Program of Folk Music Delights SPAC Audience

by Marilyn Nason, The Post-Star, August 21, 1968

When 4,500 adults and young people start singing and clapping their hands to American folk songs, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center really comes alive. And it did just that last night in a blending of Afro-American folk songs of every era and northern folk tunes ranging from tales of Blue Mountain Lake to “Old Dan Tucker.”

Folk singer Pete Seeger and Bernice Reagon offered dozens of tunes during the lengthy program, then returned to a standing ovation for several more.

Proceeds from the concert will be used for the Hudson River Sloop Restoration Project and Mr. Seeger took several opportunities to discuss this ambitious undertaking, indicating the 75-foot sloop “will be sailing up and down the Hudson next summer.”

Mrs. Reagon has a powerful, clear voice and she offered a variety of tunes from the familiar Negro spiritual to humorous children’s singing games.

One really brought response from the audience, as she taught everyone “to walk with your hands on your legs” as accompaniment to a song she offered called “Juba.”

Mr. Seeger drew strong applause for his all-too-true “My Dirty Stream,” which deals with the pollution of the Hudson. SPAC management won applause from the grass-dwellers, as they were invited to come down into the theatre midway through the program for the first time this year.