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.
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