Sing-Out South Goes Bozo

In the fall of 1966, Sing-Out South taped a series of brief performances at the Murfreesboro Road studios of then WSIX-TV, Channel 8 (now WKRN-TV, Channel 2, but still broadcasting out of the same facility).

The taped songs (UP WITH PEOPLE, WHICH WAY, AMERICA?, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE, VOLUNTEERS OF TENNESSEE, WE VOLUNTEER were probably among the titles we performed) were broken up into short segements and included daily over the next several weeks on the station's BOZO morning children's program.

I don't think that was exactly our target audience, but maybe their big brothers and sisters or their parents were watching too.

The photo above (click to enlarge)shows Bozo on set with the SOS cast and then cast director Ted Overman. While I have grown very accustomed to it over the years, this was the first time I had ever performed in a TV studio. And while we had some of "cast moms and dads" acting as our studio audience to clap and applaud at the end of the songs, it felt a little strange basically performing in such an environment.

If you enlarge the photo you can recognize quite a few people from the cast including Jill Walters, Jerry Baker, Patsy Hankins (Kemper), Beverly Barry, Lee Lee Luken (Dorough) Mary Beth Hofstetter (Adgent), Jackie Dodson, Debbie Jones (Bauder), Dennis Cohen, Bob Sharp, Margaret Stokes, Mary Jane Varley and Gail Goodman along with the late Mike Padgett on the drums, Larry Reid on guitar (with Kenny Keaton also on guitar hidden next to him) and there's also myself and Dave Cannon.

I know there are others in the photo I don't recognize or remember, so please leave your thoughts and memories below, especially if you recognize someone (including yourself).

The reason we did the BOZO appearances on WSIX-TV (and several other TV specials on that station that we will talk about in some later posts) is because of the man at the far left of this photo, Bill Jones, who worked at Channel 8.

Mr. Jones and his family played a major supportive role in Sing-Out South and Up With People. All three of the daughters, Pam Jones (Hazelwood), Candy Jones (Wirt) and Debbie Jones (Bauder) were members of SOS, while Pam and Candy also traveled extensively with the UWP national casts. Jeff, the youngest, was too young to be in Sing-Out but he was frequently at rehersals as was Mrs. Jones.

On the left, Pam (in the yellow) and Candy (in the red) perform with the national cast of Up With People.

A Tribute to Jerry McEwen

In the summer of 1967, Jerry McEwen was a member of Sing-Out South, along with his sister Dianne. I distinctly remember Jerry being a part of the cast when we went to the World Sing-Out Festival that summer. While the photo above is a little fuzzy, if you click on the picture and view it in an enlarged form, you can see him playing the guitar, on the far right next to Dave Cannon, as we performed on the steps of the War Memorial Auditorium before boarding the bus to leave.

I remember one story about Jerry from that trip. There were Coke machines all over Fort Slocum and David's Island where the the World Sing-Out Festival was held. But everytime most of us tried to a buy a Coke, the machines were out. That apparently was not true for Jerry. He almost always had Coke can in his hand, even when all the rest of us couldn't find one anywhere. We never did figure out how he did that.

After Jerry left Sing-Out he went on to a very interesting career as "a musician, windsurfer, master web page craftsman and a true friend." I know this because there is a tribute blogsite to Jerry on the internet (http://rememberingjerrymcewen.blogspot.com). It was created after his tragic death back in December, 2007.

Jerry died a hero. He was a Good Samaritan, stabbed to death with a butcher knife after chasing a man who stole a woman's purse in the parking lot of a Kroger store in South Nashville.

Recently the robber was sentenced for his crime. Robert Williams pled guilty to felony murder in the case and was committed to serve the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

An accomplice in the case is still awaiting trial.

A few months ago, Diane McEwen got the opportunity to meet the woman who was being robbed when her brother intervened. She told Channel 4 News at the time that words can't express what she will miss about him: "Absolutely everything," she said. "Jerry had charisma. Jerry was somebody who was larger than life."

Indeed, while most of us hoped to change the world while we were in Sing-Out, Jerry actually did it. He saved a life, and gave his own to help someone he didn't even know.

Rest in peace, Jerry. The community will always remain in your debt because of your selfless actions.

The Tennessee State Fair & The Bombs Bursting In Air

Mid-September in Nashville means it's time for the Tennessee State Fair. This annual tradition however may soon be moving to a new location as city officials consider redeveloping the Fairgrounds property in the Vine Hill area and moving the Fair somewhere else, maybe even out of county.

Sing-Out South performed at the State Fair in both 1966 and 1967. That time as well was a period of some uncertainty for the Fair. In September, 1965, during the Fair, the historic Women's Building had burned to the ground in a spectacular blaze.

When we performed at the Fair the next fall in 1966 we did so in the area not far from where the Woman's Building burned and just across from the entrance to the Nashville Racetrack's grandstand. We did two shows each day, one in the afternoon after school about 4or 5;00 PM, and then the other after the nightly fireworks display which went off about 9:00 PM.

As you can see, we had a rather interesting performance venue. Sponsored by WENO Radio, an AM country music station, we had the steps of our SOS stage positioned on top of a flat bed truck. I seem to remember we got a little bit of a shaking sensation when we all started doing our choreography.

I also remember another amazing thing that occurred one night as we did our second show. You'll remember we weren't supposed to start until the fireworks were over. Well, we waited and waited, but no fireworks. It was starting to get late, the crowd was getting a bit restless (and besides a lot of us had homework to do when we got home!).

So we decided not to wait and we ran on stage to begin the show. Of course, we started the show with "The Star Spangled Banner,". And guess what? No sooner did we sing the words: "And the rockets red glare" than woosh up went the fireworks, and when we continued "and the rockets red glare", the fireworks began.

Of course, the audience noticed and immediately began to applaud loudly. All of us on stage were, of course, stunned. But, trying to be the professionals we wanted to be, we just smiled back and continued to sing.

We couldn't have timed it any better even if we had tried to do so.
It was pure luck, but it has left a wonderful memory even 43 years later. We'll talk about our 1967 State Fair shows next year, but you have memories you'd like to share please feel free to do so below.

One of Sing South's First & Biggest Supporters Has Passed Away

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Dr. Herbert C. Gabhart, the Chancellor and retired President of Belmont University has died at the age of 95.

In the early months of 1966, Dr. Gabhart was one of the strongest supporters of Sing-Out South as it was being formed. He began that support by endorsing the visit of the national cast,Sing-Out '66 to Nashville, which, in turn, which led to the formation of SOS.

Dr. Gabhart and then-Belmont College hosted the first organizational session for the cast on January 26, 1966 with nearly 600 people in attendance. Just a few days later on Saturday, January 29, 1966 Belmont hosted the first practice for Sing-Out South in Blanton Hall. Again a large crowd of over 200 people showed up despite a snowstorm which struck the city.

Dr. Gabhart's support continued through the premiere performances of Sing-Out South in March, 1966. In fact, even his daughter, the late Diana Gabhart (she passed away in 1994) was a member of the cast. She can be seen at the far right of this photo on the front row next to Bobby Johnston.

And she was not alone as far as Belmont students joining the cast. In fact, much of the early leadership of the cast came from Belmont including those featured below:

Belmont student Bill Cates was the musical director for the original cast of Sing-Out South. Seen above at an early practice session held at the old Father Ryan High School, Bill wrote many of the early signature songs for the cast including "We Volunteer", "To Build A Country", We Refuse To Go To The Dogs," and a song that is now in Baptist Hymnal, "Do You Really Care?" Bill was also a major creative force during his time with Up With People

It was the lovely voice of the late Donna Dowthitt that first gave life to "Do You Really Care?" The Belmont student was also the soloist for "Somewhere Just Beyond Tomorrow" another hit song from Sing-Out '66 which was used in many of Sing-Out South's shows.

Finally, there was Belmont student body president, Jim Troutner, seen above playing the trumpet in SOS' first outdoor show performed on the football field of old Dupont High School in May, 1996. Jim was also a major soloist in the original Sing-Out South cast, performing "Volunteers of Tennessee" and "Which Way, America?". By the way, to Jim's right, clapping her hands is Pam Jones Hazelwood who now holds the position of Executive Secretary to the Belmont University Board of Trust.

I suspect Dr. Gabhart's support of Sing-Out certainly played some role in having these students become a part of SOS. He certainly left his mark on the campus. According to his death notice in THE TENNESSEAN: "When he arrived at Belmont College in 1959, the school enrollment was 360 students. When he retired as President in 1982, Belmont's student population had grown by 500% to more than
2,000." The Belmont budget had grown from $480,000 to $8 million and nine important new buildings had been added to the campus.

After more than a half-century of involvement in the life of Belmont, Dr. Gabhart will be missed.

The Cars of Sing-Out: Steve Hinton's White Corvair

We've talked a lot about Sing-Out South's road trips in recent postings. It's also reminded me of how I used to get around to all the practices and shows...in someone else's car. I was either too young to have a driver's license or I didn't have a car of my own in those days.

So I thought I would do a recurring series of stories here concerning my memories of some of the special cars I got to ride in during those Sing-Out years, beginning with Steve Hinton's white Corvair.

It looked something like the car in the photo above. This movie trailer is how Chevrolet tried to promote the Corvair brand back in 1965.....

Well, we certainly had some adventures in Steve's Covair. Such as Saturday, November 19,1966, the day of the famous college football "game of the century" between Notre Dame and Michigan State.

We were coming home from practice in Steve's two-door, stick-shift car. Steve was driving, of course, with Bob Sharp in the front seat and my cousin Gene Nolan, Kathy Karlovic and myself, jammed into the back.

We were in the Belmont/Hillsboro area coming down Altura Place headed towards the Karlovic home on Rosewood Avenue. It was hard to see because cars were parked along the side of road. And as Steve was about to make a left onto Beechwood Avenue, his car was struck by another vehicle between the driver's door and the front trunk (remember a Corvair has its engine in the back of the car).

The impact of the crash turned the car in the opposite direction as we all scrambled to get out. Bob Sharp ran to the nearest house and banged on the door to get someone to call for police and an ambulance. (This was before 9-1-1, so I have no idea what number was called).

We immediately knew we needed help because as we all exited the car on the passenger side, we realized Steve's driver-side door was sprung open by the impact and he was lying on the street with blood gushing from the back of his head.

Fortunately, it looked a lot worse than it was, although we weren't sure what to think while we waited for the ambulance to arrive to take Steve to be treated in the emergency room (I think at Vanderbilt).

Consumer crusader Ralph Nader infamously labeled the Corvair "unsafe at any speed," but we managed to survive the wreck that day even though Steve had to have the top of his head wrapped in white bandages for several weeks while he healed. I also vaguely remember having to watch him and wake him up every few hours in the days right after the wreck because of concerns about a concussion.

Steve Hinton, circa 1966
The wreck Steve had in his Corvair cemented his reputation as being rather "accident prone." Just a few months earlier, after practice at East High School,and while trying to assist the SOS stage crew in carrying out some of our very heavy audio equipment,Steve got one of his thumbs crunched between the big wooden speaker box and a doorway. Ouch!

Off to nearby Miller Clinic we went to get Steve treated, which included placing a big, thick white bandage on his thumb. That immediately created something of a problem for Steve in grasping his gear shift to drive his car.

And here is my other strong memory of Steve's white Corvair. In those days in the fall of 1966, Sing-Out South members were driving up to Springfield every Sunday to help Sing-Out Springfield get started. We'd lead their practices and help them learn the words and the choreography to the songs. I think some national Sing-Out people were there too.

Steve wasn't sure he could drive all the way to Springfield (this is well below the days of Interstate 24) so he talked me into going with him. He would drive the car and work the clutch, and I would shift the gears (when he told me). I had never done anything like this before and, to say the least, I was nervous. But except for a few grinding shifts, we (and Steve's tranmission) survived the trip up and back.

By the way, since then, I have always owned cars with an automatic tranmission.

If you have special memories you'd like to share about your days in Sing-Out, how you got to practices or shows, or whatever, please feel free to share them below.