The First Time

It was a cold winter's afternoon shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Monday, January 17, 1966 when the Colwell Brothers, musical director  Herb Allen and the cast of Sing-Out '66 (above) arrived in Nashville for the first time. They came on charter buses via Little Rock, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee where the trio, Allen and the cast had done some earlier shows. After their week of performances in Nashville, the lives of hundreds of people in town would be changed forever.

As soon as they reached the Davidson County line they were picked up by a full police escort. "Newman's Raiders" would become the group's constant companions whenever they came to town in the months to come. Their first trip was to the historic Tennessee State Capitol building downtown where they briefly entertained the waiting crowd with an impromptu "Sing-Out" on the steps of the Capitol.

From the steps of the Capitol, the Colwells and the Sing-Out '66 cast walked a short distance over to the Hermitage Hotel where they were the guests of honor at a special welcoming banquet, attended by scores of business and political leaders (including Governor Frank Clement, Mayor Beverly Briley and Congressman Richard Fulton). The banquet was sponsored the city's afternoon newspaper, THE NASHVILLE BANNER (the paper sponsored and heavily publicized the entire week's visit to the city). The dinner was hosted by the paper's publisher James Stahlman. This also marked the first formal show performance done by the Colwells and cast at the end of the evening. It was greeted with loud applause and rave reviews.

This show also marked the first performance by the Colwells and the Sing-Out '66 cast of the song "The Volunteers of Tennessee." It was part of a tradition that saw the Colwells , Herb Allen and the cast often write special pieces of music to honor the home city or state when they were visting and performing. In this case, it was a song that Sing-Out South, the local group formed in the wake of the national group's whirlwind visit to town, performed in every show it did over the next five years of its existence. The lyrics to the song, written on the bus to Nashville by Paul Cowell and Ken Doran (lyrics) and Herb Allen and Ralph Colwell (music) are below, as reproduced in the NASHVILLE BANNER the next day (click on photo to enlarge):

And so, over 46 years later, the Colwell Brothers and Herb Allen return to Nashville for a special show on Saturday evening, June 23 at 7:00 p.m. at the JT Moore Auditorium, 4425 Granny White Pike. Tickets are $10 and availability is limited (just 250 seats). Here's more information about the show and the Colwell's biography book, A SONG FOR THE WORLD, which is also available.

http://www.eventinterface.com/UWPNashville    
   
Be there!