Nashville Mayor Beverly Briley) appeared in the programs for the premiere shows at Hillsboro.

That's pretty heady stuff in terms of the political support Sing-Out had at that time and which it continued to receive throughout its history, including from Governor Buford Ellington who succeeded Clement in the governor's office in 1967.

Governor Buford Ellington proclaims Sing-Out South week in August, 1967.

Mayor Beverly Briley proclaims PACE Magazine Week in Nashville in the fall of 1966.

All this and much more memorabilia will be on display this coming weekend (March 25-26) as we celebrate our 45th Sing-Out South Reunion at the Millenium Maxwell House Hotel. We are gathering on the exact days (and even the exact hours) that we gave our first public shows.

It is going to be a most memorable weekend!

At The Movies---1971!

2011-03-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the much longer than expected intermission since my last At The Movies posting. Between getting ready for next week's (March 25-26) Sing-Out Reunion and taking a little vacation, time has gotten away from me.

But now, I'm back and let's take a final look back at the Best Picture nominees during our years together with Sing-Out South. 1971 saw the first R-rated movie win the Best Picture Oscar, THE FRENCH CONNECTION. That came two years after the first X-rated film won, MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Seems a little odd but that's the way it happened in Hollywood.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION is a movie drama (based on reality) that follows the exploits of New York City Police Detective "Popeye" Doyle. It specifically follows efforts to stop a narcotics smuggling operation that brought in drugs from Marseille, France and NYC.

The film made Gene Hickman a superstar as he took Best Actor honors for his portrayal of "Popeye" Doyle. In addition to Best Picture and Actor, the film also garnered 3 other Oscars for a total of 5, after earning 8 nominations. The other Academy Awards it won include Best Director (which almost always goes to the Best Picture winner), Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay Adapted From Another Medium. The film has been added for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Here's a look back through a movie trailer promoting the picture....

Somewhat ironically, one of the movies THE FRENCH CONNECTION beat out for the Best Picture Oscar was another film rated both R (and in some versions X), A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, produced, written and directed by Stanley Kubrick (of 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY fame).

A darkly satirical film with strong sexual violence themes and considered now both a horror and a science fiction movie, it was nominated for 4 Oscars but won none. Here's a trailer from the movie (which I never saw and have little desire to see even today)...

There were three other Best Picture nominees in 1971. One was one of my favorite musicals, the film adaptation of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

Based on the Broadway play, it won 3 Academy Awards for Best Score, Best Cinematography and Best Sound. The picture follows the life of Tevye and his Jewish family in a small village in Tsarist Russia in 1905. Here's an original movie trailer about the film and its wonderful, enduring musical score....

Another movie nominated for Best Picture in 1971 also has a Russian theme, NICHOLAS and ALEXANDRA. In fact, you might call the film, as compared to FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, the other part, or the rest of the story outlining the events leading up to the Russian Revolution in 1917. A biographical drama, it portrays the ill-fated lives of the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas, and his wife, Alexandria. Nominated for 6 Academy Awards it won 2, for Best Art Direction--Set Decoration and Best Costume Design. Here's the movie trailer from 1971...

The final Best Picture nominee for 1971 was THE LAST PICTURE SHOW.

A coming of age film set in a small Texas town during the early days of the Korean War in the 1950s, the drama, directed by Peter Bagdanovich, features a very strong cast, including, in the starring roles, Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms. The picture also contains the debut performances of Cybil Sheperd (from Memphis, Tennessee)and Randy Quaid. Shot in black and white and using contemporary hit songs from the era, the movie was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 2 (Best Supporting Actor--Ben Johnson and Best Supporting Actress--Cloris Lechman). Other notable actors in the picture include Ellen Burstyn and Eileen Brennan. That's quite a cast.

Here's a movie trailer promoting the film in 1971...

This concludes our look back At The Movies for the years we were together in Sing-Out South and Up With People. I hope you have enjoyed it and that it brought back some nice memories. You may have also noticed how much the movies and our culture was changing back in those times.

At The Movies---1970!

2011-03-08T11:13:00.001-08:00

Despite four other popular movies, PATTON, much like the general the movie portrays (General George S. Patton of WWII fame), swept the Oscar field in 1970, being nominated for 10 Academy Awards and winning seven. That includes Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Art Direction.

Considered by some to be among the best war movies ever made, PATTON was dominated by the performance of George C. Scott, who seemed to be born to the role of playing the General. However, he strongly disliked acting competitions, and refused to accept his Best Actor Oscar.

Here's a movie trailer from the film back in 1970. I apologize for the language, but that's the way the movie (and the General) were...

One of the movies PATTON beat out was AIRPORT described as a melodrama about an airplane carrying a bomb, an airport almost closed by a blizzard and the variuous personal problems facing those on the plane. Actually the film now sounds more like modern-day aviation issues than what you saw back in 1970. It is considered the first of many "disaster movie" epics and featured a blockbuster cast of stars including Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Van Heflin, Helen Hays (who won the movie's only Oscar as Best Supporting Actress), Jacqueline Bisset and Jean Seberg.

Here's the movie trailer promoting the film....

Another film nominated for Best Picture in 1970 was FIVE EASY PIECES, starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black and Susan Anspach.

According to Wikipedia, the movie tells the story of a surly oil rigger whose life belies his youth as a child prodigy pianist. Hearing that his father is dying, he comes home with his pregnant girlfriend where life gets even more complicated both on the way and after he arrives.

The movie was nominated for four Oscars (including Best Actor of Nicholson and Best Supporting Actress for Black) but did not win a single one. However it did win several awards from the New York Fim Critics competition and that's one thing this film trailer talks about.....

The two other films nominated for Best Picture in 1970 were wildly popular among young people. The first was MASH, an outlandish, dark comedy about a medical unit in the Korean War. Clearly a satire on the ongoing Vietnam War. Starring Don Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman and Robert Duvall, it was nominated for five Academy Awards, but it won only for Best Screenplay. A song in the film "Suicide Is Painless" also became a hit song on the pop charts (but not the version in the trailer). The movie also sparked a long-running TV show of the same name, that was one of the most popular shows of all time.

Here's the movie trailer from the theaters in 1970.....

The final Best Picture nominee from 1970 was surely one of the first "Chick Flicks" of our day. LOVE STORY, a romantic drama, starring Ali McGraw, Ryan O'Neill and Ray Milland (along with a brief cameo first appearance by Tommy Lee Jones) was both loved and hated for its sweet but ultimately tragic (and "preppy" story line.

It was nominated for seven Academy Awards to won only one (Best Original Score). It also led to a sequel, OLIVER'S STORY in 1978, which was not nearly as successful as the first film. It did contain a line of script that has lived on for decades now: "Loves means never having to say you're sorry."

Here's a trailer with highlight of the film featuring its the instrumental theme song from the movie.

Join us next time for our final At The Movies--1971, when we look back at THE FRENCH CONNECTION, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA.

At The Movies---1969!

2011-03-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

By 1969, the world had changed a lot...that includes the movies.

For the first (and only) time so far, an X-rated film, MIDNIGHT COWBOY won the Best Picture Academy Award. Based on a novel of the same name written by Leo Herlihy, the film took three Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay).

It also continued the rise to stardom of Dustin Hoffman and made a star out of Jon Voight. The theme song of the picture, "Everybody Talking At Me" was also a major hit on the pop charts as recorded and sung in the movie by Harry Nilsson. In 1994, the movie was selected for preservation on the National Film Registry.

There were some of us in Sing-Out South, who were likely too young (under 17) to see this film when it first came out. Now that we're all plenty old enough, here's a trailer about the film from back in 1969...

There were several other popular movies that MIDNIGHT COWBOY beat out for Best Picture in 1969. One was the musical HELLO, DOLLY! based on the mega-hit Broadway play. It starred Barbra Steisand and Walter Matthau (in his one and only musical role). The film did not always win rave critical reviews, but it was a great date-night movie for the late 1960s and early 1970s. It won three Oscars (Best Art Direction, Best Music & Best Sound). Here's a movie trailer which also showcases much of the musical score which lives on today, including a brief snippet of Louie Armstrong singing the title song along with Barbra Streisand....

Hello, Dolly! - Trailer
Uploaded by enricogay. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Another movie nominated for Best Picture for 1969 was ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS continuing an infatuation for the movies of the 1960s with King Henry VIII and his many wives. In this case it was Anne Boleyn, who lost her head when she lost favor with his husband (primarily for not having male heirs, although their child, Elizabeth did become one of the great rulers of England). In this film, Richard Burton was the King, while Genevieve Bojold, making his first English speaking film, became a star in the U.S.

The movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards, but won only one for Best Costumes. Here's from YouTube is the climatic scene of the movie and from which it got its title....

The final movie nominated for Best Picture for 1969 was perhaps the most popular among our age group, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. The film followed the careers of two legenday train robbers from the Wild West. The stars were Robert Redford and Paul Newman along with Catherine Ross, as their mutual love interest.

The film won four Oscars for Best Original Score, Best Writing (many lines from the movie have lived on for years), Best Song (Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head & Best Cinematography).

Here's a trailer promoting the film from back in the day...

Join us next time for: At The Movies--1970: PATTON, AIRPORT, FIVE EASY PIECES, LOVE STORY and MASH. What a year for flicks that was!

At The Movies----1968

2011-03-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

It was back to a musical for the Best Picture Oscar in 1968 as OLIVER! was the choice. The film, based on the stage musical of the same name and the Charles Dickens' novel,OLIVER TWIST,was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won 6, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Sound and a special Academy Award for Choreorgraphy.

All of that is on display in this movie trailer about the film from 1968....

It was a good year for movie musicals in 1968 as FUNNY GIRL with Barbara Streisand was also up for Best Picture.

Nominated for 6 Academy Awards, it won only one, with Barbra Streisand in her first motion picture, taking Best Actress honors(along with Katherine Hepburn). It was the same role Streisand played on Broadway and, as you both see and hear from this trailer, the movie contained many wonderful songs...and one line of the script...that lives on today...

As we mentioned, the Best Actress Academy Award was shared by Barbra Streisand with Katherine Hepburn for her role as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine in the film, THE LION IN WINTER (the only such tie in Oscar history). The historical costume drama was a fictional account of King Henry II of England(played by Peter O'Tootle) and his very dsyfunctional family as Richard seeks to decide who will succeed him on the throne.

The movie was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won 3, including Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Music Score.

Here's a taste of the film from this 1968 trailer....

The final 1968 Best Picture nominee film I want to talk about also comes from English history. In this case, it's William Shakespeare's immortal classic of star-crossed lovers, ROMEO & JULIET.The film was nominated for 4 Oscars and won 2 (Best Cinematography & Best Costume Design). The song from the movie, "A Time For Us" also became a major hit on the pop charts as an instrumental.

It made a major star (and teen-age boy heartrob) of Olivia Hussey and also featured a very young Michael York among the cast.The movie was also somewhat unique in casting the major roles to an actor and actress who were the young ages that Shakespeare envisioned in writing the play. It is often difficult to achieve critical acclaim in trying to put on film a timeless classic, but as you will see in this trailer, Director Franco Zefirelli made it happen...

As we continue to prepare for our Sing-Out South 45th Reunion March 25-26 at the Maxwell House Hotel, join us next time for At The Movies--1969, to look back as such diverse films as MIDNIGHT COWBOY, ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID & HELLO DOLLY!

At The Movies---1967

2011-03-03T13:30:00.001-08:00

When we were in Sing-Out South back in the 1960s, we did more than practice and perform shows together. We also went to the movies! To get your memory cells active for our 45th SOS Reunion March 25-26 at the Maxwell House Hotel here in Nashville, we are taking a look back at the Best Picture nominees and the winner of the Oscar back in those years when we were in the cast.

In 1967 one of the films we went to see was likely the year's Best Picture, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. Starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, it tells the story of an African-American police detective from Philadelphia who becomes involves in a murder investigation in a racist small town in Mississippi. The movie won 5 Academy Awards including not only Best Picture, but also Best Actor (Steiger), Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Writing for an Adapted Screenplay. It spawned two movie sequels, THEY CALL ME MR. TIBBS and THE ORGANIZATION as well as long-running TV series starring Carrol O'Connor.

Watch this movie trailer from 1967 and listen again to several classic lines from the film that still live on in Hollywood lore....

The Best Picture category in 1967 was loaded with wonderful motion pictures that have stood the test of time. Much like IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT in addressing issues of race relations was GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER. It also starred Sidney Poitier along with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, who were paired together for the last time on the screen.The film won two Oscars for Best Actress (Hepburn) and Best Writing for an Original Screenplay.

Take a look back at this very special movie....

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? - Trailer
Tags: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? - Trailer

For the younger audience, another popular movie up for Best Picture in 1967 was BONNIE & CLYDE, which looked back on the exploits of the infamous bank robbery duo of the 1930s. The film starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Estelle Parsons) and Best Cinematography. It was a picture that began to explore the new ways that the movies would portray both sex and violence, especially the famous shoot-out scence when Bonnie & Clyde are killed which is not shown in this movie trailer...

One last Best Picture nominee from 1967 which still lives on in '60s pop culture is THE GRADUATE which launched the career of Dustin Hoffman. It is ranked 19th all-time in money grossed by a motion picture and it has been preserved in the National Film Registry because of its cultural significance. It also was one of the first, if the first movie, that had its song track written and performed by a pop rock duo, Simon & Garfunkel, a score that remains a classic to this day. Finally, our generation would never think about the word "plastics" quite the same way after seeing this film...

Our next posting: AT THE MOVIES: 1968, OLIVER!, FUNNY GIRL, THE LION IN WINTER and Romeo & Juliet.

At The Movies---1966

2011-03-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

As we continue to get those memory cells working again in advance of our Sing-Out South 45th Reunion March 25-26 at the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, we are taking a look back at one of the favorite things many of us did in those days (other than practice and perform shows with Sing Out)...go to the movies!

The Best Picture Oscar in 1966 was won by A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, a epic movie that portrayed the life and martyrdom of Sire Thomas More, the 16th Century Lord Chancellor of England who was executed because he would not support King Henry VIII's divorce and his creation of the Church of England.

The movie made more than $20 million in both the U.S. and the U.K. It won 6 Oscars including Best Actor (Paul Schofield), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and, of course, Best Picture. Here's a trailer with a few scences from the film...

A Man for All Seasons - Trailer
Tags: A Man for All Seasons - Trailer

One of the movies A MAN FOR SEASONS beat for Best Picture (and Paul Schofield beat Alan Arkin beat for Best Actor)was the comedy, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, a hilarious cold-war slapstick about a Russian sub that crash lands near a small village in New England. THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING did turn the tables in the Golden Globe Awards, winning both Best Motion Picture and Best Actor.

Here's a rather different kind of movie trailer about the film courtesy of You Tube...

There is one other film I want to mention from 1966 (although most of us were probably too young to see it). WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF got more Oscar nominations than any other picture that year. In fact, it was nominated in every category possible (13) and won 5 Oscars including Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor) and Best Supporting Actress (Sandy Dennis). But its very rough language and subject matter made it a very controversial film (much like the Broadway play it was based on.

When it came to Nashville, a Metro policeman touched off days of protest and controversy by going into the downtown movie theatre (The Paramount) and confiscating the film as "obscene."

Here's a trailer about the film which by today's standards would be quite lame....

Join us for next posting AT THE MOVIES: 1967, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, BONNIE & CLYDE, THE GRADUATE and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER.

At The Movies!

2011-03-01T16:01:00.001-08:00

As a part of getting ready for our Sing-Out South 45th Reunion on March 25-26 at the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, we've been remembering and listening to some of our favorite SOS and Up With People songs.

But, back in the day, we did more than just practice and perform shows, we did the things other young people did...we went to the movies and watched a lot of television!

In the aftermath of the latest Academy Awards presentation, over the next several days, I thought I would post a look back at the films that won the Oscar for Best Picture during our years together in Sing-Out South, and then, after that, go back and look at some of our favorite TV shows from that same era.....

THE SOUND OF MUSIC was released in March, 1965 and named Best Picture in the spring of 1966 not longer after SOS was formed. If you'll remember the Belle Meade Theatre here in Nashville kept showing the film for many, many months, surely helping it become the third largest grossing motion picture of all time ($1.046 billion dollars adjusted for inflation) behind only GONE WITH THE WIND and STAR WARS.

Besides Best Picture, the movie won 4 other Oscars for Best Director, Best Sound, Best Adapted Score and Best Film Editing.

It's become a true movie classic, being broadcast every year around Easter on NBC and being selected by The Library of Congress to be preserved forever as a part of the National Film Registry.

Much like Sing-Out South, the movie has been celebrating its 45th anniversary and here's a clip from YouTube where some of the surviving cast, (Julie Andrews and those the 7 actors and actresses, now grown, who played the Von Trapp Children) appeared on THE TODAY SHOW (November 10, 2010) a for reunion of sorts...

The movies THE SOUND OF MUSIC bested for that Best Picture in 1965 included DARLING, SHIP OF FOOLS, A THOUSAND CLOWNS and, frankly, one of my all-time favorites films, DR ZHIVAGO.

Surpassing the THE SOUND OF MUSIC overall, DR. ZHIVAGO won 6 Academy Awards including Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Writing, Best Costume Design and Best Musical Score.

Courtesy of YouTube, here's movie trailer that was used to promote the film after its success at the Academy Awards .....

Next 1966: A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!, and Nashville's unique relationship to WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF.

Remembering Those Special Songs---Freedom Isn't Free!

2011-02-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

It's one of the orginal core songs of Sing-Out and Up With People.

"Freedom Isn't Free" was written by Paul Colwell of the famous Colwell Brothers of the Sing-Out 65/66 cast. It was a song we performed from Day One in Sing-Out South and when I talk with former cast members today, "Freedom Isn't Free" is one of those tunes they say they have sung to their children over the years, and which many remark how appropriate the lyrics continue to be even more than 45 years after it was written.

Here's Paul Colwell and Up With People performing "Freedom Isn't Free" from the album UP WITH PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD. This version has a slightly different arrangment from the original performance of this song which you may remember and which we did in Sing-Out South....

Free music - Freedom Isn't Free

We are posting these Up With People songs every day to get us all in the mood and those brain cells stimulated to be ready for the Sing-Out South 45th Reunion the weekend of March 25-26 at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville.

If you would like more information about attending or there is an UP WITH PEOPLE song you'd like to hear, please contact me.

Remembering Those Special Songs---I Want To Be Strong!

2011-02-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

As we continue to prepare for the Sing-Out South 45th anniversary Reunion set for March 25-26 at the Maxwell House Hotel, we are looking back on the special songs we used to sing.

It's a help to try and stir up those brain cells and the memories of those times we spent together. Who knows you might hear something that you had running through your head over the years but you couldn't remember the rest of the tune or even the name of the song.

Today's song is "I Want To Be Strong" as performed by UP WITH PEOPLE on its UP WITH PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD album....

Free music - I Want To Be Strong

This is a song Dave Cannon plans to perform as a part of our Talent Show on Saturday night at the Reunion. If you'd like to perform, just contact Dave at:

rdavidcannon3@clear.net

If you are coming to the Reunion, please remember we need your money ($50 per person for the entire weekend) by Tuesday, March 1. Please send your check and/or money order to:

Pat Kemper
P.O. Box 463
Brentwood, TN 37135

Make the check payable to Pat Kemper. She signed the hotel contract and it wants the money for the food in advance. We are still open for other former cast members of SOS or UWP to join us as well. For more information, contact me

pat.nolan@dvl.com

Still Front Page News!

2011-02-26T09:45:00.001-08:00

Just like the old days!

Look above in the lower right hand corner of the latest edition of the monthly NASHVILLE RETROSPECT NEWSPAPER. You will find a front-page story marking the 45th anniversary of Sing-Out South's premiere shows at Hillsboro High School the weekend of March 25-26, 1966.

The story and photos, like most everything in the paper, is reprinted directly from the original source. In this case, that is the front page of THE NASHVILLE BANNER on Saturday, March 26, 1966.

The paper is free of charge and is available at dozens of locations around the city. Please go to the paper's web site for a map with a complete list of where the paper is distributed. The web site is:

www.nashvilleretrospect.com

I have not yet picked up a copy but the paper should also contain a notice about our upcoming 45th Sing-Out South Reunion set for Friday and Saturday March 25-26 at the Maxwell House Hotel. Hopefully, this may make some other former cast members aware of the event and perhaps sign up to join us for our special weekend.

For those of you coming to the Reunion from out of town I will try and get some copies of the current NASHVILLE RETROSPECT so you can see it and have one for your own when you come to town.

Remembering Those Special Songs---Paul Revere!

2011-02-25T13:08:00.001-08:00

Sing-Out South performing during the taping of our MEMORIAL FOR TOMMORROW TV SPECIAL, at the WSIX-TV, Channel 8 studios on Murfreesboro Road, May, 1967

In preparation for our March 25-26 SOS 45th Reunion at the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, I thought I would take a listen back each day to some of the special songs we performed in Sing-Out South and Up With People.

Here's one that was a part of our show from the very beginning in 1966 and stayed in our performances all the way through the early 1970s....from the album...UP WITH PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD here's THE RIDE OF PAUL REVERE....

Free music - The Ride Of Paul Revere

If you have an SOS or UWP song you want to hear again, let me know and we will see if we can make it available here for you.

By the way, if you'd like to attend the SOS Reunion in March, please contact me for more information.

Where the Roads Come Together - Up With People

2011-02-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

"When the Roads Come Together"

2011-02-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

Up With People and Sing-Out South have a wonderful musical legacy which we will be celebrating March 25-26 during our 45th Reunion at the Maxwell House Hotel here in Nashville.

While many of us are particularly partial to the words and music of the songs we sang in the cast back in the late 1960s and early '70s, there is some equally wonderful music from the era of UWP after we left.

That includes 'When the Roads Come Together" with words and music by two UWP immortals, Herb Allen and Paul Colwell. Here's a video tribute by Up With People alumni Kevin Caruso courtesy of YouTube.....

I think the words of this song are important for us to remember as our "roads come together" again at the Reunion.

In the course operating this blog I have had a number of folks remark to me that they continued to sing some of the songs of Sing-Out South and Up With People to their children while they were growing up.

Others have contacted me saying there is a tune going through their heads that they know is something we sang in the cast, but they can't remember the name or the rest of the song.

So to help prepare everyone I think I will begin posting some of our common Sing-Out/UWP songs of the past to remind us all of the legacy of rich music with meaningful lyrics that we performed back in the day.

If there's something you want to hear just let me know.

Getting Ready For The Reunion/There Is Something Going & Gee, I'm Looking Forward To The Future !

2011-02-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

One of the major parts of our upcoming Sing-Out South Reunion at the Maxwell House Hotel March 25-26 will be a Saturday night talent show, allowing those participating a chance to show how they have progressed musically in the 40+ years since we performed together.

Of course, everyone performing has been asked to do one or more of the songs from Sing-Out/Up With People along with any other pieces they'd like to do.

Among those attending is Paula Thompson Winter. She used to do some solos in the show, including "There Is Something Going" with Bob Sharp. She and I may work together to do that song at the Reunion.

And to get us both back into practice, here's how the song goes...

Free music - There Is Something Going

"Gee, I'm Looking Forward To The Future" is another song Paula used to perform with Sing-Out South, in this case along with Edna Vilars Grable. They too are being used to consider doing the song together at the SOS Reunion Talent Show. And to help both ladies remember how it goes, here it is....

Free music - Gee, I'm Looking Forward To The Future

Anyone else coming to the Reunion who wants to participate, they are asked to coordinate their efforts through David Cannon. He can be contacted by e-mail at rdavidcannon3@clear.net.

The 45th Sing-Out South Reunion Is ON!

2011-02-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

The 45th Reunion for Sing-Out South will be held Friday and Saturday, March 25-26, 2011 at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. Close to 50 former cast members, their spouses, parents and friends plan to attend and the RSVP list continues to grow.

In several ways the Reunion marks a return to some firsts for SOS.

The March 25-26 dates are the exact same days that Sing-Out South held its original premiere shows at Hillsboro High School 45 years ago back in 1966. Meantime, the Maxwell House location is also the site of our first Sing-Out South Reunion held at the hotel back in late December, 1989.

Look at all those smiling, happy faces and I suspect there will be lots more of that when we gather first on Friday evening, March 25 for our opening event, a dessert-style reception at the hotel.

The 1989 Reunion was a one-night affair. This time in 2011, we will come back Saturday afternoon at the Maxwell House for a showing of the award-winning SMILE TIL IT HURTS documentary about Sing-Out & Up With People. That will be followed by a group discussion allowing us to reflect back on our own Sing-Out and Up With People experiences. It will be led by myself and Linda Blackmore Cates, who is featured in the SMILE movie.

And, of course, to get the good times and memories flowing, we will have an even larger memorabilia display than the one we had in 1989. The display will feature photographs, newspaper clippings, brochures, programs and other rare items, including some audio recordings of two of our TV shows and an outdoor performance SOS did in the summer of 1968 on the courthouse square in Woodbury, Tennessee.

We will then close our Reunion gathering Saturday evening at the Maxwell House with a buffet dinner followed by a talent show, letting everyone see and hear what several of us have continued to do musically in our lives since Sing-Out days. Of course, we expect many Sing-Out and Up With People songs will be performed as a part of the talent event.

For more information about the talent show contact David Cannon:

rdavidcannon3@clear.net.

For more information about attending the Reunion contact me, Pat Nolan:

pat.nolan@dvl.com.

It is going to be a very special weekend. Thanks to all of those who plan to attend and have already registered. And for those who have not yet decided, or are just now learning about this SOS Reunion and our weekend of events, there is still time to come.

The cost is just $50 per person for the entire weekend. We do need to pay the hotel in advance, so we need your registration money by March 1.For more information contact me now.

THE PACK IS BACK!

2011-02-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

The Green Bay Packers are once again the champions of professional football, capturing a record 12th National Football League (NFL) championship by winning Super Bowl XLV, 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, February 6, 2011.

The Packer's win marks a resurgence of a franchise that dominated the NFL back in the 1960s, including many of the years that Sing-Out South was in existence.

Vince Lombardi was the legendary coach who led the Packers throughout those glory years, beginning with NFL championships in 1961 and 1962. The Pack began its dominance again on January 2, 1966, just a few weeks before Sing-Out South was founded, with a 23-12 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Green Bay's home turf of Lambeau Field.

This was last season before the Super Bowl began, pitting the winners of the NFL versus the AFL (American Football League). Green Bay won the first two Super Bowls, but to do so they had to beat the Dallas Cowboys in two epic NFL Championship games. The first game, held in Dallas (which ironically was the site of the most recent Super Bowl), the Packers held off the Cowboys on January 1, 1967. But the most memorable game came the next season in perhaps the coldest championship football ever played on New Year's Eve 1967. The Ice Bowl in Green Bay. Here are some highlights, including the Packers' last minute drive and score to win the game and seal the immortality of this era of the Packers....

After winning this game, Green Bay went on prevail in the second Super Bowl, this time over the Oakland Raiders, after defeating Kansas City the year before. Following that second Super Bowl win, Coach Lombardi retired from the Packers, ultimately giving his name to the world championship trophy which now goes back to Green Bay for only the second time (the Pack won it in 1996) since he won his last one in 1968.

And so as we observe the 45th anniversary of the founding of Sing-Out South, it appears the most dominant team in pro football this year is the same franchise that was so dominant throughout the 1960s.

Junior Achievement

2011-02-02T13:51:00.001-08:00

Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs.

I always think about JA this time of year because this was when every winter in the late 1960s, Sing-Out South was invited to peform and have a booth display at the annual Junior Achievement Trade Fair where members of JA got to show off and sell the wares and the products they were producing in their mini-businesses.

The JA Fair was held in the lower level of the Nashville Municipal Auditorium located on James Robertson Parkway downtown. This is also where SOS performed several times as a part of the city's annual birthday breakfast celebration honoring the formation of Metro Government on April 1, 1962.

The Auditorium space downstairs was nicknamed "Sherwood Forrest," by some, because of its somewhat low-hanging ceiling and all the columns it contained to prop up the performing level floor of the Auditorium right above.

Over the years, Sing-Out South performed under lots of different and unique sitiuations. With our cast on top of our multi-level stage, you can see (above)how low the ceiling was as we performed the song UP WITH PEOPLE during one of our shows at the JA Trade Fair back in 1968 or 1969.

Obviously, it wasn't always a problem. When some of our small groups performed and the rest of cast got to sit down, we had plenty of room. This photo is from the same JA Trade Show back in either 1968 or '69.

As I mentioned earlier, along with performing, SOS also got the chance to have its own booth display and sell its wares such as PACE Magazine, Up With People record albums, MRA books and other materials, along with recruiting new cast members. The photo above appears to be from 1968 or 1969 due to its display materials concerning the World Sing-Out Festival. I suspect the photo below is from the JA Fair in 1967 because of the books and other materials being displayed and its emphasis on Moral Rearmament...

When I checked the web site for Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee, it does not appear a JA Fair is held anymore. After focusing for many years on the high school level following its national founding in 1919 and its creation in Nashville in 1957, Junior Achievement has "gradually expanded and its activities and broadened its scope to encompass an ever-widening student population." That includes being a part of offering programs free of charge in the local school system through volunteers with age-appropriate curricula reaching down into both the elementary and junior high classrooms.That includes an on-line world with JA TITAN, a business stimulation exercise delivered via the Internet, and an interdiscplinary experiential learning program for 5th graders where they operate the businesses of a pretend town for a day.

We've sure come a long way from Sherwood Forest, I guess. The Muncipal Auditorium basement is still used for shows and activities. I recently took my then-3-year grandson there for a model train show. He loved it!

Sing-Out South Was Created 45 Years Ago Today

2011-01-25T08:12:00.000-08:00

It was on this date 45 years ago today (January 25, 1966) that Sing-Out South was created with an organizational session at (then) Belmont College. The meeting attracted a crowd of some 500 students and parents (see photos above).

This massive turnout came despite another 3 inches of snow falling on Nashville after the city had been struck with a 7.5 inch blanket of white, accompanied with below freezing temperatures, over the previous weekend.

Such was the excitement that Sing-Out' 66 had left in town following a week-long tour of the area. Said Thomas "Rusty" Wailes, a Sing-Out and Moral Rearmament (MRA) official who spoke that first evening (and as reported in THE NASHVILLE BANNER): "To see a force like this for a city like Nashville is a historic thing...it's a terrific idea that ought to take wings and rocket today."

The article continued: "Wilkes predicted Sing-Out South would be "the most original idea" that has ever hit the South. "I can tell now that you are going to make it work."

This excitement was also mirrored in THE BANNER's farwell editorial to Sing-Out '66 published the day before on January 24, 1996 (see above).

"It was THE BANNER's privilege to bring this group to Nashville and present it on the college campuses--which responded so notably to the opportunity...Words can not due justice to this team (Sing-Out '66), either to its music--the spontaneuous outpouring of what is in these hearts--or the personality and character comprising it, member by member. Faces shine from what is within, and in the cleanliness of personal pride in contrast with the dirty minds and dirty faces of beatnikism. Such was their impact here...they came, they saw, they conquered. And Nashville reciprocated. It came. It saw. It concurred."

So how and why did THE NASHVILLE BANNER develop such an interest in Sing-Out and Moral Re-Armament? So much so that it would bring the cast to town for a full week and devote a huge amount of column inches and photographs to promote the tour for well over a month (before, during and after Sing-Out '66 left Nashville)? Why did the paper continue similar coverage for Sing-Out South?

Some insight seems to come from the article above which was published on the front page of THE BANNER on Friday, January 14. It seems two of the paper's reporters, Lee Bandy and Jacque Stubbel, had done signficant "reportial work on the student leftist movement and their interest in an antidote for the beatnik movement." By doing the reports, the story in the paper continued that they "became closely associated with MRA officials and the "Sing-Out" cast before it hit the road to take its message acorss the United States and to foreign countries." That included visiting MRA's Mackinac Island conference center as well as traveling with the cast on the road. The article also indicates both reporters had"contributed to the internationally circulated MRA magazine, PACE, which is devoted to the constructive accomplishments of youth over the world as opposed to the downhill and defeatist trends among the young."

The article never mentions BANNER Publisher James G. Stahlman. But it is obvious the paper would have never brought into Sing-Out & MRA unless he was totally on board to sponsor the trip to Nashville and approve all the coverage of Sing-Out'66 (Up With People)and later Sing-Out South.

In the weeks to come Sing-Out South would begin its practices (see photo above) ultimately aiming towards its premiere shows held at Hillsboro High School the weekend of March 25-27. Those are also the dates that have been selected for a Sing-Out South 45th Anniversary Reunion this year. More details to follow soon.

Meantime, even from the first organizing meeting on January 25,1966, the positive spirit of Sing-Out was evident from the quotes in the BANNER article which featured some future key cast members.

Jim Troutner, Belmont student body president, later soloist in SOS and UWP:

"We want our world to be great. Now we have a chance to make it that way."

Dennis Cohen, sophomore at Cameron High School:

"I think this will do a lot for Nashville if everyone pitches in and works.'

Ted Overman, Vanderbilt University sophomore, SOS Band Coordinator and later SOS Cast Director:

"I am impressed with the show. This can be the type of thing to really work."

Sing-Out South's second practice was also held at Belmont on Saturday, January 29 with 300 young people returning despite another overnight snowfall of 2-3 inches.

Committees met to deal with topics such as stage crew, technical, make-up, photography, costumes, soloists, public relations and choreography.

It was the beginning of a lot of hard work that would continue with the cast until the early 1970s, leaving a legacy to look back on today and say:

"Happy 45th Birthday, Sing-Out South!"

When Sing-Out First Came To Nashville--Day 8--A Farwell and a Beginning

2011-01-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

On the morning of January 24, 1966, Sing-Out '66 gathered at the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville for (as THE NASHVILLE BANNER reported) "an emotional goodbye amid the warmth of new friendships" as the cast boarded army buses for its next show at Ft. Campbell, KY.

Sing-Out had spent the last week in the city, and while it touched Nashville in a special way, the impact was mutual among cast members.

Among those paying tribute to the city was Glennie Close (on the far left in the photo above). At the time, she was a member of the "Green Glenn Singers" in the cast. Later, she would become a major motion picture and TV star (although ironically, THE BANNER got her first name wrong in its January 24 article, calling her "Lennie").

"We've learned more in Nashville than anywhere else we have been about loving your home and your country," she said. "Thank you, Mr. Stahlman, for all you've taught us.

The cast presented James G. Stahlman, the Publisher of THE BANNER which had sponsored the Nashville Sing-Out visit, with a "Sing-Out '66" book signed by all 140-members of the cast and they played two special songs written in his honor. One, "The Pride of Tennessee" was performed by The Tiffanies, another singing group in the cast. The other was written and played by the Colwell Brothers entitled, "His Name Is Stahlman."

As for Mr. Stahlman himself, he told the cast: "I know Nashville is the greatest home city in the world. If you think their doors have been open to you, their hearts, after your visit, are wider open than I've ever known them."

Another group that touched the hearts of the cast members of Sing-Out '66 was "Newman's Raiders," the seven-member Metro Police motorcycle team (seen above)that gave the cast a escort from the time they came to town until they left Davidson County eight days later.

Reporting the reaction of the cast, THE BANNER wrote in a feature article (January 24): "The youngsters said they had never seen anything like it. In flying formations and with teamlike precision, their protectors wove patterns of safety about the speeding (city) buses (used by Sing-Out to move about town)."

"For every trip, the youngsters vied for seats on the first bus in order to watch "Newman's Raiders" in action. Cameras clicked as the leading cycle wedge leaned with the banked roadway."

According to the newspaper article, the motorcycle officers in turn seemed to really enjoy their work of meeting every curtain call time on time that week: "Transporting the 140-member cast about town on tight schedules was no assignment for amateurs. It involved logistics problems which few cities have attempted with the success that marked Nashville's efforts."

"My boys enjoy doing this for the kids," said Sgt. Newman. "They all wanted to be on the team."

When they parted on the morning of January 24, it came after the cast performed a special song they had written for the Metro Police Departmenrt and for "Newman's Raiders," while the police motorcycle team presented the cast with a card of appreciation.

It all left a lasting impression. When THE BANNER did a follow-up story on Sing-Out during its tour of West Germany a few months later, cast members remembered the Nashville visit fondly, especially the special treatment by "Newman's Raiders." Even a photo in the piece, which showed the cast with a German police escort, openly questioned whether they were as good as "Newman's Raiders?"

By the way, as Sing-Out'66 left Nashville, the army buses from Ft. Campbell were picked up at the county line and escorted all the way to the Tennessee-Kentucky border by an escort from the Tennessee Highway Patrol courtesy of Governor Frank Clement.

While the current visit was over, Sing-Out'66, and later,Up With People, would return to Nashville many times over the next few years. And as you can see from the newspaper clip above, Sing-Out South, a local group emulating the national cast, was about to be created, with its first organizational meeting set for the next day, Tuesday, January 25, 1966.

More on that in our next blog posting.

When Sing-Out First Came To Nashville--Day 7--January 23, 1966

2011-01-23T07:46:00.000-08:00

As Sing-Out '66 began its final full day in Nashville on January 23, 1966, the schedule included two full, two-hour shows to be performed at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. Despite cold temperatures (an overnight low of 3 degrees) and icy roads left over from a 7.5 inch snowfall the day before, more than 13,000 students and adults made their way to see the two shows. THE NASHVILLE BANNER reported: "parking was made more difficult (at the Fairgrounds) because of snow drifts but this seem to have little impact on the crowds."

Indeed audience reaction continued to glow about the cast. Said one adult attending: "These youngsters are wonderful ...just wonderful...there's nothing wrong with them. You can tell by the way their eyes shine that they are all right...they are just happy and at peace with themselves."

Meanwhile, as the Sing-0ut '66 cast continued to deliver powerful songs such as "What Color is God's Skin?" (seen above) there was increasing talk and excitment about Nashville forming its own Sing-Out group. Reported THE BANNER: "Wide applause broke out when Rusty Wailes (an two-time Olympic gold medalist in rowing and an MRA leader) suggested the creation of a "Sing-Out Nashville" or "Sing-Out South." We want to see a sing-out created here which will cry out to the rest of the world. That's the vision we have for your city..."

The excitement in the crowd (seen above), especially among the young people, was likely exceeded only by the announcement by Dr. John Harris, Metro Schools Director, and Father James Hitchcock, Director of Nashville's Catholic Schools that classes would be cancelled the following day (Monday) because of the bad weather conditions.

And so all the shows were over.

The cast of Sing-Out '66 would be leaving Nashville Monday morning (for a performance for the troops at nearby Ft. Campbell, KY). But Sing-Out would leave lasting a legacy here after performing for well over 37,000 people in just seven days. What they did touched thousands of lives in this community, not only then, but for hundreds of Nashville and Middle Tennessee young people, their lives would never be the same in the years to come as they joined Nashville's Sing-Out South and several of them later traveled with one of the national casts of Up With People.

That includes myself. It was 45 years ago on this day (January 23) that my life, especially during my high school years changed dramatically after seeing the afternoon show at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. While I never traveled with the national casts of UWP, the three plus years I spent as a part of Sing-Out South shaped my life during my teen age years and continues to impact me down to this very day.

More on that...the creation of Sing-Out South and Sing-Out '66's farewell to the city on Monday morning, January 24 in our next blog posting.

When Sing-Out First Came to Nashville--Day 6--January 22, 1966

2011-01-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

Day 6 of Sing-Out '66's first visit to Nashville began with 7.5 inches of snow falling on the city, still one of the largest snowstorms to ever blanket this area.

No doubt concerned about the turnout for that evening's two-hour show at Vanderbilt University's Memorial Gym, as well as the two major shows set for Sunday at the Fairgrounds Coliseum, an announcement placed above the fold in the afternoon NASHVILLE BANNER (see above) made it clear: "On with the show despite the snow" with doors opening at Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. and the show at 8.

Despite the hazardous weather and driving conditions, an estimated 6,000 people came out to the Vanderbilt show Saturday night, adding to the 18,000 folks who had already seen Sing-Out '66 earlier in the week. Actually, some of the high school and college students attending told a reporter from the NASHVILLE BANNER that had already seen the show several times but came out to see it again at Memorial Gym.

BANNER publisher James G. Stahlman told the crowd:"I want to pay special tribute to all of you who braved the snow to come out here...snow didn't keep Paul Revere from his ride or George Washington from Valley Forge...I greet you in the name of these heroic men."

THE BANNER reported there were delegations attending the Sing-Out show at Vanderbilt from as far away as Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. Even a relative of the world famous writer, William Faulkner telephoned the newspaper to tell them he was coming. In a front-page dispatch, William Faulkner, a member of the Mississippi State University student council said of himself and the MSU student body president: "We'll be in Nashville for Sing-Out '66 one way or another, snow or no snow."

This is the run of the show that Sing-Out '66 presented that weekend (plese click on photo above to enlarge). The crowd at Vanderbilt listened to "the patriotic beat....(which) triggered spontaneous clapping and ...the gym vibrated throughout the two hour show. At the close, a cheering audience gave the cast a 20-minute standing ovation."

All these shows and appearances in Nashville over the past week had quickly built up a lot of enthusiam and energy to get the city involved in "Sing-Out."

Richard "Rusty" Wailes, a two-time Olympic Gold-Medalist in rowing and a Director for Moral Rearmament(seen above)was often a spokesperson both to the crowds at the Sing-Out shows and to local civic groups in Nashville. He told the Downtown Kiwanis Club, acccording to THE BANNER in story published in the Saturday January 22 edition, that "there is a good possibility Nashville will become the Mackinac of the South for MRA."

Mackinac Island was where Sing-Out had been born the previous summer and according to Wailes,"we think we need to hold three conferences this summer like the Mackinac conference. We would like to have one for the South here in Nashville, another in the Northeast and the Mackinac site."(Note: it turns out just one conference was held in Estes Park, CO in the summer of 1966 with dozens of Nashvillians from Sing-Out South traveling there and many of them then joining the national Sing-Out casts which by then were called Up With People).

Wailes also predicted the creation of Sing-Out South during his Kiwanis remarks. "There is a patriotism in the South found nowhere else. We feel you (the South) have a lot to offer the world. We would like to see Nashville take a show throughout the South and up the coast to Washington. You could create your own show here in Nashville and spread out to all the high schools in the area."

Wailes got lengthy applause and a standing ovation for his remarks to the Kiwanis Club, which was held at the Noel Hotel downtown. On Sunday, January 23, during Sing-Out '66 final shows in Nashville at the Fairgrounds Coliseum, similar remarks by Wailes about forming a "Sing Out Nashville' or "Sing Out South" brought even more applause from the audience.

More on that in our next blog posting.

When Sing-Out First Came To Nashville--Day 5--January 21, 1966

2011-01-21T17:34:00.000-08:00

On Day 5 when Sing-Out first came to Nashville on January 21, 1966, it was back on the college campus circuit as another "strike force" of Sing-Out '66 cast members performed a one hour show for 800 Peabody and Scarritt College students in the auditorium of Peabody's Social-Religious building (see photo above).

According to THE NASHVILLE BANNER, there were again rave reviews. "Each cast member seems so dedicated. We need more of this kind of thing," said one student after the show. Said another:"This show makes you proud to be an American." A third student added:"This the best thing I've ever seen." And a final student remarked:" The whole performance demonstrates to me that young people in this country still have something and are not going to the dogs." (Ironically, Nashville's Sing-Out South would soon be singing a new song, written by Bill Cates, entitled "WE REFUSE TO GO TO THE DOGS."

Leaving Peabody, the Sing-Out '66 task force went back downtown to once again perform in the ballroom of the Hermitage Hotel. This time it was a luncheon performance for members of the Tennessee Press Association who gave the cast two standing ovations. Said one editor: "Thank God these kids are for America. If they were on the other side, I'm afraid we wouldn't have a chance." Added THE BANNER story: "Some just walked out with tears in their eyes."

So impressed were some TPA members that the next night over 100 of them would stay in Nashville to attend the full Sing-Out '66 show held at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym.

Following the TPA show that Friday afternoon, according to THE BANNER "cast members relaxed....some of the male members took advantage of going to the (old downtown) YMCA (above) for a round of basketball, handball, volleyball and swimming."

The paper also reported that later Friday evening "most of the troupe...attended WSM's internationally-famed Grand Ole Opry (held in the Ryman Auditorium above) where the MRAers observed a television taping of the country western music show and participated in a portion of the two hour radio program.

According to THE BANNER: "The Colwell Brothers, stars of "Sing Out" sang "Freight Train Blues" and the cast joined them for "Up With People." The audience gave them a standing ovation."

So it was quite a day, even an historic one for Sing-Out '66, as it appeared on what has become the longest running live radio show ever.

But as the cast of Sing-Out '66 tried to get a good night's rest after the Opry show, something was happening. Facing major two-hour show performances, one set at Vanderbilt Saturday night and two closing shows on Sunday back at the Fairgrounds Coliseum, the weather took a bad turn (see above) as a winter storm blew into Nashville dumping 7.5 inches of snow on the city and bringing frigid artic air that plunged temperatures well below freezing. 45 years later the snowstorm still ranks 12th among the largest one-day snowfalls ever in this community.

Today Nashville has a well-deserved reputation as a town that panics and all but shuts down when it snows. What happened during Sing Out '66's last weekend in Music City?

You might be surprised when you read our next installment posted tommorrow (Saturday, January 22) here on the blog.

When Sing-Out First Came To Nashville--Day 4--January 20, 1966

2011-01-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

After playing before an estimated 12,000 people during their first three days in Nashville, the cast of Sing-Out'66 took a brief break to play tourists on Thursday morning, January 20,1966 (see photo above). They took a tour the Hermitage, the historic home of President Andrew Jackson, and then were honored with a special luncheon at the nearby "Cabin-By-The-Spring" hosted by NASHVILLE BANNER Publisher, James G. Stahlman. At the luncheon, according to the BANNER, the cast was also welcomed by a representative of the Ladies Hermitage Association who said: "Could General Jackson be here today, I am sure he would take extreme pleasure in greeting each of you. You espouse the very ideals for which he fought and by which he lived."

Some 27 high school cast members of Sing-Out '66 also took time that week to visit Nashville's new Ben West Library downtown (see photo above) . They did it to study as a part of the traveling Sing-Out High School. THE BANNER had an article (January 19) saying the school was in session in three separate rooms in the Nashville library with a full staff of 10 teachers-tutors also on site.

By the way, the paper reported as well that the high schoolers had just completed a lesson concerning Andrew Jackson right before coming to Nashville.

No doubt there were a lot of young Nashville high school students who read the news coverage about Sing-Out High School. Little did some of them realize that they too would be a part of these classes in just a few months (in the fall of 1966), after first joining Sing-Out South later in the winter, and then a national Up With People cast that summer.

But it wasn't long before Sing-Out '66 was back on stage in Nashville (see above). According to THE BANNER coverage, Thursday evening at the Fairgrounds Coliseum:" A wildly cheering crowd of about 5,000 senior parochial and Metro high school students gave Sing-Out '66 five standing ovations...as the musical troupe presented a snappy two-hour show. The area youngsters continued to cry for more even after the MRA cast had run through three encores."

Actually, this was the first time entire cast had been together on stage in Nashville to present its full show. The previous Nashville performances had been only one hour in length and involved a smaller "strike force" of cast members.

Regardless, audience response continued to be electric.Among the comments reported by THE BANNER from the audience: "This show is beyond words. I have never been so impressed in my life." Said another student: "If we can get the spirit of it going across the country, it'll be great. We've needed something like this for a long time." And one of the young people responding went right to the point and voiced the hope that, "we can a Sing-Out started in this area as soon as possible. This show is great."

With more shows scheduled for Friday and the weekend ahead, spirits were high over the Sing-Out visit to Nashville and the possible creation of a local sing-out here. But that would be challenged in coming days as Mother Nature stood poised to hit the city with a a series of signficant snowstorms.

More on that Friday in our next blog posting here.

When Sing-Out '66 First Came to Nashville: Day 3--January 19, 2011

2011-01-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

Day 3 for Sing-Out '66 in Nashville (January 19, 2011) began with more performances at local colleges and universities. That included (above) at then Tennessee A&I University (now Tennessee State) where THE BANNER reported a crowd of over 6,000 students in the school's Kean's Little Garden gymnasium that resulted in:"a solid force of cheers and applause (which) erupted from the university's massive wing of ROTC cadets (seen above in the middle of audience)at the close of the one-hour MRA performance."

After the show the cast members were guests at a luncheon on campus held by A&I President, Dr. W.S. Davis, who was quoted as saying:"The principles that guide these youngsters are certainly against the burning of draft cards and those extreme groups now opposing America's efforts in Viet Nam. To the Sing-Out '66 group, thank you for coming. To its sponsor--Mr. James Stahlman thank you for bringing them."

At the luncheon, the tables were turned as A&I students presented their own talent show to Sing-Out '66 cast members. It was so impressive that, according to the BANNER, "Steve Colwell, one of the famed brothers in the MRA show observed, There's some excellent talent out at A&I. I hope we can recruit some for our Southern tour."

Indeed that did eventually happen in a way, with TSU student Melvin Turner (seen above) described that day as "an acrobatic tap dancer--who scooted about the dining room, shaking hands with the MRAers as he moved down the aisle-ways" joined Sing-Out South for its opening shows at Hillsboro High School in March, 1966, then joined Sing-Out'66 shortly thereafter for its tour of West Germany, perhaps the first SOS member to join the national cast.

Later that evening on January 19, there was a show by Sing-Out '66 for students at Fisk and Meharry Medical College attracting over 1,000 people who jammed their way into the historic Fisk Chapel (see above). Among those attending was the Catholic Bishop of Tennessee, the Most Reverend Joseph A. Durick.

According to coverage in THE BANNER, the audience at Fisk demanded and got Sing-Out's first encore of the week and afterwards Fisk students visited with cast members for over an hour. Comments after the show sounded like this (according to the the paper): "A wonderful inspiration," Their purpose is what America needs,"I never was belted with so much happiness in my life."

After three days in the city, the momentum was really building. As you can see from THE BANNER front page above, an additional show at the Fairgrounds Coliseum was being added for Sunday evening, while more Nashville media outlets also were getting involved.

WLAC Radio, 1510 AM announced it was taping the entire two-hour Sing-Out concert at the Coliseum that Saturday evening and would play it back on the air Sunday at 1:30 p.m., while WLAC-TV, Channel 5 said a filmed segment of Sing-Out, with the group performing "Up with People", would be shown in-color on the station's "Newsbeat" program on Thursday night at 6 p.m.

There was also growing interest in what comes next. So many students wanted to learn more about MRA and Sing-Out after seeing the shows, more than 200 attended a meeting with cast members and other MRA officials held Wednesday afternoon at the War Memorial Auditorium, a location made available (at no charge by Governor Frank Clement) after it was clear a hotel room reserved would not hold the crowd. A second meeting was set for Saturday at the Andrew Jackson Hotel near the Capitol.

And with the students and faculty at Tennessee A&I talking about developing a "sing-out" of their own at the school, it was obvious there was a move afoot to create a local Sing-Out cast, an effort that would gather further stream in the days ahead as you will see in our next blog posting on Thursday.

And it would all come about despite the efforts of Mother Nature which dumped one of the largest snowstorms in the city's history on Nashville in the days ahead.

A Postscript

2011-01-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

One very interesting update to share about something we discussed here on the blog yesterday.

It concerns Linda Blackmore of Sing-Out '66 (photo above). She got rave reviews for her performances here in Nashville, including one at then-Belmont College. You can see the student reaction below.

I pointed out Jim Troutner, a future Sing-Out South and UWP leader and cast soloist in the photo above (he's on the left in the photo, at the end of the second row in a coat and tie).

I also speculated that somewhere in the photo above might be her future husband, Bill Cates, who, like Jim Troutner, was also a Belmont student at the time. Bill would have been seeing Linda and hearing her sing for the first time.

Sure enough, I got this e-mail from Linda who relates: "Bill says that when he was sitting in the audience near Jim Troutner during that first performance in Nashville(I think Bill is in the row in front of Jim third from the left), and while I was singing, he leaned over to Jim and told him he was going to marry 'that girl'!!"

And sure enough they did, as Bill (seen above) also became a leader and musical director of both Sing-Out South and Up With People. They met and married during that time, ultimately moving back to the Nashville area to raise a family. They just recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary!

And it all began with the show at Belmont that fateful day and week 45 years ago!

A photo of Linda and Bill in recent years.

When Sing-Out First Came To Nashville: Day 2--January 18, 1966

2011-01-18T16:36:00.001-08:00

For Sing-Out '66, the cast's first full day in Nashville began with late afternoon and early evening one-hour shows, first at then-Belmont College (above), and then just down Belmont Blvd at then-David Lipscomb College (below).

According to reports in THE NASHVILLE BANNER (the major sponsor for the Sing-Out tour),"overflow crowds at both Belmont and Lipscomb colleges thunderously applauded the musicale and wildly screamed for more." The BANNER article continued: "At David Lipcomb College, (there were)more than 4,000 students, who spilled over onto the gym floor, started clapping and yelling in the middle of several numbers and were on their feet at the conclusion."

There were similar overflow crowds at the show held in Belmont's gym (see above) with students "who overflowed into the vestibule and the hallways of the chapel." Belmont student reaction included these: "Tremendous...I had to get out to see it. Thank God for people like this." Said another student: "Unbelievable, I did not think the students would turn out for the show in the middle of exams. I have never seen students respond like this to anything from off campus."

But turn out and response they did!

For example, look closely at the photo above at the young man on the end of the second row in a dark sportscoat. That is Belmont Student Body President, Jim Troutner, likely watching Sing-Out live for the first time. Soon he would become a leader and solist in Sing-Out South and later joined Up With People, touring the nation and the world.

There were similar reaction among the Lipscomb students, some of whom told THE BANNER: "Great! These kids show what American youth really is." Said another: "Fabulous! It is superior to anything I've seen. What we need are more Sing-Outs."

One particular Sing-Out '66 cast member being singled out for praise was Linda Blackmore (above). Some years later, she would come to live in the Nashville area and raise her family here after marrying Bill Cates. Bill was a Belmont student in 1966. He may well have been in the audience that very day, seeing Sing-Out and Linda for the first time.

Concerning Linda there were two different glowing reports in THE BANNER about her performances at Belmont and Lipscomb(including one from the paper's music critic, Werner Zepernick): "Another fine talent is Linda Blackmore. Comely in appearance, she sang "Somewhere Just Beyong Tomorrow" with a pleasing voice and fine stage decorum." Said another report in the paper by Lee Bandy: "Linda Blackmore of Los Angeles, with beautful diction and a clear soprano voice, warmed the audience with her rendition of "Somewhere Just Beyond Tomorrow", a song from a London musical."

The BANNER reporter and critic also singled out for praise, "Negro Charles Woodward of Florida A&M ,who wowed the audience with an operatic aria (Rigeletto) and his lead role in the finale ("Which Way America)." The BANNER music critic called Woodward's voice "beautiful and well trained...with excellent intonation and with poise and suavity."

THE BANNER praised Sing-Out '66's drummer, Bob Qusenel, as well, pointing out that at the time, he reportedly "held the endurance record for continous drumming for more than four and one-half days." Said the BANNER Music critic: "Never before I have heard such virtuosity on a set of percussion instruments. It was an amazing exhibition, and the audience responded with frequent applause." Indeed the other BANNER reporter Lee Bandy added: "Bob Quensel...partically brought down the house with his thunderous vibrating rhythms. At Lipscomb, he was interrupted three times by applause."

So it was quite a first full day for Sing-Out in Nashville, to say the least. The evening concluded with the Metro Council unanimously approving a resolution commending THE BANNER and its publisher James Stahlman for bringing the cast to town.

Day 3 on Wednesday, January 19 would bring more similar community reaction as we will relate in our next posting here on the blog.

When Sing-Out First Came To Nashville--January 17, 1966

2011-01-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

After two full weeks of front-page promotion by its sponsor, THE NASHVILLE BANNER, (the city's afternoon newspaper), Sing-Out '66 roared into Music City for the first time about 3:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, January 17, 1966. It arrived on charter buses after shows in Little Rock, AK and Memphis, TN. The arrival at the War Memorial Square came with a full police escort of motorcycle officers.

The cast immediately went to the steps of the nearby State Capitol where it gave an impromptu "sing out" performance, according to the cut line for the BANNER's front-page photograph above which ran on Tuesday, January 18. Sing-Out had already been welcomed to the city the day before with the BANNERS's ringing editorial seen below.

The editorial began saying saying it is "this newspaper's privilege" to bring Sing-Out and Moral Re-Armament to Nashville, adding "despite its detractors, MRA stands solidly against Facism, Racism, Communism. It stands positively, unequivocally, openly for clean, decent behaviorism, Americaism, and belief in a Supreme Being." The paper also made it clear that it saw Sing-Out (just formed in August, 1965) as "an almost spontaneous answer by America-minded young people to the threadbare ravings of assorted punks who were getting their kicks out of hymns, and whose misanthropy was aimed also equally at disowning the United State of America and banishing God."

The evening the cast arrived in town, it was honored with a welcoming banquet held in the ballroom of the historic Hermitage Hotel. As a part of his welcoming remarks, BANNER Publisher, James G. Stahlman, the driving force at the newspaper to bring the Sing-Out '66 to Nashville, said: "I have never before seen or felt Nashvillians and Middle Tennesseans so keyed up as they appear in anticpation of your appearances here. Your fame has preceded you. I am certain that your impact and influence will be tremendous, memorable and lasting."

The cast responded to the warm welcome with a short performance at the end of the banquet. Blanton Belk (described the next day in the paper as a "former PT boat commander and U.S. Director of Moral Re-Armament") also told the audience at the banquet that "Nashville will be the launching pad for a shot heard round the world" through Sing-Out's appearances launching 'a revolution that attunes old-fashioned patriotism with the modern musical beat of youth in a new America."

The banquet show by Sing-Out '66 on the evening of January 18 also marked the premiere performance of "Volunteers of Tennessee," a song which later became a standard in every Sing-Out South show.

The lyrics and introduction of the new piece appeared in the next day's BANNER (see above) with the explanation that it was written on the "Sing-Out" bus on the way to Nashville (something which became a standard as Sing-Out and later Up With People traveled to cities and states across the country).

One interesting item about this, if you click and enlarge the news clipping above, you will find a third verse to "Volunteers", one which I don't think we used in Sing-Out South. That is likely because it made a specific reference to Mr. Stahlman that probably wuld not have translated for use in future shows. The mention of "the courage of" Confederate General Nathan Beford Forrest might have also created so issues as well down the road.

Audience response from Sing-Out's first night in Nashville was overwhelmingly positive.

According to THE BANNER, Governor Frank Clement (seen above) told the cast that "he had attended shows from New York to Hollywood, from Moscow to Hong Kong, and from London to Paris, but never had he seen one that thrilled him as your performance here tonight."

Then Congressman, later Nashville Mayor, Richard Fulton (seen above) also praised Sing-Out. According to THE BANNER, Congressman Fulton (who came down from Washington specifically to attend the opening banquet and show) said "patriotism is truth and truth leads to understanding. I believe the truth expressed here tonight could bring an honorable peace throughout the world." The Congressman also said he was going to place a tribute to the cast into the Congressional Record the next day.

Both Congressman Fulton and Governor Clement also became long-time supporters of Sing-Out South, along with Mayor Beverly Briley (see above in 1967 issuing a proclamation on behalf of Sing-Out South). The night Sing-Out '66 came to town for the first time that Mayor told the cast: " You are a fine example of American youth and you are telling the story of love of country in a language that every person can understand."

Certainly the rest of the audience responded that way. THE BANNER reported audience reactions of "fantastic, unbelieveable, tremendous, great" heard time and again. The paper added:"There were cries for "More." There were shouts of "bravo" and during the speaking the restrained but insistent and rolling undertone of the British "Hear, Hear."

So it was quite a opening night for Sing-Out '66! But it would soon be rivaled, if not exceeded, by local reaction as the cast began its tour of the city, especially its many college campuses which started the next day on Tuesday, January 18.

More on that in our next posting.F

THE NASHVILLE BANNER

2011-01-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

When THE NASHVILLE BANNER, the city's evening newspaper ceased operations in the spring of 1998, its final edition was headlined "END OF STORY."

But for Sing-Out South and the original cast of Sing-Out '66 (later Up With People)THE BANNER was in many ways the beginning of the story as the newspaper hosted the group for a week in Nashville in mid-January, 1966.

This was the first appearance Sing-Out would make in the South and perhaps the first time Sing-Out did a concentrated series of shows in a major city.The result was nothing short of amazing, including the creation of Sing-Out South, one of the first local sing-outs and one of the most successful (with 500 young people and their parents attending the first organizing session later in the month (January 26) after the Sing-Out '66 tour of Nashville ended).

This front page story on Monday January 3 was the first mention in THE BANNER of Sing-Out'66's visit and the story stayed there on the front page every day (6 days a week Monday-Saturday)throughout the rest of the month!

That meant a full two-weeks of front page stories and photos even before the cast arrived in town on January 17! And once they arrived, the coverage expanded with pages of photos and stories every day throughout the front section of the paper.

(NOTE: If you want to learn more details, please click on any of these newspaper clippings to enlarge them for easier reading)

The first-day story and photos on January 3 set the tone for the coverage to come, featuring a world famous local celebrity, Pat Boone, who was working at that time with Sing-Out '66 as the MC for its first television special.

This is the first front-page article about Sing-Out '66 that appeared in THE BANNER on Monday, January 3, 1966. It called the show "a youthful explosion of music...whose songs of victory are already reverberating around the world." The cut line for the photo above said the group was coming to Nashville after a tour that "opened in Washington, crossed the West, then drew great ovations in Korea and Japan." The claim was also made that General William Westmoreland "has asked that the show be brought to South Viet Nam to appear before his fighting men" (a connection to that conflict that THE BANNER mentioned frequently).

The article above also outlines the strong appeal made for young people to see the show.Indeed performances were done at almost every major college and university in town (and being the Athens of the South that was, and is, quite a few). There was also an outreach planned to high school students with major shows held at the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

Endorsements of Sing-Out such as the one above by Metro Schools Director Dr. John Harris (and later by almost every major education and political leader in Nashville) were a major part of the promotional strategy.

Said Dr. Harris about Sing-Out:" This program goes beyond the realm of entertainment and patriotism...The message portrayed in this program can be regarded as inspiration and faith. ...Through the media of song and speech, these young people are bringing to the people a message indicating that American youth understand their obligations and responsibilities and particularly their appreciation of freedom--freedom as Americans know it."

This front page cartoon which ran the week prior to Sing-Out '66's arrival in Nashville is another example of the outreach to the city's young people. With the promotion continuing as the newspaper printed the planned schedule of shows every day in each edition.

But the endorsement below probably did the most to grab my attention and make me decide to see the Sing-Out show. It came from Father James Hitchcock, my principal at Father Ryan High School,and the Director of Catholic Schools for the entire Diocese of Nashville..

As a freshman at Father Ryan at that time, Father Hitchcock was a strong authority figure in my life. After reading in the paper, what he said below, how could I not decide to go see Sing-Out?

" As local representative for the Catholic school system, I shall insist that every single student of ours attend the program. I sincerely believe it will make him appreciate his American heritage and his personal responsibility to protect that heritage."

And there's more to share about the coverage of Sing-Out '66 by THE NASHVILLE BANNER.

Beginning Monday, January 17, I hope to post a daily update here of what THE BANNER did each day while the cast was here.

Looking back 45 years later, it remains simply astounding. The paper's coverage, along with the talent and enthusiasm of Sing-Out '66 cast itself, are clearly the compelling reasons that Sing-Out South came into existence.

1966!

2011-01-05T14:19:00.001-08:00

As we look back on the year 1966 and the founding of Sing-Out South in Nashville 45 years ago this month, I thought it was important to remember what was going on in our city back then as well across the country.

As you can see, just in terms of the skyline alone, Nashville was a much smaller city in those days. But it was growing and changing. Its new four year old experiment of consolidating the city and county governments into a Metro system seemed to be working, although that would be put to the test later that year with Mayor Beverly Briley and the 40-member Metro Council facing their first re-election.

Mayor Briley (seen above on the far left) was re-elected and continued to be a strong supporter of Sing-Out and UWP throughout its existence. That included personally paying to charter several buses to take SOS to Cookevile to perform with Sing-Out '66 during a performance at Tennessee Tech University in the winter of 1966,then coming back early from a national mayor's conference to introduce the cast on stage for our opening night premiere show at Hillsboro High School in March, 1966, and finally, issusing several proclamations of support including the one above declaring it "Pace Magazine Week in Nashville" in the fall of 1967.

The Governor of the State of Tennessee in 1966 was Frank Clement who was also a great supporter, first of Sing-Out '66 and Up With People, and then Sing-Out South as well. That support included making a surprise trip to Cookeville to introduce the combined UWP/Sing-Out South show there, then the following summer in 1967(after he left office) delivering a stirring speech during the intermission of our major summer show at the Centennial Park Bandshell, helping raise significant dollars to allow many SOS cast members to go to New York for the World Sing-Out Festival a few weeks later.

Buford Ellington (seen above) became Governor of Tennessee in 1967, succeeding Clement who was term limited. He too was a supporter of SOS, including issuing the proclamation above declaring it "Sing Out South" Week in Tennessee.

On a national level, TIME MAGAZINE would look back on 1966 and declare the rising generation 25 years and younger as its Man of the Year. How perfectly that seemed to fit the young men and women of Sing-Out '66 and Sing-Out South as they performed their shows throughout this area, the nation and the world.

But as a nation at war in Vietnam, it was also clear that the fighting there (with over 400,000 troops on the ground and over 6,000 dying in 1966) was generating lots of controversy and rising protests, in particular over the continued military draft. All this coming just a year after TIME had named General William Westmoreland, the U.S. Commander in Vietnam, as its 1965 Man of the Year. Another sign of how the war was splitting the nation could be seen in the Number one song in America in 1966,"The Ballad of the Green Berets' by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler....

But in January, 1966 when Sing-Out '66 came to Nashville popular music charts showed a different kind of split among musical tastes. As we drove to school or listened to the radio at home (on either WKDA or WMAK), the number one song for most of that month according to BILLBOARD magazine seemed to come more from the folk music genre that had been so popular earlier in the decade. The number one song was the breakout hit for Simon & Garfunkel, "Sounds of Silence" as performed here by the pair the following year at the Montery Pop Festival...

The other song that shared the top of the charts according to BILLBOARD in January, 1966 came from a completely different musical direction. It was the continuation of the British invasion that began in 1964. This month the song was another smash hit from the Beatles and "We Can Work It Out'.....

Movies can also tell you a lot about what was going on culturally during a particular time. Interestingly, the top grossing movie of 1966 ($15.53 million) was HAWAII, an epic, but largely now unremembered movie starring Julie Andrews and Max von Sydow. It was based the best-selling novel by James Mitchner and here's how a movie trailer promoted it back in the day....

Other top-grossing movies in 1966 included THE BIBLE: IN THE BEGINNING, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF,THE SAND PEBBLES and the film that swept the Oscars, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS....

Television shows are also a great way to look back on an era. In 1966, the number one rated show, as it had been for several years was BONANZA. But there were also popular shows aimed directly at the younger audience including Hullabaloo and Shindig, which featured many rock and roll bands and other stars.Ironically, Shindig was dropped by the ABC Network in early January of 1966 and replaced by what became an even bigger hit over the next few seasons, BATMAN....

I hope this very brief look back at the politics, news and popular culture of 1966 will bring back lots of interesting memories for those of us living through those times. I hope it also helps set the stage for our look back here on this blog over the next few weeks at how the extraordinary visit to Nashville by the original cast of Up With People, Sing-Out'66 electrified a city and led to the creation of Sing-Out South.....

If you have your own thoughts to share about this period or about the visit of Sing-Out '66 to Nashville and the creation of Sing-Out South please share them below or send them to me by e-mail at pat.nolan@dvl.com.

What A Way To Start The New Year!

2011-01-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

Before a live audience of hundreds of thousands,and an estimated 52 million TV viewers watching on three different national networks, the international cast of UP WITH PEOPLE began the new year of 2011 by opening the 122nd annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Sacramento, CA on New Year's Day.

The cast planned and choreographed the opening three minutes of the Rose Parade performed in front of the grandstand. That included a song featuring the theme of this year's Tournament of Roses festivities: "Building Dreams, Friendships & Memories."

Hopefully we can soon post some video of the UWP performance, but here's what the cast did three years ago (2008) when UWP was also a part of the the Rose Parade in a similar role to help open the annual event....

From a local perspective, 2011 is an appropriate year for UWP to once again lead the parade. It was exactly 45 years ago this month (January, 1966) that the original cast of Up With People (then known as Sing-Out '66) came to Music City and, under the promotion and sponsorship of the city's afternoon newspaper, THE NASHVILLE BANNER, took our community by storm.

Indeed it was a very stormy and snowy week in Nashville when Sing-Out came to town. But tens of thousands of local citizens came out to their shows regardless, resulting in over 600 young people and their parents coming to the first practice held at then Belmont College at the end of the month on January 26 to organize a local group to be named Sing-Out South.

As SOS members begin to organize a 45th Reunion this year to be held on the weekend of March 25-27, this blog will take a look back all this month on the extraordinary period of January, 1966 in Nashville. We will do it through the pages and photographs of THE NASHVILLE BANNER printed at that time which gave the Nashville tour unprecedented coverage.

If you have memories of that special time, seeing Sing-Out for the first time here, or being a part of the original cast that came to Nashville, please feel free to share your memories here or send them to my by e-mail, pat.nolan@dvl.com

POSTSCRIPT: January 4, 2010....Now, as promised, courtesy of YouTube, Facebook, HGTV and Vickie Henthorn Law of the Up With People Alumni Association, here's some video from the beginning of the 2011 Rose Parade featuring the current cast of Up With People.....

Happy New Year, everyone!

Merry Christmas to You All!

2010-12-25T13:00:00.001-08:00

It's probably the most unique record album of the many UP WITH PEOPLE recorded back in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

Produced in a Los Angeles studio, according to Linda Blackmore Cates (the featured solist on the cover of the album), it was funded by an UWP donor and created "following an amazing gathering of all the UWP casts in Sante Fe, New Mexico during the Christmas period of 1967."

In addition to Linda's involvement (she now lives in the Nashville area), there were several other Tennesseeans involved with the album's production. Her husband-to-be Bill Cates (they had just gotten engaged) played a role in the recordings. Bill served as Musical Director for Up With People after being the original Music Director of Sing Out South.

Bill Cates in May, 1966 with Sing-Out South

And then there's the title song for the album "MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL" which Linda says was written by former SOS cast member Cabot Wade when he was a part of Cast C of Up With People in 1967.

Linda Blackmore Cates & Cabot Wade at an UWP People Reunion

Thanks to YouTube and Willie Knowles' Up With People 1965-1970 Facebook page, here's the title song of MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL with Linda as the featured solist...

Linda told me one more very interesting thing about this title song. She wishes she had done another take of it in the studio! She didn't like how she has done the closing part of the song, feeling she missed a note at end. However, she says nobody has ever mentioned any concerns to her about that over all the years.

Linda has other strong memories during the time the album was recorded, including one surrounding the creation of the song THE HOPE OF MANKIND. It's also featured on the MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL album. Linda says the music for the song came out of a dream which Herb Allen, the all-star UWP song writer and producer, had one night.

The next morning he was so excited, he called Linda, woke her up ,then had her come over to hear the song played on a piano for the very first time. Here it is from YouTube and the 1965-1970 UWP cast Willie Knowles Facebook page as heard on the MERRY CHRISTMAS album...

Linda says this song was the highlight of the album for her which also featured many of UWP's stars at that time including:

Frank Fields
Pat Ector
Finis Fator
Debbie Kirkpatrick
THE UP WITH PEOPLE CHORUS

Here's another original song from the album featuring some of those artists and the UWP Chorus entitled A PRESENT FOR SANTA...

The album was produced in stereo and released under the PACE RECORDS label in time for the 1968 Christmas season. In my archives information, I found a 4/color circular about the album inserted the next year in 1969 inside an edition of TOMORROW'S AMERICAN.

The ad features the album for sale with the extra bonus of it being available at the low price of just $3.98 along with all the other UWP People albums at the time (UWP I, II, III and FRONTIERS OF TOMORROW) all being offered in tandem for a similar price to be given as holiday gifts.

Today, the album may be more difficult to buy. I could not find its sheet music on line and I am not sure it has been released on CD by UWP. All I could find were some album copies available (in various conditions) ranging in price from$5.00 to $9.95 on E-Bay.

Along with several original songs, the MERRY CHRISTMAS also features UWP arrangments of several classic Christmas carols such as I WONDER AS I WONDER, AWAY IN A MANGER, O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM and this classic....O HOLY NIGHT!

If any of you reading this blog posting were involved in this recording, we'd love for you to share your memories here or send them to me by e-mail, and I can post them (pat.nolan@dvl.com).

I can share one review of this album which I recently found on on-line. It was written some 40 years after the album was recorded. Dated Thursday, September 25, 2008 on the blog site A CHRISTMAS YULE BLOG, the un-bylined article says:

"The album is undeniably Sixties--the sound, the pop beat, the smell of dacron and polyester. At times, it goes so overboard that you need scuba equipment to simply breathe.

There are fun Christmas songs (JINGLE BELL BEAT, A PRESENT FOR SANTA), traditional carols (AWAY IN A MANGER, O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM) and at time preachy songs (PAT'S POEM, UP WITH PEOPLE) with a hint of Christmas that make them qualify for this album.

Overall, I liked the album, and the soloists (Debbie Kirkpatrick, Linda Blackmore, Pat Ector) did a fine job when the spotlight shone on them. The group singing is very reminiscent of a hip Mitch Miller & The Gang and the '60s sound is a true flashback."

So MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL, to all, the best in 2011!

A Sing-Out White Christmas

2010-12-24T08:13:00.000-08:00

Something appears to be ready to happen in Nashville for Christmas Day that hasn't been seen since the days of Sing-Out South. That's 41 years ago in 1969.

A White Christmas!

Forecasters say the city could get at least a couple of inches beginning late Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day. Technically, Nashville had a White Christmas in 1993, but that was only for about three-tenths of an inch. The last time we had appreciable snow was in 1969 when we received almost 3 inches.

I remember that Christmas. It was my first year in college and I had gone to Midnight Mass at the Cathedral with several of my Sing-Out friends. It was just raining hard at that time. So when I went to bed, I thought we'd missed out again on the white stuff. Nashville has had a White Christmas only a handful of times during my life. But when I awoke to join my little brothers and sisters to see what Santa Claus brought, there was this wonderland of white outside.

My father's favorite singer was Bing Crosby and it wasn't the holiday season until he got out his White Christmas album and began to play the title song. In 1969, with all the snow on the ground outside, it seemed like a dream come true, just as Bing sang it (after Irving Berlin wrote it) for the movies so many years ago....

Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Uploaded by beautifulcynic. - See the latest featured music videos.
While we didn't have snow very often for Christmas, during our time growing up in Nashville in the 1960s, we did have a lot of Christmas traditions, beginning with the annual Christmas Parade held on the first Sunday of December.

In 1966, the parade featured Sing-Out South as we entertained tens of thousands of Nashvillians as we rode on a float in the parade. We also darn near froze to death as it was quite cold that day as I remember it.

Not far from the Christmas Parade site, thousands of people every year,during the 1950s and '60s, came to Centennial Park to see the annual Nativity Scene, sponsored by the city and Harvey's Department Store, in front of the Parthenon. While it would never work today putting a Christian symbol in front of a pagan temple in a government owned public park, none of that was an issue in those days. Just the beauty of the scence that made it a special Nashville Christmas treat every year.

While the Parthenon Nativity scene eventually just wore out from age and weather exposure in the late 1960s, the tradition of special Christmas lights continues in Nashville with the annual holidays displays (and special holiday shows) at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. To see this year's display is especially moving for Nashvillians because the Hotel was damaged by the terrible May Floods and closed for several months, opening just in time for the holidays and those special lights!

Another Nashville Christmas tradition still going strong to this very day is holiday caroling to raise money for the Fannie Battle Day Home. I can remember going caroling with Sing-Out friends, especially in Patty Mayer Higgins' neighborhood on Christmas Eve, 1968. What made it particularly memorable was coming in for hot chocolate just in time to watch the Apollo VIII astronauts on TV, orbiting the moon for the first time in history and reading from the Bible and the Book of Genesis...

When you look back, Nashville was clearly a wonderful community to grow up in, with many great Christmas traditions that continue in one fashion or another to the present time. No wonder, there is something of a Christmas song that speaks to it.
Here's Nashville's own Amy Grant, appearing with her former husband Steven Chapman in 1986 on the TONIGHT SHOW with Johnny Carson,singing a Tennessee Christmas....

Merry Christmas, everyone from what many hope to be a snowy Tennessee Christmas for 2010!

The Island

2010-12-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

I am taking a business trip this coming week to Connecticut. In making my plane and lodging accomodations, I realized I will be less than 20 miles from David's Island and Ft. Slocum in New York state where many of us spent several weeks over two summers (in 1967 &'68) as a part of the World Sing-Out Festivals held there.

It made we wonder what's going on there today, including the nearby city of New Rochelle, NY.

New Rochelle, NY has about the same size population now at 73,260 as it did back in the late 1960s (75,385 in 1970 census) when it was the host city for the World Sing-Out Festivals. It is still the seventh largest city in the State of New York and is listed by the American Podiatric Medical Association as one of the best cities to walk in the nation. In November, 2008, New Rochelle was also named by BUSINESS WEEK magazine as of the best places nationally to raise children.

Long known as a town with a significant amount of single-family residential developments, including some communities that were listed by FORBES Magazine in 2006 as among the "most expensive zip codes" in the country,the downtown area had a significant revitalization in the late 1990s with a $190 million entertainment center. It is located near the former Macy's and Mall which had be built and opened in 1968.

According to Wikipedia, New Rochelle is also known for its impressive collection of parklands and nature preserves, but the city has had a long struggle when it comes to similar efforts regarding David Island's.

David's Island has had many names over the years. Its current name comes from an ink manufacturer, Thaddeus Davids, who was a longtime resident of New Rochelle and owner of the island back in the 18th century.

Rented by the federal government during the Civil War and used as a hospital for wounded prisoners, Davids Island was later purchased by Congress and used for a variety of purposes over the years including as a recruitment depot, an army base,and as a costal artillery post to defend New York harbor. In the late 1950s, it was also the site for a Nike Ajax air-defense battery. During its time in World War II as a recruiting and training base, the famous "Sound off,, one, two" miltary cadence was reportedly invented there.

The installation built on Davids Island was given the name, Ft. Slocum, in honor of Major General Henry Slocum, one of the youngest generals to fight in the Civil War and later a New York congressman. The facility was also once home of the U.S. Army Chaplain School and the U.S. Information School where Army and Air Force personnel were trained in journalism, public affairs and photography.

After being deactivated as military installation, there were reportedly plans by Con Edison to build a nuclear plant there before the island was sold to the city of New Rochelle in 1967.

After lying more or less unused for several years, during the summer of 2008, the city of New Rochelle reportedly demolished every remaining structure on the Island including the iconic water tower which was on the northern end of the Island (as seen above).

Unfortunately, progress in developing a park on Davids Island continues to be difficult. Acording to a posting on the City of New Rochelle website, during his recent State of the City speech on March 11,2010, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson (seen above) talked about the matter, and "to the surprise and delight of many in his audience of citizens and civic leaders," announced a new focus on the project, "envisioning development with sustainable design of world class quality and global demonstration value, to benefit the Island's unique status and potential." (Don't some of those adjectives that sound like something Blanton Belk would have said during one of our conferences? LOL)

Continuing to quote from the City of New Rochelle's website and Mayor Bramson's remarks, "In announcing a fresh approach to Davids Island, Mayor Branson refocuses attention on a site that has both enraptured and frustrated community leaders for decades. Bramson's proposal entails a city-directed planning analysis as a precursor to the selection of a master developer--with significant public access, reasonable and limited scale, and above all, cutting edge sustainable design serving as the guiding principals for any project."

I don't fully know the reasons for concerns, but the Mayor's speech talks about his plan resolving "long standing tensions between economic and environmental goals surrounding the project." More specifically, I have seen reports that the Island today is home to a variety of plants, birds and animals, including an endangered sea turtle, and rare birds such as the osprey and least terns. Davids Island also reportedly supports valuable wetlands, rare rocky intertidal areas and sandy beaches. The waters surrounding the Island are home to Winter Flounder, Atlantic Herring and Atlantic Silversides.

I believe the road above is the one we used to go over to the Island by ferry during our World Sing-Out Festivals. It would have been great during my business trip to steal some time away to go over again by ferry to visit the new park. But as Mayor Bramson says: "Davids Island is a tough nut to crack." Indeed. But he also believes recent federal funds "secured by local Congresswoman Nita Lowey, together with evolving building and design standards, (will create) new options for progress."

I sure hope so, and I suspect so do thousands of former UWP and Sing-Out alumni from all over the world who remember fondly the days we spent on Davids Island so many years ago.

Time to Begin Planning the 45th Reunion

2010-12-01T07:42:00.001-08:00

2011 marks the 45th anniversary of the founding of Sing-Out South.

So it's time to start organizing a Reunion for sometime next year.

And what better place to start than to hold our organizing meeting at Shoney's!

After all, that was the place we often hung out after practices and shows. And while the famous Big Boy (above) is no longer the mascot symbol for the restaurant chain (it's now Shoney Bear), many of the Shoney's still have a semi-private backroom area where a small group can get together and do some planning (and eating, if you are hungry).

And so this Saturday night, December 4 at 5:00 p.m., a few of us will be gathering at the Shoney's in Bellevue, which is located at 7745 Highway 70S. There we will begin to put our ideas and calendars together to see what kind of Reunion we can organize for 2011.

If you are a former SOS or UWP alum in this area, please join us if you'd like. Or if you have thoughts and ideas to suggest send them along to me here on this site or by e-mail (pat.nolan@dvl.com).

More precise directions to the Bellevue Shoney's are:

Go I-40 West towards Memphis

Take Exit 196 (Bellevue/Newsom Station)

At the end of the exit ramp, turn right onto US Highway 70s.

The Shoney is almost immediately on the left, less than .1 of a mile from the I-40 exit.

The Sing-Out South Football Game/Cast vs. Crew

2010-11-24T11:54:00.000-08:00

Other than New Year's Day with all its bowl games, I can't think of an American holiday more identified with football than Thanksgiving.

I guess that's why as the holiday approached this year, I was reminded of the SOS football game between the male members of the cast and the stage crew. We held it in a vacant lot near Vanderbilt just off Natchez Trace (I think either the Student Recreation Center or one of the tennis facilities are there today). I can't remember when we played, but it was probably in the summer of 1968.

Of course, we played touch football.

And the Crew killed us.

I think they may have practiced and developed some plays, including some deep reverses in the backfield that always had us chasing the wrong guy (the one without the ball) while the other player scored.

Except for one play which remains one of my favorite Sing-Out and overall personal sports memories.

For some reason, we required any team that scored to attempt the extra point. Since no one on either side was a kicker (and we had no goal posts anyway), we had to run a play from scrimmage for the conversion.

On this particular extra point attempt, I broke into the backfield while the Crew tried to execute another reverse. This time, I figured out what was coming, intercepted the lateral and took off running for the other end zone.

For the first (and only) time in my life, I outran everyone (including my cousin, Gene) all the way down the field....only to be told that it didn't count. While the defense can return an extra point for two points now, in those days you couldn't, so my dash went for absolutely nothing!

I was exhausted....and not very happy!

Jimmy Wilson, one of my Father Ryan classmates, was the referee that day, and he did remark on what I did when he wrote in my senior yearbook. "That's the way it goes," he said. Which pretty well sums up my athletic career after being blessed with the four Ss, that being short, small, slow and skinny (at least back then).

I don't have any particular Thanksgiving memories surrounding Sing-Out South. Much like the photo above of Norman Rockwell's famous SATURDAY EVENING POST Magazine cover, Thanksgiving is a time for family, so we didn't perform any shows or hold any practices during the holday weekend.

But the warm memories of the people I met and became friends with in Sing-Out are still very important to me. And that's why I am looking forward to planning our 45th reunion to be held sometime in 2011. if you'd like to help or have a memory to share, let me know.

In the meantime....Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Practice, Practice, Practice

2010-11-16T18:50:00.000-08:00

While we talk a lot on this blog about the shows we did all over Nashville, Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, as well as the trips we made to various national conferences, we really spent much more time together practicing the show usually twice a week (Tuesday nights and Saturday afternoons).

That includes a lot of time we spent at the National Guard Armory (seen above) where we practiced at the old Quanset Hut there as well as in the main Armory Auditorium on Sidco Drive as well.

ell.
Most of the very early practices (as seen above) were held at what is now Belmont University. But frankly, from the beginning we held practices all over town. Here's a list of where the original cast practiced from its creation at the end of January, 1966 until the cast left for the ACTION NOW! conference Estes Park Colorado in early June of that same year

Belmont University
Father Ryan Gym (Elliston Place campus)
St. Bernard High Gym
Hillsboro High Auditorium
East High Auditorium
West End High School Auditorium
War Memorial Auditorium
Issac Litton High School
National Guard Armory
David Lipscomb University

Even after the original SOS Cast Director Dan Skuce (seen above) had departed, the tradition of practicing all over Nashville continued when the cast reformed in July, 1966 after the Estes Park conference. It began in the gym at Christ The King Catholic Church grammar school on July 13, 1966. From there the practice sites moved around although in some cases we practiced for several months at a time (and usually stored our stage and our sound equipment there). Those sites included:

St. Thomas School of Nursing Gym & Auditorium
Trevecca Nazarene College
The Boiler Supply Company on Craighead Avenue
First Baptist Church Downtown Activity Building
The National Guard Armory Quanset Hut

Other practice sites included places we had been before along with some new sites:

West End High School
East High School
Main Street Commerce Union Bank in East Nashville
100 Oaks Activity Room
St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church
Apollo Jr. High School
Woodmont Baptist
I doubt that's a complete list but we did do a practice in one very unusual location...Henry Swider's backyard at 50 Vaughn Gap's Road near St. Henry's Catholic Church. I think it was in the late spring or summer of 1967 or '68.

That's Henry Swider pictured above, wearing the football jersey. He was the Director of the Crew and often kept the stage and our audio equipment in the basement of his home with the help of his Dad and other members of the Crew. I guess that's why we once held practice there (maybe we couldn't find anyplace else that Saturday).

At any rate, I don't remember anyone complaining about it, although you know with all the stage and sound equipment being used, it had to be pretty loud. Today, there's no question, someone would have complained and called the police, but it was a very different time back then, as we were learning our craft and enjoying our time together.

Practice on stage at Saint Bernard Academy in the winter of 1966

Practicing "WE VOLUNTEER" for one of the first times during practice at Father Ryan High School in the winter of 1966.

If you have any practice memories to share or if we've missed some sites you remember please leave us a comment or drop me an e-mail at pat.nolan@dvl.com.

Nashville's Christmas Village Turns 50

2010-11-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

One of Nashville's great holiday traditions, Christmas Village, celebrates its 50th year this coming week. Founded in 1961 by the Nashville Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club, all proceeds go to benefit the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, the Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts and other Pi Beta Phi charities.

For Christmas Village this is where it all began back in the 1960s, Nashville's venerable Hippodrome on West End Avenue just across from Centennial Park. And this is where Sing-Out South performed as a part of the Christmas Village festivities in November, 1966. See the photo and cut line below from THE NASHVILLE BANNER featuring some of the Christmas Village volunteers and SOS Cast Director Ted
Overman creating their own Victorian Christmas scene...

The photo above gives an inside look at the old Hippodrome, which normally was used as a roller skating rink and sports arena. But with so many booths squeezed inside along the floor for Christmas Village, I remember how crowded we were doing the show there. Our choreography was a bit bumpy that day.

When the Hippodrome was torn down to make way for the Vanderbilt Holiday Inn in the early 1970s, Christmas Village moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds where for many years now it has transformed the Women's Buildings there into a shopper's paradise...

Frankly that scene looks a lot like how crowded it was when SOS performed there. Some things never change much, I guess. But ironically, as Christmas Village observes a half century of spreading holiday shopping cheer, another move seems to be in the making as it appears likely (the Metro Council approving) that Christmas Village 2011 will be held at the city's new Expo Center at the old Hickory Hollow Mall in Antioch just off I-24.

A Final Reflection On The SMILE

2010-10-26T12:47:00.001-07:00

It's been two weeks since we gathered to see the documentary SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY at the Belcourt Theatre here in Nashville.

I asked those who attended and who were once part of Sing-Out South here in Nashville and/or who traveled with one of the national casts of Up With People to send me their thoughts about they saw and heard.

Ann Garrett Clay and Pat Hankins Kemper came together to see the film. Ann was a part of SOS for several years while attending Overton High School. Pat was also an Overton student and a member of Sing-Out South. She spent some time as well traveling with one of the UWP national casts.

Sing-Out South taping a TV special at WSIX-TV in Nashvillefor Memorial Day, 1967

Said Ann Clay: "I enjoyed the history of the film and the impact of MRA (Moral Rearmament). Even though we (in Sing-Out South) knew about MRA, it never was presented as any political or religious stance to us. We were just a group of good kids spreading songs of freedom and hope to others. I cherish those times and the friendships that have remained for 45 years!"

The combined casts of Up With People leave Estes Park, CO. in the summer of 1966

Said Pat Kemper:"I thought the film was very well done and represented a begining point and history of the UWP movement as well as MRA. Like you, I wish there had been more of an international representation and it would have been nice to see the SOS history incorporated since it was the catalyst for the other two casts (Casts B & C) forming after UWP was in Nashville in 1966."

"As Ann and I were discussing afterwards, there was not a political undertow for us. It was about changing the world, and believing it could be done. Being a part of that was something we wanted to do."

"For me, traveling with the national cast was a life-changing experience and gave me the fortitude to be outspoken and believe in the philosophy that all are created equal;and no matter the color of skin or religious affiliation we have the right to be whatever we want to be."

Nashville's Linda Blackmore Cates, an early UWP star, who is interviewed in the film

"Even though Linda was an internal and intricate part of the beginning of the UWP movement, there were things she saw and did that we had no part of, and knew nothing about what went on behind the scenes or on duck hunting trips" (blogger's note: you need to see the documentary to fully understand this last reference).

Pat had one final comment concerning another powerful part of the film where an UWP cast member deals with one of the parents in a host family in Mississippi, who brandishes a shotgun when he learn he is hosting a black person: "Maggie Inge's experience as a black in the '60s as well as a cast member of UWP was an amazing testimony to what we were trying to do and accomplish."

Sing-Out South tapes an appearance on the local Bozo show in the fall of 1966.

The last SMILE reflection I have to share comes from, Dave Cannon, an SOS cast member and a member of the main trio back in 1967 and '68. You can see Dave on the front row on the far right side of the photo above. Dave remains concerned about the breakup of UWP, the local Sing-Outs and MRA in 1968. He believes the decision was too controlled by UWP leader J. Blanton Belk.

"I still feel a might had....He (Belk) filled the board with absentee board members and one person must have made that decision for all three national casts, all the local casts, and the international casts."

Then Dave added something, I think many of us may have wondered when we left after seeing the film, particularly those of us who used to seeing motion pictures together back in the '60s (such as 2001:A Space Odessey) and then go to Shoney's or other Nashville restaurants and discuss what we saw for hours.

SOS members Bob Sharp and Henry Swider discuss matters during one of our SOS bull sessions.

Said Dave Cannon: "I kept sitting there thinking, I wonder what Henry would have said about that movie?"

Me too, Dave, Me, too. Thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts!

Reflections On THE SMILE II

2010-10-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

It was exactly a week ago since we gathered at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre to see the award-winning documentary SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS:THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY.

Some 80 people were in attendance with a question and answer session following with Lee Storey, the Director of the film and Linda Blackmore Cates, a star of the early Sing-Out and UWP casts, who was interviewed in the production.

I asked all the former SOS and UWP folks who attended to send me their thoughts and here's some of what I have received.

Linda Blackmore Cates had participated in other showings and question and answer sessions about SMILE while it went through the film festival circuit last year, but the Nashville appearance was particularly special because this is now her home town.

"It was an amazing experience for me and my family, as you can imagine. None of them had seen the film, including Bill (Bill Cates was also a early driving force in both UP WITH PEOPLE and Nashville's SING-OUT SOUTH). It was so wonderful to seem so many friends from years past," Linda said.

One of Linda's long-time friends who was present and saw SMILE for the first time was Christy Marsh Haines. She had thoughts of when she first saw Sing-Out' 66 in Nashville and then joined SING OUT SOUTH.

"When Sing Out '66 came through Nashville in January, 1966 I went with a boy I was dating. He was a member of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society--the leftist movement of the day). He went away disgusted. I went away enthusiastic. (We broke up, of course!) I became immediately involved in the leadership of forming the new Sing-Out South in the spring of 1966."

"Those were heady days, meeting with the governor, singing for the state legislature, being endorsed by everyone. We had our own creative element that shaped a great deal of what we did (aided by the national Sing-Out group)."

"This is where I first met Bill Cates, our (SOS) musical director. The first time he ever played "Do You Really Care" for a group was at a planning meeting in our living room. It was in that first Sing-Out South show and later in the Baptist Hymnal."

Christy was 17 and a junior at Hillwood High School in the spring of 1966. She remembers the cast as being about 3/4 high school students, 1/4 quarter college students. She then offers this story about a matter that SMILE focuses on quite a bit about the national Sing-Out/UP WITH PEOPLE movement, the role of Moral Re-Armament.

"I would guess the very great majority of us were committed Christians, involved in local churches...I know we must have heard of Moral Re-Armament, but it was really peripheral. We were not joining Sing-Out South to become a part of MRA. I don't know that any of us had the desire to commit our lives in any ongoing ways to the movement. We knew we would be active, then graduating from college and moving on, or graduating from high school and going off to college, and then passing the torch.

We were passionate about the message of freedom, and equality of people, and all the positive things that began with the individual commitment that then spread to others. In my mind, it was the same message I had been taught in Sunday School. This was just a very organized, attractive way to tell it to lots of people."

But as Christy continued her involvement with Sing-Out South, she did run head long into an issue concerning MRA. It occured when she was selected to make one of the "Speak Outs" during a show, in this case our TV special at Channel 4, WSM-TV.

"In the rehersals, I 'made the mistake' of making some direct Christian reference. I was told I could not do that, and I felt I could not make the speech otherwise. I was replaced. That began my personal research into the history and organization of Moral Re-Armament. I determined that although it had many positive aspects, I wanted to spend my time, talents and energy elsewhere. I really stopped keeping up with it after that, and was amazed to hear that it had continued on into the 1980s."

But while Christy left Sing-Out, she did get back in touch with Bill Cates some years later when they worked together on a musical through the Baptist Sunday School Board. By that time, Bill had married Linda ("Miss Joan Of Arc marries Mr. Do You Really Care," she quips). On meeting Linda she remembers:

"We instantly became good friends, and then no matter where in the country either of us moved, we stayed in touch, until we both ended up actually living in the same city (Nashville) and raising our children together. Part of that deep-friendship is based in not just the knowledge of, but also the understanding of, how we grew up through Up With People and Sing-Out."

Christy offers one last reflection about our evening with SMILE.

"My son-in-law Charlie Pray asked the question (durng the Q&A) about the lasting effects of the movement, and Linda answered in terms of passing it on to her children. I started thinking about how her involvement impacted thousands of us "next generations" as individuals. And how we "next generations" impacted thousands more of the next generation as individual people, and so forth. Each of us see those ideals that we incorporated in out personal lives bearing fruit in our children and our grandchildren.

Linda, you bore hundreds of thousands of children, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

I have other SMILE reflections to share. More in my next posting here soon.

Reflections on THE SMILE

2010-10-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

It was quite an evening as the award-winning documentary SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS:THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY debuted at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre with a Question & Answer session following, involving Director Lee Storey and former UWP cast member, Linda Blackmore Cates, who was interviewed for the film.

I would estimate there were about 60-70 people who came to see the show. Actually, I was a little low. The final attendance was 80 people according to officials at the Belcourt. Among the former Sing-Out South and UWP folks (who I saw there) were:

Pat Hankins Kemper
Ann Garrett Clay
Gene Nolan
Pat Nolan
Christy Marsh Haines
Linda Blackmore Cates
Bill Cates
Hazel Robinson
Jerry Baker
Dave Cannon
George Thomas
Ruth Hammontree Anstrey
Judy Engels

After I announced at the Question & Answer session that we are trying to organize a 45th Reunion for Sing-Out South in 2011, two other UWP alumni from the 1980s contacted me and want to be involved. I have added them to our list.

One of the fun parts of the documentary was watching all the historic footage (some never seen before) of the UWP casts performing over the years. Among the crowd of folks who appeared on screen (usually very briefly) included several former Sing-Out South folks, including, of course Linda Cates and her husband Bill, as well as Steve Hinton who I spotted running down an airport tarmac carrying some luggage. This footage was likely taken when he was with Cast C during their tour of Panama in 1967

There were also a couple of long shots of Wanda Ricks Harrell on screen while she was listening and singing on stage during a performance. Very nice footage of you, Wanda! You can see her below in the freeze frame of the video and about minute into this preview trailer of the documentary....

I also spotted Harriet Cates and I think Alfred Saffel in one of the shots of the cast, and then there was perhaps the most unexpected photo.

It is very brief snippet of...of all things... the original cast of SING-OUT SOUTH from an early show featuring Eddie Lunn and Don Johnson...

This is a photograph of the SOS performance that is shown briefly in the documentary. As you can see it was done before we had our uniforms selected and therefore occured prior to our premiere shows at Hillsboro High School March 25-26, 1966.

When I saw the film clip, I recognized this particular performance because of the somewhat unique curtain treatment at the top of the stage. This show was one we did at the old Seward Air Force in early March, 1966. Only a portion of the original cast was involved, designated as a "Task Force" to do the show.

I have found some newspaper clips about this which I will scan and research further, then try and put up more information soon here on the blog.

But the real questions are: How did a film of this SOS performance wind up in the vaults of Up With People? Why was it filmed? Does anyone who performed in that show remember a camera crew being there that night?

This is a very exciting find! This could be the ONLY remaining footage of SOS in performance! Yes, we did several TV shows, but the video tapes of those shows have been lost forever with only a couple of audio tapes surviving. This could be a one of kind thing!

I asked Lee Storey about that footage after the Q&A session. She was not completely sure but thought it was done in a 16mm format. I am going to try and keep in touch with her to see if we can get access to it, so we can make a copy to show at the Reunion. Wouldn't that be great!

I have more thoughts and reflections to share about the substance of the documentary itself. I have asked others to send me their thoughts and a few of them have done so. I will be posting those in the new few days.

In the meantime, Lee Storey says SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS will be available for sale on DVD next year. I hope we can get a copy of that as well to show on a large screen TV at the Reunion. That would another treat...and I know would generate quite a discussion, as you will see from some of the comments of those who saw the SMILE documentary Monday night.

I will be posting that next time.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS

2010-10-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

Tickets are now on sale both on-line and at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville for the October 11 & 12 showings of the award-winning documentary: SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY.

The show begins both nights at 7:00 p.m. with a special after-the-show question and answer session Monday with the Director Lee Storey and with Nashville's own Linda Blackmore Cates, one of the early stars of UP wITH PEOPLE, who is interviewed in the film.

Here is a clip from the documentary that features Linda....

The documentary addresses a lot of issues. Here's clip that talks about the overiding issue of the late 1960s...the War in Vietnam..

Question and answer sessions concerning the film have been held several times before as the documentary has made its way through various film festivals and other showings over the past several months since its original release. Here's one following an appearance in Florida in April, 2009.....

If you were involved with UP WITH PEOPLE (or Sing-Out South here in Nashville), this promises to be an extraordinary event, especially if you come to the 7 p.m. show on Monday evening and stay for the questions & answer session that follows.

Ticket prices are $8.75 for adults, $7.25 for students and military (with IDs), Children (11 & under) $7.25, seniors (65+) $6.25 and Belcourt members, $5.75.

Please join us!

Why Come To See "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS"?

2010-10-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Tickets go on sale Wednesday (October 6) at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre to see the award-winning documentary "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY." The 80-minute film will be shown on Monday, October 11 and Tuesday, October 12, each night at 7:00 p.m. Tickets will be available on line and at the Belcourt box office in Hillsboro Village.

Since the mid-1960s, UP WITH PEOPLE has traveled all across the United States and the world, being seen by more than 20 million people. Its casts have performed at a record 4 Super Bowls. So why go see this documentary, especially if you were a part of UWP or one its local Sing-Outs such as Sing-Out South here in Nashville? What can you learn?

That's an individual question for everyone to determine for themselves. But clearly for those of us involved over 40 years ago, it may present an opportunity to reflect back on what we all did together back then and think about what it means, both then and now. Besides, it will just be great to get back together and see each other and maybe starting thinking about a 45th Reunion for Sing-Out South sometime in 2011. The film will also give us a chance to travel down memory lane as we get the unique opporunity to view never-before-seen archival footage of UWP from back in the day.

If you attend Monday night's event (October 11), you'll have another unique opportunity to stay afterwards for a question and answer session with the documentary's Director Lee Storey and Nashville's own Linda Blackmore Cates, one of UWP early stars and a cast member interviewed in the film.

Here's an excerpt from a previous Q&A session held at the Florida Film Festival last September (2009). Here Lee Storey talks about how "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS" came to be along with other topics including perhaps the most famous UWP alumni, actress Glenn Close...

To give you even more of a flavor for what might be in store at question and session session following Monday's documentary showing. Here's an excerpt from the discussion following the premiere of "SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS" at the Slamdance Film Festival in Arizona back in January, 2009.

In this clip from YouTube, you will see and hear from folks whose names you will remember from our days in UWP and Sing-Out. That includes John Parker, John Sayre (who is also interviewed in the film) along with Eric Ross (also in the documentary) and Linda Blackmore Cates, who even mentions another former SOS member, Hazel Robinson. It is a fascinating exchange....

Now please understand ,there may be parts of the documentary and things that are said you don't like or agree with at all. But as I remember being in Sing-Out and UWP, having spirited discussions was an ongoing part of what we did. You may also gain some new perspective on what we all did together so many years ago.

Ticket prices are $8.75 for adults, $7.5 for students and military (with ID), children $7.25 (11 years of age and younger) and seniors (65+) $6.25.

Please join us for what promises to be an extraordinary evening both Monday and Tuesday nights.

TICKETS GO ON SALE WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 6TH FOR SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS

2010-09-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Tickets go on sale at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre (and on-line at www.belcourt.org),
Wednesday, October 6th for the award-winning documentary, SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY.

The film dates are Monday, October ll and Tuesday, October 12 at 7:00 p.m. Former members of Nashville's Sing-Out South cast and anyone who traveled with UP WITH PEOPLE are urged to attend Monday's performance, which will be followed by a special question & answer session that will feature Lee Storey, the Director of the SMILE documentary, as well as Linda Blackmore Cates, a star of the original Sing-Out cast and UP WITH PEOPLE.

Linda is interviewed during the documentary. She presently lives in Franklin with her husband Bill Cates, who was also a driving musical force both in Sing-Out South and UP WITH PEOPLE.

Below, courtesy of YouTube is an inteview with Lee Storey conducted right after the release of SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS some months back. Here she gives some background on how and why she decided to make the documentary....

Ticket prices are $8.75 adults, $7.25 students and military with ID, $7.25 Children, 11 and under, $6.25, seniors (65+). For members of the Belcourt tickets are $5.75.

The SMILE film features never-before-seen archival footage of the UP WITH PEOPLE cast which were seen by over 20 million people world wide as well as being featured during the halftime of four different Super Bowls.

The video has won both praise and criticism from those previously involved with Sing-Out and UWP. The after-event question & answer session will give everyone a chance to discuss their thoughts and feelings, much as we often did back in our days in Sing-Out and UWP.

We can also take the opportunity to share our contact information as well as our thoughts and ideas about how to hold a 45th Reunion sometime during 2011 to celebrate the founding of Sing-Out South back in 1966. Both SOS and UWP members would be invited.

If you have any thoughts about SMILE or a possible reunion right now, please leave them here on the blog site below.

(Thanks to Bill Cates for the information on when the tickets go on sale!)

SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS COMING TO NASHVILLE!

2010-09-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

The multi-award winning documentary SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY is coming to Nashville on Monday, October 11 and Tuesday, October 12 for 7:00 p.m. evening performances both nights at the Belcourt Theatre in Hillsboro Village.

Former local UWP and Sing-Out South members are strongly urged to attend the premiere showing on Monday evening, October 11 which will also include a post-film question & answer session with Director Lee Storey and former UWP cast member Linda Blackmore Cates, who now lives in the Franklin area along with her husband, Bill, who was a major musical force in the founding days of Sing-Out South as well as with UP WITH PEOPLE.

From what I know and have seen from clips from the documentary, there will be plenty to talk about and discuss after seeing the film. Besides, this is a great excuse for all of us former UWP and SOS members to get together again, even those of you who live outside Nashville but might want to make the trip here to see this fascinating film.

We can also use our time together to discuss a possible SOS Reunion sometime in 2011 to celebrate the 45th anniversary next year of the founding of our group in 1966.

The 80-minute SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS documentary explores "the clean cut, smile drenched singing phenomenon(of the 1960s-1980s)..that was seen by 20 million people (worldwide) and performed at (a record) 4 Super Bowls." It features reflections of several former cast members and others and uses never-before-seen archival footage of the cast and its performances from years gone by.

Here's a trailer to give you some idea about the film and some of the issues it discusses....

As you can see from this roughly two-minute movie trailer, there are likely a lot of things about this documentary that will take you back in time, bring back a lot of wonderful memories and make you proud. It will also possibly inform you of some things you didn't know or hadn't thought about during or after our involvement with Sing-Out and Up With People. And frankly, some of it may also make you mad or feel the documentary involves some revisionist history.

I think all of that is great. My memories of being in Sing-Out South and UP WITH PEOPLE were how often we engaged in deep, long discussions about the issues of our world and our lives in those days. Some times, we did those things after shows or practices and sometimes we even did it after going to the movies together, including some at the Belcourt Theatre.

Here's such a photo below. Now, I have no idea what Bob Sharp (left) and the late Henry Swider were discussing when this photo was taken, but you can see it was a intense and likely heart-felt as so many of our discussions were and likely will be again after we gather to see this film on Monday evening, October 11 at the Belcourt...

Ticket prices are $8.75 for adults, students/miltary (with ID) $7.25, children under 11 $7.25 and (for any who qualify and I doubt we do LOL) seniors (65+) $6.25.

In the coming days I will continue to feature more excerpts from the documentary and I urge you to get your tickets NOW to see us on Monday, October 11. If you've seen the film and have thoughts to share please leave them below. Or if you want to let folks know you're coming and want to encourage others to attend, leave your message below or call and contact all your former SOS and UWP buddies to get them to attend what promises to be a very special evening, especially the discussion and question & answer session afterwards with Director Lee Storey (whose husband was a part of UWP) and our own Linda Blackmore Cates, one of the stars of the early days of Sing-Out and UP WITH PEOPLE.

One Last Time On Wedgewood For The Tennessee State Fair

2010-09-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

After 104 years on its historic grounds along Wedgewood Avenue in South Nashville, the Tennessee State Fair has begun the final week of its annual fall run. There will likely be no reprieve this time. This is the last year, at least at this location.

Sing-Out South was very proud to be a part of the Fair both in 1966 and 1967. The first year (as seen above), we performed at the top of the hill, just outside the Raceway on a flat bed truck sponsored by WENO Radio. The Fair was in recovery mode that fall having just suffered the tremendous loss to fire of the historic Women's Buildings seen below.

After performing literally on the ruins of the old Women's Building in our 1966 State Fair appearance, in 1967 we moved inside the old Nashville Raceway and performed in front of the grandstand.

While we could accomodate larger audiences there, we needed our full sound system to be heard. Everyone was seated quite a distance away as we performed in the infield of the Raceway (as opposed to having the crowd standing right on top of us us when we were on the WENO flat bed truck in 1966).

To our advantage, the infield did not sway the way the truck did when we performed our choreography for songs like "Don't Stand Still" as seen below in this photography and cut line from THE NASHVILLE BANNER

I remember some hot afternoons when we peformed at the Fair, especially our Raceway grandstand performances with the sun being right in our eyes some days.

In 1966, we did both a late afternoon and then an evening performance, which gave us a chance to watch another show performed right down the way called GOOD NEWS (which was sponsored by the Belmont Heights Baptist Church), and which some folks in Sing-Out South also participated in and even wrote some of their songs.

Of course, between shows, we also had a lot of fun visiting the Midway to ride the rides and get something to eat, even though, if you look carefully at the photo below, we were not exactly eating healthy in those days (good thing we got a lot of exercise doing the SOS show!).

My favorite story about Sing-Out South at the State Fair (and I have told it before on this blog)came in 1966 after we had eaten and enjoyed ourselves on the Midway one afternoon, then returned for our evening show.

We were supposed to wait until after the fireworks were over, but for some reason they seemed late that night (maybe because we needed to get home to do our homework for school). At rate, we went on before the fireworks and started our show (as we always did) with our national anthem, THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. As luck would have it, just as we sang "and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air," up came the fireworks!

It thrilled the audience who gave us a great ovation, thinking we had coordinated what happened, instead of realizing (as we all did on stage), that it was just dumb (but wonderful)luck!

It looks like, after just over a century, the Tennessee State Fair has run out of luck for continuing on its annual September run at its historic Wedgewood Avenue location in South Nashville.

If there is a Tennessee State Fair in the future, it will be located somewhere else in Davidson County on a site yet to be determined. It will also very likely be operated by some group other than the local government (and there appear to be some interested folks). The administration of Mayor Karl Dean has decided the Fair has lost too much money in recent years and has outlived its usefulness. A study has decided the current Fairgrounds ought be redeveloped as a city park and perhaps for other uses yet to be determined or announced.

And so, still treasuring the many fond memories of attending and performing at the Fair, I will close this blog post with a song that we used to performed to close our SOS shows.

And its title seems kind of fitting as well about the future of the Fair.
It's "Which Way, America?'....

Free music - Which Way America?

The Bandshell

2010-08-30T12:13:00.001-07:00

The Bandshell in Centennial Park is the site of some of Sing-Out South's most memorable shows, particularly in August of 1967 and again in 1968 before the cast went off later in the month to the World Sing-Out Festival held both years on David's Island at Ft. Slocum near New Rochelle, New York and just outside New York City.

While we never charged admission for our shows, both concerts at the Bandshell were fund raising efforts to generate some of the money we needed to take up to 45 SOS members to the Festival. We also did a 100-hour marathon car wash, but that's another blog posting for the future. Overall, we needed between $3,000 to $5,000 (the newspaper clips give different numbers), which was quite a bit of change back in those days.

We raised the money with the assistance of some political clout that included getting Governor Buford Ellington (above) to bring local members of the SOS cast to his office to proclaim the night of the show in 1967 (August 5) to be the beginning of Sing-Out South Week in Nashville. From the left in the photo are Glenn Nave, Jackie Dodson, Gene Nolan, The Governor, Jerry Baker, Pat Nolan (me) and SOS Cast Director Jill Walters.

We even got the previous Governor Frank Clement (seen above) to be the master of ceremonies for the Bandshell show in 1967, as well as getting an article placed in THE TENNESSEAN about the event. Given how strongly THE NASHVILLE BANNER covered us on a regular basis such an article in the morning paper was almost unheard of.

Also beyond belief was the tremendous speech given by former Governor Clement during the intermission of our show. There was an overflow crowd that evening stretching all the way from the Bandshell to Watauga Lake. It was as least as large as the 2,000people estimated to have been there the previous summer when one of the national casts of Up With People performed. The audience's response to the speech of Governor Clement was overwhelming, filling to overflowing the little blue SOS buckets we always circulated around to raise money at our shows. And so we were soon on our way to New York City....

I have never forgotten those shows at the Bandshell. Playing there was a real coup, since this was the venue where for so many years (beginning back in 1937) the long-standing Sunday afternoon summer concerts sponsored by THE TENNESSEAN were held.

So many well-known artists such as Minnie Pearl, Roger Miller, Tex Ritter, Chet Atkins, Brenda Lee, the Everly Brothers, Bill Monroe, Ray Stevens, Eddy Arnold, among others performed there. Even Nashville's Pat Boone (who was later the emcee of one of UWP's national TV specials) got an early break by performing here. And so did we of Sing-Out South helping to raise some of the money we needed to go to two of our national conferences.Here's one of the songs we performed at the Bandshell,"The Ride of Paul Revere," as done by the national cast of Up With People...

Free music - The Ride Of Paul Revere

A wonderful song performed on some nights over 40 years ago that still contain some great memories.

Fort Campbell

2010-08-23T11:36:00.001-07:00

It can never be forgotten that our time in Sing-Out South (1966-1971)was also the period during which our nation was at war in Vietnam. Many songs in our show were strongly patriotic (such as WE ARE WITH YOU, MR. WASHINGTON) and that often put us in the midst of criticism and controversy for supporting an increasingly unpopular war. The idea of supporting the troops, even if you had questions about the war itself, was not a well-known or popular concept in those days.

Not surprisingly, the casts of Up With People and Sing-Out South were frequently asked to perform at military bases around the country. For SOS that meant traveling up to Ft. Campbell, an army installation that is located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennesse border.

Ft. Campbell was a very busy place in those days. In July, 1965 the 1st Brigade of the resident 101st Airborne Division was sent for duty in Vietnam, and as hostilities increased, the rest of the division was deployed. Meantime, on May 2, 1966, a Basic Combat Training Center (for draftees) was established at Fort Campbell. By July 11 of that year it already had a full complement of 1,100 trainees. It was these soliders in training that we in Sing Out South entertained from time to time. The Training Center was deactivated in April of 1972....

This photo (which is of me) probably only made the troops laugh.

This was taken right before my last show in Sing-Out South in the fall of 1969. I came up to do the performance at Ft. Campbell right before I started my classes in college. Our run of the show that day (and the reason for me wearing that uniform)included a song that always got a great reception from the troops. It was "THE FIGHTIN' NINTH INFANTRY" as performed here by Frank Fields and Up With People....

Free music - The Fighting Ninth

As much as I always thought that song got a great reception, especially at Ft. Campbell, what really got the trainees all stirred up is a plain as the picture below....

Our SOS cast (and all the national casts of Up With People) were always full of many attractive young ladies. These new troops had probably not seen any women at all during their entire time of training. So, not surprisingly, they were the stars of our show. Did the troops even hear our songs and our message? I think so, but they still liked seeing the ladies better, I am sure.

Any former SOS or UWP female cast members please feel free to leave your thoughts and memories below from touring and performing at bases like Fort Campbell.

An SOS Quartet For The Hall Of Fame

2010-08-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

When the Up With People Alumni Association held its recent annual 45th Reunion festivities in Arizona, one of the new events was the creation of an Up With People Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Not surprisingly, and most appropriately, the initial class of inductees includes the Colwell Brothers and Herb Allen, the true driving musical forces behind, first, Sing Out, and then the Up With People Show, as it swept across America and throughout the world in the mid-to-late 1960s....

As the Up With People Songwriters Hall of Fame continues to expand each year, I'd like to nominate a quartet of gentlemen to be inducted. All of them have strong ties to the original cast of Sing-Out South, and provided many memorable songs to both SOS and the national casts...

It begins with Bill Cates, who began his work with Sing-Out South by writing and producing many songs for our original premiere shows at Hillsboro High School in late March, 1966. That included several signature songs for the cast including "We Volunteer" and "Sing-Out South." Other pieces he created and (in some cases)performed for those early shows include "Get Up & Go", "We Refuse To Go To The Dogs" and "Let Our Voices Be Heard." Perhaps the most lasting work he wrote for SOS was a song later included in the Baptist Hymnal "Do You Really Care", performed so beautifully by the late Donna Dowthitt....

When Bill joined the national cast of Sing-Out, then Up With People, his creative talents continue to grow. He is credited with at least a dozen songs in a review of Up With People sheet music on line. Those songs include "Dawn Of The Morning Of Time," "The Wonder Of It All" (with his wife Linda Blackmore Cates), "John David Sebastian Smith", "A Memorable Tune" and many others, including one of my favorites, which we also performed in Sing-Out South, "Gee I'm Looking Forward To The Future"....

Free music - Gee, I'm Looking Forward To The Future

The other three former Sing-Out South members I would like to nominate to the Up With People Songwriters Hall of Fame can be seen from the photo above. They are The Volunteers from Cast C of Up With People in the late 1960s. They are, beginning second from the left, Ken Ashby, Dick Smith and Cabot Wade (George Brown is the other member of The Volunteers and he is first on the left in the photo).

Both Ken Ashby and Dick Smith were members of the Tennessee Tech Quartet in Sing-Out South, performing as you can see below (with Lee Piepmeier and Joe Capers) from one of our original shows....

Free music - Walk On Through

Both Dick Smith and Cabot Wade have now once again become active with Up With People. That includes their work together as the WADE-SMITH band which provided the musical background for an alumni-based show (including the Colwells and Herb Allen) called "A Song For the World" which was performed in the summer of 2009 in Branson, MO. and may soon be taken on tour including a possible trip to Jamaica...

Dick Smith today

Dick Smith is credited with writing and creating a number of songs for Up With People. In addition to "Walk On Through" with Ken Ashby, he was also involved in either the lyrics or music of "It's Happening!", "How I Feel!", "I Get A Kick Out Of Life," "You Are What You Do," "Thinking About The Days Ahead," "A Thing To Do," and a song he wrote and we performed in Sing-Out South, "Let The Rafters Ring"....

Free music - Let The Rafters Ring

Cabot Wade today

Cabot Wade was a member of the original trio in Sing-Out South called the Hickory Valley Trio.Here he is below in the center of the photo along with Eddie Lunn on the left and Ted Overman on the right (on bass). This photo was taken in June, 1966 on the evening when SOS was leaving for the national Sing-Out conference in Estes Park, CO...

After he joined the national cast of Sing-Out '66 and Up With People, Cabot wrote the lyrics for or provided the music for several songs. We've talked before about his song "Ashes" for example. His other songs include "Song Of The Soul" and Live It Live!"( both with Ken Ashby), along with two songs we did in Sing-Out South "Is There A Reason Why" and "The World Is Your Hometown".....

Free music - Is There A Reason Why?

Free music - The World Is Your Hometown

So that's a little taste of the musical talents of this quartet of Sing-Out South song writers. While I know there are others who deserve to be enshined as well in the new Up With People Songwriters Hall of Fame, I believe each of these guys do as well. Since some of their songs date from a period after many of the readers of this blog had moved on from active participation in Up With People, I will take some opportunities to provide some more samples here of their work in the future.

We've Lost Rachel Steele

2010-08-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Rachel Steele, a noted Nashville attorney, and a member of Sing-Out South back in 1966-67, has passed away. She died on August 7.

Her death notice appeared in the Wednesday edition (August 11)of THE TENNESSEAN. She was 58. No cause of death was listed.

A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday, August 12 at 11:00 a.m. in the Chapel of the First Presbyterian Church, 4815 Franklin Road in Nashville. Memorials are requested to be made in Rachel's name to the William Cain Revolving Loan Fund for the benefit of the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program, 200 4th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219 or to the charity of your choice.

Rachel was a graduate of Harpeth Hall, where she was a three-time state diving champion. She took her studies very seriously, finishing third in her high school class. In fact, the reason she ultimately left the SOS cast was to concentrate more on her classes. She then earned her undergraduate degree and law degree from Duke University.

She worked with distinction for several years in the State Attorney General's office and once sought to be elected to a judgeship. She was active in her church (Downtown Presybyterian) where she served as an elder and clerk of the session.

Rachel stayed in touch with several of her Sing-Out friends, including hosting a small gathering in her home last February when Beverly Barry was visiting in town.I think she also attended both of our SOS Reunions in 1989 and 2006.

She will be missed. Rest in peace, Rachel.

If you have any thoughts or condelences to share, please feel free to leave them below.

Is It SOS Reunion Time Again?

2010-08-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Just a few weeks ago, The UP WITH PEOPLE Alumni Association held its annual Reunion weekend in Arizona, with a special emphasis on the 45th anniversary for those who were members of the first five years of the cast (1965-1970). By my count from the UWP Alumni web page close to 100 former Sing-Out and Up With People cast members from that era were present, including those with ties to Sing-Out South and Tennessee such as Cabot Wade, Ken Smith, Lindy Short and the current UWP Alumni President Vickie Henthorn Law, who is a University of Tennessee-Knoxville graduate.

From what I can see and tell from the photos and comments posted on Facebook, it looks like everyone had a great time, and from the photo above you can see it had a bit of a Tennessee flavor with Cabot (center) and Ken (left) performing with their band (Smith-Wade Band) during the event.
So now the question is: Is it time for another SOS Reunion? Our founding was in late January,1966 and our premiere shows were in March of that same year, so we will hit 45 years old ourself next year in 2011.

This is a large part of the group that joined us for Reunion Weekend in Nashville for our 40th Anniversary back in 2006. We had a Friday night reception at the Holiday Inn-Vanderbilt, followed by a Sing-Out Retrospective at the Metro Archives the next afternoon, followed by a dinner at Belmont University (where the cast held its first practices). We closed out the weekend with a brunch at a local Shoney's which was one of our favorite cast hangouts back in the day.

At the time, the consensus was we wanted to get together before we hit the big 50 in 2016. The only other time we had organized an official reunion was back in late December, 1989.

Here's a photo from that evening when we had close to 100 cast members returning for a night together at Nashville's Millenium Maxwell House.

By the way on the groups photos, just click on them for a larger view and it will help you see who was with us in 2006 as well as 1989.

So how about it? Who is ready to help us organize a 45th Reunion? Who can help us find lost alums? By the way, I have contact information now for close to 75 former members. With Facebook, e-mail, this blog and rest of the internet, finding folks and getting people excited and informed ought to be easier than in years past.

We also need your help with ideas and suggestions about when to hold the Reunion and what to do. We will also need help in helping us line up the logistics of whatever we decide to do. That includes any ideas about us getting together to practice and have some kind of SOS Reunion show. The national cast did one several years ago, along with the new show Cabot Wade organized in Branson next year which now may be going to Jamaica soon.

We probably won't get nearly that ambitious.

Let me know what you think, either by leaving your thoughts and ideas below or by contacting me by e-mail, pat.nolan@dvl.com. It's already late summer. If we want to have a good event in 2011, we need to start planning! Thanks for your help!

A Follow-Up from the "Ashes"

2010-07-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Back in January, I was contacted by a former Sing-Out South cast member, Morris Lovette (1969-1971). He had the lyrics to a Sing-Out/Up With People song he couldn't get out of his head, but he couldn't remember name of the song or the rest of the words.

After he told me what lyrics he could remember, I quickly identified the song as "Ashes," which was actually co-written by another former SOS cast member Cabot Wade, along with his former-wife, the actress Glenn Close, and another co-author named L. Reeder.

I got Morris and Cabot in touch with each other and then I shared on this blog (posting January 20, 2010) what Cabot remembered about how the song was written during an Up With People tour in Italy. You can check out the posting by looking through our site archives.

Morris asked if he could find the sheet music, lyrics or a recording of "Ashes?" How about two out of three?

Just recently someone under the name of SSchoonmaker visited this blog site and left a message on the comments section of the January 20 posting, including leaving the song lyrics (from the album Up With People III)

Ashes

Can you build a new world on the ashes of the old

If your heart is full of ashes and slowly growing cold?

Can you make other people want to care

If you're all burnt out from finding trouble ev'rywhere,

Trouble ev'erwhere!

Chorus

No there's a better way I know there's got to be

The weight is just too heavy and alone we'll never see

That world we could build together, nothing like before,

With new life to fill the emptiness forever,

With new life to fill the emptiness forever,

With new life to fill the emptiness forevermore.

Can you mold a new world with the red hot fires of hate?

Can you bring on peace when men cannot seem to wait

To tear down their enemies, then probably their friends,

To add to all the misery that never seems to end?

Chorus

While I haven't been able to find any sheet music, here's a recording of "Ashes" from the album "Up With People III"

Free music - Ashes

See, isn't technology a great way to take a trip back through time! Any other SOS/Up With People tunes someone wants to hear again or know more about? Just leave your request by clicking on remarks link below.

Another Sing-Out Dad Has Passed Away

2010-07-11T07:58:00.001-07:00

Willam Albert Goodman, the father of Sing-Out South members, Gayle Goodman Sasser and Dave (Harry) Goodman, passed away (June 24) at the age of 95 in Portsmouth, VA. An obituary printed in today's SUNDAY TENNESSEAN (July 11) says he kept "his quiet wit to the end." Mr.Goodman's wife of 56 years, Ann had previously passed away. They had 3 children (William was their other child), 3 grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren.Both Gail (Suffolk) and Dave (Chantilly) also now live in Virgina.

A 1934 graduate of Hume Fogg High School here in Nashville, Mr. Goodman served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, then worked as an accountant for the Dr. Pepper Company, as well secretary-treasurer for both Sumner Construction and Walton Construction Company before he retired. He remained an avid golfer until just a few years ago at the age of 88.

What I and others in Sing-Out best remember the Goodmans for was their willingness to share their two children with the cast and to allow us to come to their homes for get-togethers, parties and other activities during those years in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Gail Goodman Sasser is second from the left (slightly obscured) singing with a group at an SOS show in the spring of 1967. Others in the photo include Marlene Echols Kinnard, Debbie Jones Bauder and Karen Davis Brock. I believe Gail, was are a member of the original cast of Sing-Out South and also spent some time traveling with one of the national Up With People shows.

Dave "Harry" Goodman was a leader in Sing-Out South, both on and off stage. After performing in the cast in his early days, he became was a major part of the stage crew often operating the sound board. He also served on the cast's Steering Committee.

There will be a memorial service for Gail & Dave's Dad at Woodmont Bpatist Church, 2100 Woodmont Blvd., on Saturday, August 14 at 10:30 a.m. Mr. Goodman was a member of that church for over 50 years. Memorials are requested to Progress, Inc, 319 Ezell Pike, Nashville, TN 37217. Mr. Goodman was a co-founder of Progress, Inc., a not-for-profit organization for adults with developmental disabilities.

May he rest in peace and fruitful long life!

The 4th of July!

2010-07-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Given the many patriotic songs we performed, there's no question the 4th of July is the national holiday that most comes to mind when you think of Sing-Out South.

But ironically, the original SOS cast did not perform live on its first July 4th in 1966. Instead, the group was winding up its time at the ACTION NOW national Sing-Out conference in Estes Park, CO., where many were joining up with one of the Up With People national casts.

Sing-Out South did, however, have a major presence in the Nashville and Middle Tennessee area that holiday some 44 years ago. Our first TV special "A Living Declaration" (which was taped at WSM-TV studios in May) aired on the station on July 3, 1966 and then had an encore performance on July 9 (by public demand reported a story in THE NASHVILLE BANNER).

Jim Troutner

Eddie Lunn

The Channel 4 TV show featured cast members Jim Troutner, Eddie Lunn and, indeed, the entire cast reciting major portions of the Declaration of Independence, all intermingled with our many patriotic songs such as CAN'T YOU HEAR AMERICA CALLING?, VOLUNTEERS OF TENNESSEE, WE VOLUNTEER,and perhaps, most appropriately for this holiday (as performed by the UP WITH PEOPLE national cast), FREEDOM ISN'T FREE....

Free music - Freedom Isn't Free

By the way, there is an audio recording of the "A Living Declaration" TV show that has survived these past four decades plus. I hope to find a way to post portions of it here on the blog in the future.

As for the other 4th of Julys back in the late 1960s, SOS did perform in the Kingston Springs' 4th of July festival in 1967 as well as participating in the parade that was held in that small town just outside of Nashville....

The 1967 4th of July holiday was a big one for Sing-Out South as we also performed a major show on July 2 for area Boy Scouts at Camp Boxwell. The following year on July 4, 1968 we gave a show for members (and their families) of Post 88 of the American Legion on Elm Hill Pike, which is still an active American Legion Post to this day.

This is how hundreds of thousands of folks in Nashville celebrate the 4th of July today! Beginning under Mayor Richard Fulton back in the mid-1980s, the city has returned to its roots along the Cumberland River to celebrate our nation's birthday with a major fireworks show and a world class musicial concert (as only Nashville as The Music City can do).

Courtesy of YouTube, here are some highlights from the 2009 celebration, featuring Wynonna, the Nashville Symphony and other artists, then closing with some unbelievable fireworks...

I'd like to think that if Sing-Out South was around today, we'd be a part of Nashville's major 4th of July celebration just as we were so many years ago.

Happy 4th everyone! Happy Birthday and God bless the U.S.A.!

Happy Birthday!

2010-06-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

An early Sing-Out South practice at Belmont College (now University), Winter 1966

It was one year ago today....June 29, 2009 that the Spirit of Sing-Out South was born.

Since our first posting that day, we've added 62 others to this blog (more than one a week) outlining the interesting history and times of our singing group from the 1960s.

I urge you to take a moment to look back through the posts. It will bring back a lot of good times and great memories. The postings are listed on the left hand side of this blog by month.

We've covered a lot of events and topics, but we've still got a lot more to do (especially thanks to the contributions of Harriet & Bob Cates who have given me a new treasure trove of photos, newspaper clippings and other documents from their time with Sing-Out South and Up With People).

I am not sure exactly how you celebrate a birthday for a blog, except maybe to post our theme song as sung by the original national cast of Up With People with the Colwell Brothers.

It is, of course, UP WITH PEOPLE!

Free music - Up with People

Sing Out South performing the song Up With People during a TV show taping at Nashville's public television station WDCN-TV, Channel 2 in the late fall of 1968.

As we begin our second year for the Spirit of Sing-Out South,if you have thoughts and memories to share, please feel free to leave them by clicking on the comments link below. Please also contact me (pat.nolan@dvl.com) if you have memorabilia you'd like to share.

Woodbury!

2010-06-26T07:33:00.001-07:00

During the summer months of the late 1960s, Sing-Out South traveled all over Middle Tennessee. That includes two years in a row (June 28, 1967 and June 29, 1968)coming to the town of Woodbury to perform to large crowds in front of the Cannon County Courthouse which is seen above.

Woodbury today includes some 1.7 square miles with a population of about 2,500 people according to the 2000 Census (perhaps it will be larger after the Census this year).

The town is located a bit south of Nashville and due east of Murfreesboro. There was no I-24 back when SOS traveled there, so we likely came down U.S. Highway 70s. What I can't remember is whether we traveled by bus or did a car caravan. But I do remember the Woodbury shows.

In someways it would appear the town looks much the same today as it did over four decades ago. Not only does the Historic Courthouse look the same so does much of the surrounding square....

Each time we came to Woodbury we did two shows, one in the late afternoon, then after a dinner break, we peformed again beginning at dusk. In an earlier post on this blog site (August 9, 2009),I told the story of how in 1967, I took a tumble on stage while performing YOU CAN'T LIVE CROOKED AND THINK STRAIGHT, because some cast members forgot to catch me when I was supposed to fall backwards during the song.

Another story that also occurred during one of the Woodbury shows comes from drummer Rick Jolly who was supposed to throw up his drum sticks at one point. He did, but they wound up flying backwards and broke out a window in the courthouse! Whoops!

During those days, the stage crew, led by Henry Swider and Gene Nolan taped all our shows. A recording from one of the 1968 Woodbury shows survives. While I have not been able to find a way to post any of it here on the blog, I have found a way to post a recording done by the national UP WITH PEOPLE (from the the album FRONTIERS OF TOMMORROW)singing the song we always began the second half of our shows in those days. It's entitled SING OUT and its always been one of my favorites.....

Free music - Sing Out

Here's the full run of the show we did at Woodbury on June 29, 1968

The Star Spangled Banner......Full Chorus
Sing-Out South................Robert Sharp & Chorus
Design for Dedication.........Trio & Chorus
(Robert Sharp, Pat Nolan, Mark Griffith)
Don't Stand Still.............Full Chorus
I Want To Be Strong...........Full Chorus
Gee I'm Looking Foward To
The Future....................Paula Thompson, Edna Vilars & Chorus
Keep Young At Heart...........Hazel Robinson & Chorus
Ft. Riley.....................Pat Nolan & Chorus
New York City.................Hazel Robinson & Chorus
Volunteers of Tennessee.......Trio & Chorus
What Color Is God's Skin......Robert Sharp & Chorus
Edna' Poem....................Edna Vilars
Up With People................Full Chorus

INTERMISSION

Sing Out......................Trio & Chorus
A New Tomorrow................Trio & Chorus
There is Something Going......Paula Thompson, Robert Sharp & Chorus
Paul Revere...................Trio & Chorus
The World Is Your Hometown....Leanna Whitehead & Chorus
We Volunteer..................Trio & Chorus
Speak Outs....................June Salazar, Kim Sato, Robert Sharp
Which Way, America?...........Hazel Robison & Chorus

REPRISES

While I don't have a recording or a run of the show listing from our 1967 Woodbury performances, from what I can remember we had almost completely redone the show, dropping some songs, but adding lots of new material to go with our constant standards such as WHAT COLOR IS GOD'S SKIN?, WE VOLUNTEER, VOLUNTEERS OF TENNESSE, SING-OUT SOUTH, WHICH WAY, AMERICA?, DESIGN FOR DEDICATION, DON'T STAND STILL, and, of course UP WITH PEOPLE.

If you have any memories or stories to tell from our shows in Woodbury, or anything else about your time with SOS or Up With People, please post it below. And thanks for readind this and visiting the blog!

Swim Club!

2010-06-21T17:44:00.001-07:00

If you are anywhere around the Nashville area these days, you know what an inviting sight this pool is. Temperatures are close to 100 degrees during the day here along with high humidity levels in a very early-summer heat wave.

In the summer time, Sing-Out South always did lots of outdoor shows. In the photo above, here we are preparing for a performance in Kingston Springs. I think this was around the 4th of July in 1968. Fortunately, most of our outdoor shows were done at twilight or under the lights to hold down the heat a bit. We performed at several local swim clubs That included the Nashville Swim Club off Nolensville Road were we gave shows on both June 12, 1967 and June 7, 1968.

SOS cast members sing during one of our shows "under the lights."

Here's the rundown for our performance at the Nashville Swim Club for our June, 1967 show:

The Star Spangled Banner
Showboat Go-Boat
Sing Out Express
Sing Out South
Design for Dedication
Don't Stand Still The Free Ones by the Southlands
Go West Young Man by Glen Hollow Trio
I Want To Be Strong
Make The Rafters Ring
What Color Is God's Skin?
Volunteers of Tennessee
Paul Revere
Up With People
Pace Ad

-10 minute intermission

A New Tommorrow
Mr. Washington
You Can't Live Crooked
Glen Hollow Trio
We Volunteer
Speak Outs:

Mike Padgett
Rachel Steele
Robert Sharp

Freedom Isn't Free
A Soldier's Letter
Which Way America?
**REPRISES**

In addition to the Nashville Swim Club, we also performed at the Hickory Bend Swim Club on August 4, 1967. I also recall doing a show at what I thought was called the Donelson Swim Club, where we had to cut the performance short before our stage and sound crew and our guitar players were about to be electrocuted because of a quickly approaching thunderstorm. Of course working around water and electricity was always a challenge. But fortunately, we never had an accident.

By the way, to bring back some old memories from those days, here's the national cast of Up With People from their album UP WITH PEOPLE performing "Don't Stand Still--Showboat/Go Boat" (after you listen to brief commercial at the beginning)

Free music - Show Boat / Go Boat

Swim clubs like the ones where we performed have always been a part of Nashville. But they were even more popular back in the 1960s. The City of Nashville closed its public pools because it did not want to integrate them. Here's a look back at that story as it relates to Centennial Park and one of the city's larger pools there. This clip is from WNPT-TV's series "Memories of Nashville" (and yes, that's me helping to tell the story).....

So I guess it occurs to me again, that when we sang "What Color Is God's Skin?" back in the day, it had much more meaning than perhaps we even realized at that time. Any memories you have of Nashville in those days please feel free to share them below, as well as any memories of any of our SOS outdoor performances.

Uniforms!

2010-06-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

From the beginning, Up With People always had some very colorful costumes for its chorus and casts.

So did Sing-Out South.

However, surprisingly, when I got into an e-mail discussion about this the other day with Wanda Ricks Horrell, she said she didn't remember the original SOS cast having costumes.

But the photo below tells the story.

This photograph was taken at the show the original Sing-Out South cast performed at Estes Park in June, 1966 (when we won the overall talent contest over all the other local casts).

Some other black and white shots taken earlier at other SOS performances reveal we wore the same costumes (a-line jumpers similar to the national casts in various colors of yellow, red and blue for the women; navy blue coats and dark trousers for the men with blue and white striped ties).

SOS cast at premiere shows at Hillsboro High School, March, 1966

Even after SOS re-formed itself after the ACTION NOW! Estes Park Conference, we more or less kept the original styles of our costumes. See THE NASHVILLE BANNER newspaper photo below which was taken during the taping of our Memorial Day TV Special at the WSIX-TV, Channel 8 studios on Murfreesboro Road in May, 1967....

You will notice about the only change is with the men's costumes who went from navy to tan-colored blazers, although the trio had light-blue colored sport coats.

However, only a few months later, at least by the spring of 1968, the women's costumes were changed as you can see below. The new dresses were no longer a-line jumpers with a white blouse underneath. Instead, the costumes appear to be one piece uniforms with a cowl-type treatment around the neck. The color pattern was also different and more varied with different shades of blue, green, red and yellow...

Does anyone remember when we changed to the uniforms above? And does anyone know why we changed the women's costumes back again?

Just a few months later, the costumes went back to a-line jumpers with a white blouse underneath as you can see from photos of shows below, done over several of the next few years from the summer of 1968, on into 1969 and through the early '70s.

An outdoor show, possibly at Camp Boxwell or in Edwin Warner Park, during the summer or spring of '68.

Our 30-minute public TV, WDCN-TV, Channel 2 special taped in the fall of 1968. Note the addition of new women's colors such as pink.

On the steps of the War Memorial Auditorium. This was after I left the cast, so it was in the fall of 1969 or later into 1970 or '71before SOS discontinued.

So here are some questions to ponder(if you have any information, e-mail it to me or leave your thoughts and memories below).

1. Who made these costumes, especially for the women? Your Moms? Our Sing-Out mothers? Large sewing bees?

2. Where did the patterns come from? The How to Create Your Own Sing-Out Book? Somewhere or someone else? Who choose the colors and the fabrics so they would match?

3. How did all this get done in particular for the premiere shows since we did them in late March, 1966, less than 2 months after we started practices in late January?

4. Where did the guys get their ties, blazers and pants? Off the rack? Some particular store?

5. And what and why was the change made in the women's costumes in the spring of 1968? And then why and how were things changed things back, seemingly within just a few months later that year?

Inquiring minds want to know!

ACTION NOW

2010-06-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

In June 1966, forty-four summers ago, 1600 young people from 250universities, colleges and high schools converged on the Conference Center in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, CO.
They came together for a month-long conference sponsored by Moral Re-Armament.

Already the MRA sponsored Sing-Out '66 show had grown in less than a year from one cast of 130 members to 42 national, state and local troupes with 5,000 young people participating across America. And there was at least one sing-out cast on every continent in the world. With even more growth on the way!

Leaving Nashville from the steps of the War Memorial Auditorium downtown on June 3, 1966, there were over 120 members of Nashville's Sing-Out South heading west. With a escort of Metro motorcycle police officers known as "Newman's Raiders", the cast members joined the ACTION NOW conference led by our Hickory Valley trio of Eddie Lunn, Cabot Wade and Ted Overman. The cost of approximately $300 per person (plus transportation) was raised by cast members doing fund raisers such as selling doughnuts along with donations and scholarships from civic clubs and local businesses.

This was such an array of energy and musical skills that when the SOS cast made its first performance at Estes Park, it was named the winner of the talent contest held as a part of the opening session Reported THE NASHVILLE BANNER (June 17, 1966): "The enthusiam from the peppy Southeners spread like wildfire and brought an already happy audience to its feet, clapping and singing."

According to one of the brochures for the conference "beginning in July task forces will be launched throughout America and across the world. They will tour our national parks, summer resorts and military bases. They will respond to mounting invitations from leaders of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to aid them in the Moral Re-Armament of their nations."

And it was not just to form three new national casts, now called "Up With People." There were also task forces formed of young men and women to work for PACE Magazine, including writing, photography, design and documentary film for an expanding international publication; Mackinac College in Upper Michigan, which was planned to open that September; and the Bear Creek Ranch training center in the foothills of the California Sierra Nevada.

And always there were the SOS members in the leadership. Quotes from stories in THE NASHVILLE BANNER included Jim Troutner: "The world is saturated with negativism and you can't change this with more negative thinking...We must update our attitudes." Harbin Williams: "This conference has given me vision...this is perhaps man's last chance to make and build a world that works." Added Wanda Ricks: "The spirit here is fantastic..This is the closest thing I have seen that could unite the world." And Marlene Echols: "The ideas of MRA are fascinating, challenging and a welcome addition to a tired world."

This is how the Conference Center in the Rocky Mountain National Park appears today. What happened at Estes Park 44 years ago, undertaken "for a demonstration of a nation on the move," is now but a memory to most. But for many of those who experienced the ACTION NOW conference, no doubt it left memories for a lifetime.

If you attended the ACTION NOW conference, please feel free to leave your comments and memories below. Thank you.

Memorial Day---1967

2010-05-30T08:47:00.001-07:00

If there's an American holiday perfectly suited to the music and message of Sing-Out South and Up With People (along with the 4th of July)it is Memorial Day.

That was particularly true in May, 1967 when Sing-Out South produced a 30-minute television special entitled "A Memorial For Tomorrow" at the studios of WSIX-TV, Channel 8 on Murfreesboro Road. The show was directed by Don Elliott, written and produced for TV by Bill Baird, Jr. with Bill Jones (father of SOS cast members Pam, Candy & Debbie)as production coordinator.

Here below is the pre-show publicity about the special (click to enlarge) as featured with a by-lined article by Jacque Stubbell and a color photograph in THE NASHVILLE BANNER on Saturday, May 27, 1967.The show aired on Sunday, May 28 at 1:30 p.m....

A second article in THE BANNER the following Monday (on Memorial Day itself) said the show was so well received that "due to public demand" it would be featured in an encore presentation at 10:30 p.m. that evening

This was quite a time for Sing-Out South and Up With People as WSIX-TV also aired earlier in the week prior to Memorial Day a 30-minute color TV special of the national cast.

Said A. Donovan Faust, Vice-President and General Manager of the station: "We feel that, especially at this time, with world conditions in such a state of unrest, it is highly appropriate to show the positive element of young people who are accepting today's responsibilities and molding a new and better tomorrow."

Indeed during May, 1967, tensions were rising in the Middle East with Syria mobilizing against Isreal and U.N. peacekeepers being asked to leave the area. In early June, the Six Days War began as seen in this video courtesy of YouTube.

As for our Memorial Day itself, it is perhaps the most solemn of American holidays honoring those who have fought and died to defend our liberties. While it's history dates back to the years following the Civil War, it was not an official national holiday back in 1967. That did not occur until 1971. Here's a brief history of the holiday from a video by Watch Mojo.com..

While Memorial Day continues to grow as a major American holiday, no video copy exists of our "Memorial For Tomorrow" TV special. However I do still have an audio copy of the show that was taped by an SOS cast member(I think it was Dave Goodman who was a part of the SOS stage and sound crew) when it aired back in 1967.

Harriet's & Bob's Excellent Adventure

2010-05-26T13:59:00.001-07:00

After a going-away party the first weekend in May, Harriet and Bob Cates have been in the process of slowly moving to Costa Rica. Both are original members of Sing-Out South and also spent a number of years traveling all over the nation and the world with Up With People.

After spending a lot of their adult lives in Tennessee (particularly in Nashville), Bob and Harriet are ready for a new adventure in their new country.

After during some on-line research, I can see why they seem so excited to move there.There is one environmental group that considers Costa Rica first in the "Happy Planet Index." That index measures life satisfaction, life expectancy and ecological footprint. In fact it "ranks Costa Rica first in the world in life satisfaction, and and has the highest happiest life years." The country also has an ecological footprint that is one-quarter of the United States. In fact,overall in this survey, the U.S. ranks 114 out of 147 countries. Courtesy of YouTube, here's a quick little visit to the wonders of Costa Rica....

Given what you've just seen no wonder both Harriet and Bob are already enjoying life in Costa Rica, even if the country has a number of volcanoes and even recently had a 6.2 earthquake that apparently did very little damage....

It is hoped that Harriet and Bob will be spending some time still coming back and forth to Nashville over the next few months, especially if we have a 45th Sing-Out South Reunion event sometime during 2011. And they have family still here in town, including Bob's brother Bill and Linda Blackmore Cates who were also active in Sing-Out and Up With People.

But for now, I can't think of a better way for Baby Boomers like ourselves to wish Harriet and Bob, all the best, just like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans did, singing "Happy Trails" until we meet again...

All the best to Pudge and to Bob, who hopefully have finally found their own way to their own paradise. Who knew that was somewhere "Up The Hollow" in Costa Rica?

We Volunteer!

2010-05-07T10:34:00.001-07:00

As the waters from Nashville's historic and tragic Flood of 2010 slowly begin to recede, and the rest of the nation is finally becoming aware of what happened here May 1-3, the country is seeing a city of volunteers.

Literally thousands of citizens have joined organized efforts, or struck out on their own, to help those in need as overall damage estimates are now topping $1.5 billion and still rising as of Friday, May 7.

"The Volunteer State" was a nickname we acquired back in the nineteenth century when our soldiers volunteered in record numbers to fight both in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War in 1848. For very different reasons today, it is gratifying to see that spirit to volunteer to protect those in need or in danger remains quite strong in our community...

Those of us who were in Sing-Out South from 1966 to 1971 remember how important the concept of being volunteers was to our cast. Not only did all of us participate in practices and perform our shows as volunteers, we sang about it in our songs.

When Sing-Out '66 first came to Nashville in January, 1966, the cast created and performed the song "The Volunteers of Tennessee" which Sing-Out South immediately added to its run of the show.

The song details how Tennessee got to be the Volunteer State. In addition the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, it also mentions the exploits of Davy Crockett at the Alamo, the crack markmanship of Tennessee soldiers and the many battles fought in Tennessee during in the Civil War, and finally the gallentry and courage of Sgt. Alvin York in World War I

Sing-Out South had its own signature song about volunteering. Written by musical director Bill Cates it was called simply "We Volunteer" and it began with a line that surely echoes today as we see thousands of Nashvillians, and others across the state, taking it to the streets to help local flood victims. That first line to the song says:

"We Volunteer, to show America that we care."

Sing-Out South members learn the words and movements to "We Volunteer" during an early cast practice at Father Ryan High School in the winter of 1966.

2010 Flood photos used courtesy of THE TENNESSEAN

Our Favorite Venue

2010-04-26T08:54:00.001-07:00

Sing-Out South did hundreds of shows all over Nashville,Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky between 1966-1971, but from the records I have, we did more shows at the War Memorial Auditorium downtown next to the State Capitol than anywhere else.

This week (April 30-May 1) marks the 44th anniversary of our first shows there. These were our first public performances following our premiere shows at Hillsboro High School in late March.

To get ready, we held several practices at the War Memorial where the shows drew capacity audiences and several standing ovations from the crowd on both days.....

The photo above seemed to have been taken during one of our practices at the War Memorial. If you click to enlarge the photo, you will see how dressed up we were. Maybe it was some kind of dress rehearsal although none of the women are wearing their A-line jumper uniforms (and given how unpopular they were with most of the women in the cast maybe they liked that :)

If you look closely as well at the front row of the audience you'll see me there on the right hand side. I was still part of the stage crew and sold PACE Magazine in those days, so I wasn't on stage.

For these particular shows, I was part of the light crew in the wings just off stage. But the problem was there wasn't much back stage area, which created a real problem getting everyone on stage quickly and carefully at the beginning of the show, as well as getting folks off stage when we went to a blackout.

The late Ralph Martin (center) and Mark Griffith (right) among others practice PAUL REVERE on the stage of the War Memorial Auditorium.

The 1966 shows were far from our last performances at the War Memorial.

November 2, 1966....After hosting a regional meeting of Sing-Outs from across Tennessee at West End High School, we join Cast C of Up With People for a joint show at the War Memorial.

November 24-25, 1967...To close another regional Sing-Out conference, we hold a joint show featuring over 350 young people from Sing-Outs across Tennessee, as well as North & South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas and Virginia.

April 28, 1968...I have a note in our files that we performed this show. But I have no particular memory of it. If you do, please leave your thoughts below or e-mail them to me (pat.nolan@dvl.com)

April 8,9,10, 1971...Among the last shows ever performed by Sing-Out South were these three in the spring of 1971. While I was no longer in the cast, I attended one of the shows and kept a program. It is interesting to note that comparing the run of shows from the first shows at the War Memorial in 1966 to the ones in 1971, there were only 3 songs in common....DO YOU REALLY CARE?, WHAT COLOR IS GOD'S SKIN and, of course, UP WITH PEOPLE.

Not all the shows we did at the War Memorial were done in the auditorium inside. Above is a photo taken by Alan Mayor during an outdoor performance on the steps of the building in the late '60s or early '70s. Note the street and the cars in front (The Legislative Plaza was still a few years away). Also note the National Life Tower (now the Tennessee Tower) was under construction).

Sing-Out South did several performances on the steps of the War Memorial, including twice when the cast was leaving to go to national Sing-Out and Up With People conferences...

June, 1966: The Hickory Valley Trio (Eddie Lunn, Cabot Wade & Ted Overman perform as Sing-Out South prepares to leave for the Action Now! Conference in Estes Park, CO. Mike Rourke & Pam Jones are also in this photo.

August, 1967: The cast of Sing-Out South prepares to leave for the World Sing-Out Festival being held at Ft. Slocum on David's Island just outside New Rochelle, NY.

A lot of years have passed since Sing-Out South performed or practiced here at the War Memorial Auditorium, or since we left from its front steps for great experiences at the conferences in Colorado and New York. But since I work downtown and pass by the War Memorial every day coming to and from work, the memories of the special times we had and shows we performed here are never very far from my mind.

It Rings A Bell

2010-04-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

I recently found a site on Facebook that's entitled "Since I Traveled With Up With People..." where former cast members talk about how being in the cast still impacts their lives, in some serious, and sometimes, not so serious ways.

While I never traveled with a national UWP cast, I would say my almost 4 years in Sing-Out South still impacts my life today. For one thing, I still have a bad case of the grease paint. By that I mean, whenever I am around a performing group, it brings back so many memories of being in SOS. It happened to me for many years each fall when I was part of the annual Gridiron Show here in Nashville where members of the local Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) group roasted the area's politicians and other officials in songs and in skits to raise money for college scholarships.

It happened to me again yesterday when I attended my wife Betty Lee's handbell concert. She is a part of Music City Bronze, a community-wide English Handbell choir that has been performing around Nashville and Middle Tennessee for over 4 years now.

If that's not enough to remind me of what we did in Sing-Out, I was reminded even more watching them break down their equipment and load up it up in their cars (bells, tables, other items) after the show. They also had some buckets at the door if you wanted to contribute to the cause after enjoying the free concert....

When most people think of English Handbells, they think of Christmas music, and Music City Bronze conducts a number of concerts throughout the holiday season. But the group also
performs a lot of other music. As witnessed by yesterday's program that included a medley of songs from Les Miserables, The Syncopated Clock, Sabre Dance and Vision Quest.

It got me to wondering what Sing-Out/UWP music would sound great with an arrangement in English Handbells. What do you think? Up With People? Design for Dedication? We Volunteer? Gee, I'm Looking Forward to the Future? Pleae leave your suggestions below or e-mail them to me. (pat.nolan@dvl.com)

Now don't laugh. Music City Bronze did a rendition of the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations at yesterday's concert and it was very good.

By the way, if you are in the Nashville area, and you are interested, Music City Bronze's next concerts are Sunday, May 2 at 4:00 p.m. at Woodbine United Methodist Church, 2621 Nolensville Road in Nashville and Sunday, May 9 at 4:00 p.m. at St. Ignatius Catholic Community, 601 Bell Road in Antioch.

Our Outdoor TV Special

2010-04-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

During our time as a cast (1966-1971), Sing-Out South was quite prolific in the number of times we appeared on television. That includes the photo above, taken during our one...and only... outdoor TV show....a 30-minute special taped in April of 1968.

As you can see from the photo above, the TV special was shot, literally, just off the back parking lot of the studios of WSIX-TV, Channel 8 (now WKRN-TV, Channel 2) on Murfreesboro Road. The studios and the parking lot are still there today, by the way. Don't you just love those old, clunky-looking studio TV cameras? And how about some of those cars in parking lot?

All that remains from this TV show are these photos taken by SOS cast member Alan Mayor. This was before the days of VCRs and DVRs, so no video copy remains, and I haven't been able to find anyone with a audio recording of the performance or even a copy of the script for the show.

In the photo above, taken during a break in the outdoor TV taping, Musical Director David Haile (far left) goes over some instructions with the cast. As I mentioned, Sing-Out South got a lot of practice being on TV. By my records, SOS did at least at least 8 show tapings and appearances during its 6 years together as a cast. Those appearances include:

"Spy Line" youth program, LIVE, WLAC-TV, Channel 5, February 15, 1966

"The Noon Show", LIVE, WSM-TV, Channel 4, March 7, 1966

A 30-minute TV special at Channel 4, Taped: April 9, 1966, Aired: April 16, 1966

"A Living Declaration", WSM-TV, Channel 4, Taped: May, 1966; Aired: July 3, 1966, Repeated: July 9, 1966 (an audio tape & script survives)

"The Bozo Show", WSIX-TV, Channel 8, Taped: Spring,1967, Aired: several times in serial form (individual songs) airing several times throughout the spring of 1967. (photos survive)

"A Memorial For Tomorrow", WSIX-TV, Channel 8, Taped: May, 1967, Aired: May 28, 1967 (news clips and photos survive)

SOS 30-minute Outdoor Special, WSIX-TV, Channel 8, Taped: April, 1968, Aired: later in the spring (photos survive)

Public TV 30-minute special, WDCN-TV, Channel 2, Taped: late fall early winter of 1968-69, Aired: later in the same period. (photos survive)

Looking back over 40 years later, what makes the number of TV shows that SOS produced so impressive to me is the fact we were asked to perform on every TV station broadcasting in the Nashville market(4) in those days, and in many cases to do so more than once. And remember this is in the days when there was no cable TV, no internet, no video on demand movies or other competition for over-the-air television. Being on TV was a very big deal, and I think showed how popular the SOS cast was in the Nashville/Middle Tennessee area during that period.

Of course, it also helped to have someone like Mr. Bill Jones, the father of SOS members Candy, Pam and Debbie Jones, in our corner. He held a key position at WSIX-TV and he was clearly instrumental in our doing the shows there.

The Columbia Military Academy Show

2010-04-03T08:00:00.001-07:00

It is Friday, April 7, 1967.

The cast of Sing-Out South travels to the historic Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, TN (Maury County) to perform a late afternoon show for the cadets.

This was a very interesting time for us to do our patriotically-themed show. While many of us were too young or too busy with our own lives to be fully aware, this was an ominous period for our nation and the world.

There was rising opposition to the Vietnam War. Just a few days before our show, civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King had denounced the Vietnam conflict during a religious ceremony in New York City. Later in the month, thousands would march in protest of the war in New York and San Francisco.

Meantime, tensions were also rising in the Middle East, where by early June the Six-Day War would break out between Isreal and the Arab States.

The Columbia show also marked a reunion of sorts for Sing-Out South with guitarist Cabot Wade returning from one of the Up With People national casts to perform. He joined the other members of the Hickory Valley Trio, Eddie Lunn and Ted Overman. This had been the original trio for Sing-Out South and I think this show is the first performance they had made together since the Action Now! national Sing-Out conference in Estes Park, CO. in June, 1966. It may also have been their last performance together.

Joining the trio that day was Johnny Fullerton (far right above), who brought his skills as a trumpet player to several SOS shows that spring. It really helped fill out the sound of the show beyond just drums and a guitars.

Another mainstay of our Sing-Out show was a female singing group. This day at Columbia Military Academy that included (above from the left) Marlene Echols, Gail Goodman (slightly obscured), Debbie Jones and Karen Davis.

I have one other enduring memory from this show. Most of us came down to Columbia and went back to Nashville in a caravan of private cars. I remember I rode with Mrs. Barry, her daughter Beverly, my cousin Gene, and probably several others who I don't remember. We had plenty of room since we were riding in the Barry's big blue Chevy station wagon, but the station wagon was more than full.

What I remember is that coming back we turned left at a traffic light right in front of on-coming traffic. I didn't think much about it, until I heard a car SLAM on the brakes and saw it looming right in front of me, apparently about to hit the station wagon broadside. Fortunately, that didn't happen. But it was perhaps one of the first times I ever experienced one of those "my whole life flashed in front of me" moments. :)

It Was 44 Years Ago Today....

2010-03-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

It was 44 years ago today (March 26, 1966) that Sing-Out South completed its premiere shows which were held in the auditorium of Hillsboro High School. The first show was Friday evening, March 25 at 8:00 p.m. followed by a matinee performance on Saturday at 2 p.m. and another evening performance that night.

The late Ralph Martin (above) is getting made up before the big show. While (below) the top brass from Sing-Out (soon to be Up With People), including J. Blanton Belk, attend our Green Room before our first night's show. That's Mike Rourke of SOS to the left in the photo.

Showtime for the Hickory Valley Trio, Cabot Wade, Eddie Lunn and Ted Overman!

And this was the reaction!

The response from those attending was remarkable with standing room only crowds at all three shows. By the way, the photo above from the Friday night show features my mother, my aunt Maggie and my youngest sister Jeanna.

The crowds at the all shows gave several standing ovations during the performances. According to news reports, on opening night they even gave a 20-minute standing O at the conclusion of the evening as the cast performed several encores.

That weekend SOS attracted people to the shows from as far away as Arkansas as a bus load of cast members from Sing-Out Little Rock came over for the weekend. Even Nashville Mayor Beverly Briley changed his plans and left an out-of-town mayor's conference early in order to be on stage to introduce the cast.

Equally remarkable was the coverage of our premiere weekend by THE NASHVILLE BANNER. SOS literally dominated the March 25th edition of the paper as seen above and in the lead story on the front page below. The reporter, Jacque Stubbel, was literally the Sing-Out South beat reporter in those days.

Inside the paper there were numerous pictures, including a full-page spread of photos, and a separate full color shot of the entire cast on stage. The paper also ran in that same edition, a complete listing, by the schools they attended, of all 190 SOS cast members. There was even a photo of the stage crew (seen below) taking a break after a lot of hard work.

By the way, a good bit of money was raised at each show as the audience brought lots of Sing-Out and Moral Rearmament related materials. I know, I was among those selling these items. As they left, the audience also filled donation buckets as cast members stood by the exits with small blue buckets appropriately marked SOS.

On March 25, 2006, a number of members of that original Sing-Out South cast and others (above) who performed with SOS between 1966 and 1971 came together at Belmont University to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Believe it or not, next year marks our 45th anniversary, a time when a number of us said we needed to get together again.

So who is ready to help organize our third SOS Reunion (the first was in 1989)? We only have about 12 months to get our act together! And that's not a whole lot of time to find our lost cast members and organize our activities.

If you are interested in being involved, leave your thoughts and ideas below as well as your contact information or just e-mail it to me (pat.nolan@dvl.com).