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

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.