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

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.