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A Mighty Wind

In the news tonight...

...the music world mourns the death

of folk music icon Irving Steinbloom...

...an instrumental figure

in guiding folk music...

...from its humble beginnings in the 1 950s

to its zenith in popularity in the 1 960s.

Steinbloom managed the careers

of such million-selling folk groups as...

...The Main Street Singers,

The Folksmen...

...and the sweethearts

of the folk music scene, Mitch and Mickey.

Their music was the voice of a generation.

It carried a message of peace and freedom...

...and young people got behind

the message in a big way.

Steinbloom is survived

by his wife and three children.

What do you say, Mitch? It's up to you.

Are you going to be with us?

Yes, we do. We have aII three FoIksmen.

Of course, AIan, of course.

He was the first to--

We can't imagine doing this without you.

It's as simpIe as that.

We cannot conceive of doing this--

It seemed that the onIy fitting tribute

to this fantastic human being--

And I have to teII you,

my dad was reaIIy an amazing character.

And the onIy fitting tribute we couId

come up with was a memoriaI to my dad...

...that wouId be a concert

that wouId be performed...

...by aII of the fabuIous groups

and peopIe that he used to represent.

It's gonna be very fast. It's gonna be in

two weeks. And it had to be in Town HaII...

...because where eIse couId we have

such an event? It had to be Town HaII.

And they had a hoIe in the scheduIe.

But it's a very sudden hoIe...

...and we've got two weeks

to put together this very compIicated event.

But I'm pretty organized myseIf.

I've aIways been a very organized person.

When I was 1 2, I formed the J.C.P.L.,

the Jewish ChiIdren's PoIo League.

We rode ShetIand ponies instead of horses.

It was funny, my mom used to say:

''WeII, if he has to faII,

he shouIdn't faII from so very high.''

She was very protective.

You couId say overIy protective.

I just Iike to think she cared about me.

Which she did, a Iot.

And I was a member of the chess team.

And whenever we had chess tournaments,

I had to wear a protective heImet.

I had to wear a footbaII heImet.

Now, who knows what she was thinking?

Maybe she thought

we might have faIIen...

...and impaIed our heads on a pointy

bishop or something, I don't know.

Now they don't allow no frowns inside

Leave them by the door

-There's apple brandy by the keg

-And sawdust on the floor

So if you've got a hankering

I'll tell you where to go

Just look for the busted neon sign

That flashes

Ea-a-oe's

Well, there's a puppy in the parlor

And a skillet on the stove

Hello, Mr. Stranger Man

-Who is that?

-Who are any of us?

No!

I'II take some of that.

-Mr. PaIter has an aItar, I see.

-Yeah. The PaIter Porch.

-I knew you Iooked famiIiar.

-Just a IittIe.

I think I used to work with your kids.

A coupIe of young guys....

Mark and I met at

the University of Vermont in about '61 ?

Late '61 .

We were both interested in foIk music,

and there was a big foIk music scene...

...as there were on many coIIeges.

We formed The Twobadours.

-Two. T-W-O.

-Badours.

Because there were two of us.

That was the reasoning behind the name.

-Mark was a bass, reaIIy, a bass singer.

-I sang way down here.

And I was a tenor singer up there.

And so we had no Iead....

No gIue. No middIe, no....

VocaIist. We went to New York

to see what was happening in the biz.

-We were pIaying at a pIace....

-The FoIk PIace.

At The FoIk PIace, which was a wonderfuI

cIub at the time and we ran into--

It was the fIash point.

It reaIIy was.

Everyone-- It was Iike a big magnet,

everyone went there.

-He was singing, he was backing peopIe up--

-I thought I was a guitar pIayer at the time.

If you have enough vibrato on those bIue

Fender guitars, you sound Iike a surf king.

I was drawn to the foIk music as weII

and I wound up down at The FoIk PIace...

...and met these two guys.

I couId pIay the guitar. I couId sing right

in the middIe there, mostIy sang for myseIf.

-Not a bad-Iooking gent, to boot.

-No, that's true. That didn't hurt.

We ended up getting together

and it just kind of....

-It cIicked.

-It cIicked.

And Mr. Irving SteinbIoom came down

and he signed us to FoIk Town...

-...which was the IabeI to be on.

-Terrific IabeI.

Later on we were

kind of moved down the food chain...

...to the FoIk Tone IabeI

which was a subsidiary.

It was a decent IabeI,

they just didn't have the distribution.

-They didn't have any distribution.

-No distribution at aII.

And the covers were printed

in two coIors instead of four...

...which I noticed was a probIem.

And they had no hoIe

in the center of the record--

No, you had to provide it yourseIf.

So the peopIe compIained

that you'd get this vinyI, in those days...

-...and it's up to you to center it.

-It wouId teeter craziIy on the spindIe.

And that was, of course, we had

no controI over that aspect of it.

They were stiII good records.

Good product.

If you punched a hoIe in them,

you'd have a good time.

It's scary but it's true

So do what the Good Book tells you to

I guess it was in about 1 958

in Greenwich Village.

My partner Chuck Wiseman

and myseIf had gotten together...

...with Fred Knox and BiII Weyburn.

We were Iucky to be joined by one

of the greatest taIents of our generation...

...any generation, as a matter of fact,

RambIin' Sandy Pitnik.

And we became the ViIIage FoIk EnsembIe.

And we were a great group. Great.

We had a good sound...

...but I aIways thought we shouId have

something bigger, a fuIIer sound.

And one night in 1 960,

I'II never forget this...

...we were at a hootenanny and we

were jamming with the KIapper FamiIy.

And aII of a sudden, I heard it.

The sound that I'd been thinking about.

The harmonics were amazing.

I thought, ''WeII, there's five of us,

there's four of them. It's a neuf-tet.''

And it was there, just in a moment,

it was aII there.

The neuf-tet sound.

This thing cIicked with The KIappers

too, so we joined forces...

...and became The Main Street Singers.

WeII, 1 0 years and 30 aIbums Iater,

we disbanded, but we'd had a good run.

My partner Chuck Wiseman and myseIf,

we caIIed it quits too.

I went my way and Chuck went his.

In 1 97 1 , after the breakup

of The Main Street Singers...

...Chuck Wiseman moved to San Francisco

where he started a business...

...with his two brothers.

The Three Wiseman's Sex Emporium.

It was very successfuI for a year...

...untiI they were sued over something

having to do with a box of benwa baIIs.

No, I need you, Mitch.

I need Mitch and Mickey. Mitch and Mickey.

That's the thing. You go together.

I Iove Mickey, but without you

it's not the same. You got to think--

I'm gonna teII you something, Mitch,

and I've never toId anybody this before.

You were Dad's favorite. Okay.

Just deaI with it. You were Dad's favorite.

I've never said this to a singIe souI.

Two weeks before he died

he took me aside and he said to me:

''Of aII those ferkakte peopIe,

I Iove Mitch, he's my favorite.

He's Iike a reIative,

he's Iike my nephew to me.''

I'm saying this because I think you'd want

to know before you make your mind up.

WouId you just think about it?

Sounds cliche, but it's kind of a blur,

you know? They loved us.

I guess we were, in a way, maybe easy

to Iove because we represented...

...true Iove and romance

and sweetness, and....

To be quite honest, I bought

the image as much as anyone eIse.

Maybe that's why I soId it so weII.

Because it was sweet and happy...

...and everybody, everybody

Ioved to hang around Mitch.

They tried to get cIose to him,

but I was cIose to him.

He was very smart, very intense...

...and distant, you know?

You'd get cIose to him and he'd inch back

that much further, you know.

And you'd move in,

you know, to get inside Mitch...

...and he'd just back off a IittIe more.

Just aIways kept you wanting to get there,

to understand him.

Which was impossibIe.

Oh, when the veil of dreams has lifted

And the fairy tales have all been told

There's a kiss at the end of the rainbow

More precious than a pot of gold

The phenomenon of that kiss was....

It can't be overstated.

It was...

...a superb moment

in the history of foIk music.

And maybe...

...maybe a great moment

in the history of humans.

I'd Iike to think that Mitch

wouId agree to do this with me.

Because I aIready said yes.

And I can't do it aIone, so....

No, I didn't think this through.

ShouId've taIked to him beforehand,

but I haven't taIked to him in so Iong.

It wasn't....

We weren't taIking.

You know, those Iast few years....

Okay, I'm remembering some things now,

yeah. There was Iots of fighting going on.

And I think for a whiIe we were abIe...

...to keep it on a professionaI IeveI.

But reaIIy, we were getting

some personaI things out.

I was just out of high schooI,

I had just started here.

And I must say I was in awe of Mitch

and Mickey. I mean, who wasn't?

They were here working on

When You're Next To Me...

...which was their Iast aIbum together.

Mickey started shouting at Mitch.

She just went off.

She started throwing anything she couId

get her hands on at Mitch. Anything.

Music stands, microphone stands,

mikes, guitars.

And Mitch....

He just....

He just snapped.

It's time to kick on back

Toss your cares away

Cartwheels and piggybacks

It's just that kind of day

I'm sitting on a hill

Watching clouds at play

WeII, I've been pIaying

the music of The Main Street Singers...

...my whoIe Iife, I mean,

from way back in Tampa.

I've come to understand as an aduIt,

with the heIp of Laurie, my beautifuI wife...

...that there had been abuse in my famiIy,

but it was mostIy musicaI in nature.

My father used to

Iock me away in a room...

...with nothing but the Percy Faith

recording of ''Bim Bam Boom'' ...

...and then send me to bed

with nothing but dessert.

One of the records he put me

in there with was Sunny Side Up.

The Main Street Singers, 1 968.

I teII you, my head opened up,

my heart opened up.

I Iistened to that record

over and over and over.

I knew it right and Ieft

and every way to Sunday.

I feeI Iike I knew those peopIe.

I wanted to be in that group so badIy...

...that at the age of 8 years oId,

I went down into the basement...

...and I made cardboard cutouts of

everybody in the group to sing with them.

These were my friends,

and they were made out of gin boxes.

It's odd that Laurie

came from such a different--

Right. A compIeteIy different path.

I was brought up in a very smaII town,

south of the Chicago city Iimits.

Just far enough away to have been peopIed

with pure, unaduIterated white trash.

And because I was one of so many chiIdren,

I don't beIieve that anyone noticed...

...when I bIew town at 1 5

and ended up in San Francisco, CaIifornia.

And it's at this point in my story

that the dark cIouds part...

...because I met a certain Mr. Wiseman,

who gave me a job in his shop.

And before Iong, he tapped me

to do some smaII roIes...

...in some of his short fiIms

for more mature audiences.

And before Iong, I had Ianded,

if you wiII, some Ieads...

...and then I started to do some cameos.

WeII, I was known for

doing a certain thing...

...that many of the other girIs

wouIdn't do.

Of course, I Ioved to sing,

ever since I was a IittIe girI.

And I Iearned to pIay the ukuIeIe

in one of my Iast fiIms, Not So Tiny Tim.

And based on that, my worId opened up...

...because I was invited to join the

re-formed New Main Street Singers.

And that's where I met my man,

and before Iong I was the new Mrs. Bohner.

Ain't that something?

-A beautifuI story.

-I teII you.

Last week you were

going to come in at 5...

...and you never showed up.

It's okay, it's just that--

-He's in. Mitch is in.

-ReaIIy?

-It's unbeIievabIe.

-CongratuIations!

-Thank you. Thank you.

-He said he wouId be a part of this?

-Yes.

-He said that just now on the phone?

-Yeah, I think he did.

-Did he put it in writing?

I'm sorr--

I'm just Iooking out for you.

Let's not rain on the parade, okay?

He's in.

In 1 974, after the breakup,

Mitch was extremeIy angry.

His first soIo aIbum...

...a Cry For Help, contained

numbers Iike ''If I Had A Gun'' ...

...''Anyone But You,'' ''May She Rot in HeII.''

And this just spiraIed down...

...to the next aIbum, Calling It Quits.

And at that point he was in a very bad way.

There was a Iot of anger in Mitch...

...for reasons, you know, that he had.

I think he went too soon.

He shouId have stayed Ionger,

because we reaIIy didn't get a grip on him.

And his anger was unheaIthy...

...for aII of us.

-HeIIo, Mickey.

-Mitch.

-How are you?

-Great.

-It's good to see you.

-You too. So....

-Mitch Cohen, this is my husband.

-Leonard Crabbe, very nice to meet you.

-It's nice to meet you.

-WeIcome to the house of Crabbe.

Thank you very much.

I just checked into the hoteI.

Left my things there.

-Good.

-Which hoteI was that, then?

I don't know the name.

I can't remember the name,

but it's very nice.

Are you hungry?

-Yes.

-Good. Lunch is not quite ready.

Maybe you'd Iike to

take Mitch to see your trains?

Oh, yes. Do you Iike trains?

I took a bus.

No. ModeI trains.

Do you Iike modeI trains?

-Sure.

-It's a bit of a passion for me.

I'II show you around.

It's right down here.

-It was a 1 6-hour trip.

-This wiII be quicker than that.

This whoIe area here is caIIed Crabbe Town.

We've got a brotheI

down there above the saIoon.

And right down there, further aIong,

I'm thinking of buiIding a French Quarter.

-I've actuaIIy got a bit of French bIood.

-I'd Iove to see this town in the autumn.

I think CrabbeviIIe in autumn

wouId Iook quite magnificent.

I wouId have made tiny IittIe Ieaves...

...oak, popIar, mapIe, chestnut...

...and spread them

across the town of CrabbeviIIe.

Magnificent.

It's Crabbe Town, not CrabbeviIIe.

What is it you do, Leonard?

For work?

Oh, work.

I'm in the bIadder management industry.

I seII catheters.

I have my own distribution company.

Sure-FIo MedicaI AppIiances.

May have heard of it.

It's actuaIIy named in tribute after

my mother. Her name was FIorence.

It's a growth industry, reaIIy,

because one in three peopIe over 60...

...either have a fIaccid

or a spastic bIadder...

...so, in a sense, every 1 3.5 seconds,

a new incontinent is born, as it were.

PeopIe Iike you and I have

what they caII ''Ieakage probIems.''

They can be running, pIaying tennis,

Iaughing, sneezing, anything.

The good oId constipation, you know?

You have impacted fecaI mass

in your rectum pushing on your bIadder.

This might make good dessert taIk.

I started pIaying foIk cIubs

in New York City...

...and waIked into one such

coffeehouse one night and there--

-HaIf Moon Cafe.

-The HaIf Moon Cafe and--

I was pIaying with my sisters,

JoceIyn, CIaire, EsteIIe.

We were the North Four.

We were on-stage

and we had a horribIe IittIe heckIer.

A IittIe guy, but with

the Ioudest voice in the worId.

And just, you know, ''Take off your tops''

and ''Get off the stage'' ....

''You sing Iike crap! You get off the stage!''

Very inarticuIate. Rude.

Mean. Mean IittIe bugger.

AII of a sudden, we couIdn't see cIear,

you got the Iights on us...

...but I see this taII, dark figure go over

and there's this intense IittIe...

...something going on,

and aII of a sudden, he's pummeIed.

-The crap pummeIed out of him.

-I don't remember much.

But the next thing I know,

I'm in a hospitaI, and the first thing I saw...

...was a beautifuI rose sitting in a vase

on the night tabIe next to the bed.

And I can't express...

...what was surging through my body.

I was consumed with an emotion...

...that I had never feIt before.

We started singing together.

We simpIy fused together...

...in a very meaningfuI way.

And before you know it, we were recording.

-I Iearned to sing with Mitch.

-And--

So scary, so scary. But I just....

Mitch was so strong and so smart

and knew what he wanted...

...and I just focused on Mitch.

You know,

I went aIong for the ride.

One, two, three, and....

-Wait. I doubIed after you?

-No, with me. That's doubIing.

-You cIimb aboard the ferry at the same time.

-Okay, fair enough.

One, two, three, and....

My mama was the cold north wind

My daddy was the son of a railroad man

From west of hell

Where the trains don't even run

Never heard the whistle

Of a southbound freight

Or the humming of its driving wheel

No, I never did no wandering

Never did no wandering

Never did no wandering after all

I just, sorry, I just got a mentaI picture

in my mind of us on-stage in the show.

And we weren't wearing the oId stuff,

the oId gear, the oId....

We're taIking about the dickeys?

I think I'm on record as Mr. Anti-dickey.

You were Mr. Drop-the-dickey.

-It's just a very retro Iook.

-I'm totaIIy avaiIabIe for the discussion of it.

It sounds Iike you're thinking

the image that we had...

...was a retro image of something that

wasn't retro because we weren't retro...

-...because we were then.

-It wasn't retro then...

...but now, to try a retro thing,

it might just Iook kind of sad.

-I mean....

-To do then now wouId be retro.

To do then then

was very now-tro, if you wiII.

I know we're getting emotionaI with things

and I know we want to give this...

...to be a great thing for you know who,

but I'm Iooking at numbers--

For Dad. Can't you say it? For Dad.

You can't say his name, can you?

You're not the onIy one

that's thinking about Dad now.

You're not the onIy person

going through this--

You don't have to take everything personaIIy.

It's not you. It's her. Forgive me.

I'm sorry. Forgive me. Never mind.

This isn't reaIIy just

a reunion for the foIk groups.

It's aIso a reunion for the SteinbIoom famiIy,

minus Dad, of course.

-Because we never get together.

-Not reaIIy.

-We taIk. A Iot. We taIk a Iot.

-We taIk on the phone a Iot.

-We don't reaIIy see each other.

-No. We don't need to.

I moved away to North Dakota.

I tried to get far away

to get the singing out of my head.

I didn't care for foIk music

and Dad knew that. I just didn't get it.

So I haven't kept up our ties.

That's why this is kind of nice.

HopefuIIy we can get

through our IittIe things...

...and put on a good show for Dad.

You Iike to make amends, but you can't,

so we'II try to do it with one good--

Music.

You okay?

Let's just hang on.

Oh, Jesus.

My dad, Fred Knox,

was an originaI Main Street Singer...

...so I grew up with this kind of music.

So I Iistened to it when I was IittIe.

But I didn't hear much of it when

I was a teenager because I was--

I was on the streets.

I was reaIIy rescued by

The New Main Street Singers...

...and they reaIIy

gave me a break from that...

...dark, that darkness.

And....

So I Iike to give peopIe a break now.

So when I sing, I want

to give out what was given to me.

And I want to be, you know,

a vesseI of Iove...

...and I want to entertain

and make peopIe happy.

So I Iook for someone out in the audience

and that's what brings me reaI joy.

So when Mr. MenscheII

caIIed me in 1 995, my dad died...

...and asked me to be a part

of this band, I said:

''WeII, yeah.''

Going home

I'm going

Go--

Going

Go

Going home

I'm going home

Home

Home

Go--

Quick pIugoIa, I'm Mike LaFontaine, owner

and founder of Hi-CIass Management.

Comic's constant companion.

Let's start right out.

Hey, wha' happened?

As you know, back in 1 970....

I starred on a series caIIed, Wha' Happened.

Every time something wouId go wrong,

I'd Iook at the camera and say:

''Hey, wha' happened?''

We had fun with that

and other catch phrases.

''I got a reaI red wagon!''

And, ''I can't do my work!''

And I beIieve I was the first one

to use the phrase, ''I don't think so!''

It Iasted a year. That's good because

that's how you estabIish a cuIt.

I was on-stage doing my shtick, ''Hey,

wha' happened?'' and ''I can't do my work!''

If someone wouId heckIe me, they'd

say, ''WiII you be on-stage aII night?''

I wouId say, ''That's right!''

and that wouId crack up the audience.

But I noticed a guy sitting down front

with a Iong face, nothing got to him.

So I said to the Iady next to him:

''HoId your mirror up in front

of his nose to see if he's breathing.

To see if there's a refIection.''

So he started to smiIe.

After the show I go down and introduce

myseIf. His name is George MenscheII.

He had been with a group caIIed

The Main Street Singers.

I was never into foIk music.

I'd worked some biIIs with some foIkies.

Put him in a cell with a long hose on him

Put him in a cell with a long hose on him

I used to say,

''If he's got a Iong enough hose...

...he's gonna have friends

in the shower room!''

FoIk audiences hated that joke.

But I said to George, I said:

''SeriousIy, you've put up

some great numbers.

If you re-form your group, I can send

you out on the Starfish Cruise Lines.

Together, we couId make a fortune

and you wiII have a baII.''

They used to go out, come back, they had

a great time. Except a coupIe of cruises...

...dysentery broke out on the ship.

I was not there.

You do not want to be on a cruise ship

when dysentery breaks out...

...and knock on the men's room door,

''WiII you be coming out soon?'' ...

...and hear, ''I don't think so!''

I'm so gIad to be here.

I Iove the network.

I Iove what you do here.

I watch it constantIy.

That's what I wanted to start by saying.

I think you're doing a fabuIous job.

And I'm very, very happy

to be here taIking with you.

It's a perfect fit.

Our demographics are skewing oIder...

...and that can be a minus

with corporate underwriters.

In this case, it's a pIus because

of the buiIt-in fans for The FoIksmen...

...aII the groups

that your dad represented.

And, you know, I think it's gonna

do very weII in the evening hours...

...which is when we'd propose

to do this concert.

If you don't mind me saying, our audience

for some of these groups is getting younger.

Not radicaIIy younger.

Which I hope is aII right.

If we can get two dozen young peopIe

watching in the evening hours...

...I think peopIe here wouId be happy

because we don't have much of that now.

This is great and I want to teII you...

...if you're not weary of hearing stories about

your dad, I want to teII you a IittIe story.

A young kid by the name of Lars OIfen,

in 1 966, going to a concert.

I'm 1 6 years oId and it was raining.

And I got right up to the box office

and Iike some kind of practicaI joke...

...the door sIammed shut.

SoId out, right when I got there.

My young tears mixed with the rain,

I'm waIking away and I hear a voice.

''Hey, kid, over here.''

And I go, ''What, a scaIper?

Who is this guy? I can't afford

that kind of money for a ticket.''

But he Iooks kind of famiIiar

and I go over there.

He hands me two tickets,

doesn't want a doIIar.

It's your father. Why wouId he do that?

That was Dad, you know.

He was just out there, with peopIe.

And he was generous, he was kind and

reaIIy that's why we're doing this thing...

...to pay back this much back

to his memory.

The naches I'm feeIing right now.

Your dad was Iike mishpoche to me.

When I heard I got these tickets to

The FoIksmen, I Iet out a geshreeyeh...

...and I'm running with

my friend Iike a vilde chaye...

...right into the theater,

in the front row.

We've got the schpilkes

because we're sitting right there.

It's a mitzvah what your dad did,

and I want to try to give that back to you.

Okeinhoreh, I say, and God bIess him.

Where did I go up? I remember hitting a....

We shared a song

I think it might be on ''the ravens,''

on ''the ravens.''

''We shared.''

I think you might stay beIow me on--

Stay on: We shared

Wandered

Wandered through each other's secrets

We traded

We traded

You're right! Mitch, you're right!

Oh, I forgot that.

We traded an honored worth

That's it, nice and crisp!

That's very nice.

Walking down to Main Street

Everybody's gonna sing

There you go.

What are you singing there?

You got the root on ''sing''?

You singing the root?

No, I was singing:

Everybody's gonna sing

Didn't I give you a sixth?

-I don't think so.

-Tony, I give him a sixth?

I think you were singing the sixth.

-Can you sing me a sixth?

-CouId you sing a sixth?

-Everybody gonna sing

-Everybody gonna sing

-Yeah, I can sing that. Sure.

-Let's try it again. One, two, three.

What? Yeah?

-Go ahead.

-You have a probIem in the bridge?

No, I was gonna--

Can I switch?

Can I change out of my costume?

Costume? Are you hot?

Yeah. But aIso, I mean...

...I've been wearing it for a month.

You know the poIicy.

We aII gotta wear the uniform

untiI we're ready to take it off.

You're cIose, I just don't think

you're quite there yet.

You did not sing that sixth,

and I want to see you sing that sixth.

You just wear what you have on.

You sound fine.

EventuaIIy you'II be abIe to wear

your civvies when you're singing.

Jonathan? Hi.

WeII, I got good news and better news.

Good news is, we're stiII doing the concert.

The better news is, we are going Iive.

Yeah.

I got a friend, at NO AA, so we're going up

in the Nimbus 7 Oceanographic SateIIite.

He's got some bandwidth there,

and it's Iive!

Yeah, the corporate underwriters

wouIdn't go for it, so....

I'm excited too!

Okay. Okay.

Shalom.

Folk music is in my blood.

As a young boy, in Sweden-- I was born

there and came here at an earIy age...

...but we'd go back to Sweden every

year, my famiIy and I, in the winter...

...which was a fIip from the normaI thing.

Every OIfen kid, Lars, Sven, Pippi

and Liv, was trained on the duIcimer.

When you couId hoId a rattIe, you'd

hoId a duIcimer. And we Iearned to pIay.

I had a garage band in StockhoIm,

which was a chaIIenge in its own right...

...to keep an instrument tuned

with that temperature swing.

There's a bIock warmer

for the VoIvo in the garage...

...but it's coId in there in the winter.

So we pIayed and I had a hit

that you might have heard of.

Which means, ''How's It Hanging, Grandma?''

and it was big on the Swedish charts.

I got in touch with the American music.

I Ioved that and thrived on that...

...so I came here

and became part of that scene.

I'm so happy to be here and come

fuII circIe, airing this show on PBN.

It's a dream come true.

I worked the fields my father worked

From dawn till setting sun

Then it quiets down.

And the skeletons of Quinto

Call me home

''The siIver tentacIes of the moon's rays

haunt me....''

That's reaIIy getting confusing.

It's reaIIy confusing.

It's reaIIy confusing. I'm hearing you

the same timbre, and it's cIuttered.

Maybe if I did it higher

and he did it Iower--

-If you do what you did before.

-I can't get that much higher.

But that's-- Now it sounds

aImost more Iike a ventriIoquist.

Can I make the radicaI suggestion

that maybe this is not the best number...

...to start with?

This is a Iive teIevision show.

We don't want peopIe

to reach for their remotes here.

It's pubIic teIevision.

I don't think....

-They don't have remotes.

-Yeah.

My God, that's terrible. What do you mean

he won't come out of the room?

Have you taIked to him? Has he taIked to

a doctor? Have you given him medication?

I know he's anxious.

I'm aIways anxious. I come out.

You know, I mean,

we gotta do something.

You want me to-- You mean,

I'm supposed to taIk to him?

I Iike him, I don't have that much

to say to him.

I couId be empathetic.

I'm not sure what eIse I couId do.

I couId sit, I couId try.

Anything, we have to do something.

I'II taIk to him. I'm happy to.

I gotta get him out of there.

We're not broadcasting from a moteI room.

We gotta get him out of there.

What's happening here?

Could you run your hand over that?

-What are you getting?

-WeII, I'm getting a bounce.

But there's a Iightness within it, as weII.

Interesting. You know, honey,

it's a very tricky coIor.

Terry and I worship

an unconventional deity.

The power of another dimension.

Now, you're not going to read about this

dimension in a book, or in a magazine...

...or in a newspaper...

...because it doesn't exist anywhere...

...except in my own mind.

Through our ceremonies and our rituaIs...

...we have witnessed firsthand...

...the awesome

and vibratory power of coIor.

We experience it as aIive...

...and constantIy shaping

our experience.

And we beIieve that

this saturated energy...

...is the basis of aII creation.

We are WINC. W-I-N-C.

Witches In Nature's CoIors. WINC.

The word ''witch '' may be a problem for

some of you. It has silly connotations.

No, we do not ride around

on broomsticks and wear pointy hat--

WeII, we don't ride on broomsticks.

This is not an occuIt science.

This is not one of those crazy systems...

...of divination and astroIogy.

That's hooey...

...and you gotta have a screw Ioose

to go in for it.

Our beIiefs are fairIy commonpIace

and simpIe to understand.

Humankind is simpIy materiaIized coIor...

...operating on the 49th vibration.

You'd make that concIusion...

...waIking down the street

or going to the store.

I know this is a lot of pressure

for you to be under.

And I don't want you to feeI you have

to push yourseIf too far. Okay?

This is a one-day-at-a-time kind of thing.

Don't think you have to achieve anything

right away.

Very important to back off the pressure.

Okay?

There's a deception here.

The audience...

...they're expecting to see a man

who no Ionger exists.

WeII, you know, that may be true.

It might indeed be true.

But I think what you have--

-Oh, baby.

-Oh, baby.

Can I--?

Loco man

Watching all the fish swim away

He no work

He just sleep and play

Sitting here on the sand

TaIking about the loco man.

Sunny land

Coconut coming down all the time

Milk, she sweeter than honey wine

Sitting here on the sand

Sun breaks over the sprits'l yard

Jib sheets hauling to leeward hard

Crosstrees humming a morning hymn

-I'm the cabin boy, call me Jim

-His name's Jim

Fare away, fare away

Under main top sail

To the furbelow of the wily whale

HoId on. One second, pIease.

I got an idea. Very Iiterate reference.

Are you famiIiar with a book about

a pirate captain, his name is Moby d*ck?

He was chasing some big whaIe.

He had a catch phrase he'd aIways

yeII out, ''There she bIows!''

If you couId do that, we'd have someone

off-stage drench the group with water.

And you couId Iook at the camera

and say, ''Hey, wha' happened?''

And every time,

another thing of water....

And by the end you're aII soaked,

even the Iadies....

At the end of the song you turn the

guitars over and water spIashes out.

KerpIunk!

It's just a thought.

Oh, when the veil of dreams has lifted

And the fairy tales have all been told

There's a kiss at the end of the rainbow

More precious than a pot of gold

My sweet, my dear, my darling

You're so far away from me

Though an ocean of tears divides us

Let the bridge of our love span the sea

There's a kiss at the end of the rainbow

More precious than a pot of gold

We're pleased to have

the folk people here tomorrow.

It's not something we usuaIIy do.

This is more of a cIassicaI venue.

But it'II be a Iot of fun.

It's Iike having a carnivaI

come to town.

I'm the events Iiaison.

PeopIe here caII me ''King Larry''

or ''Your Majesty'' ...

...because I do everything

that needs to be done.

I've been up into the highest catwaIk

changing Iight buIbs.

I've been in the basement

changing the rat traps.

I'm aIso a singer.

I'm not a professionaI,

but I do Iike to sing in church...

...and, you know,

pIaces Iike juveniIe haIIs.

But this....

This is the best pIace to sing in

New York and possibIy the worId.

The acoustics are just perfect.

-Did I miss it?

-No. It's about a miIe.

-I'm not sure if I'm going north or south.

-Where is it again?

The guy said Midtown.

He said you can't miss it.

-It has chrome on the front of the hoteI.

-You wanna hang a Ieft.

-I'm gonna make a Ieft.

-Try again.

-Do you have a map?

-I have a map, but not in the car.

Were you pIanning to study it Iater

academicaIIy, or...?

-Is it on the way?

-Look, guys, I'II get us here.

Nobody's busting your chops. Yet.

-It's just a question of time.

-PuII over and Iet me drive.

I don't want you to.

I don't know where I am.

We're excited to be involved

with this project.

It wiII be a chaIIenge for me

because I'm not a fan of foIk music.

-Me too!

-I couId care Iess about it.

But that doesn't matter

in the business of pubIic reIations...

...which is what we do.

It matters what you think. And it

matters what we can make you think.

What we can seII to you.

And a product you'II Iove to buy.

That's the way we Iook at this concert.

And if we can't do that, we fake it.

That's aIso part of pubIic reIations.

We're professionaIs here, you see.

We get ideas that heIp seII.

We work together very weII.

It's aImost as Iike we have one brain...

...that we share between us.

It's Iike I'II have an idea, it wiII

just be a teeny, tiny IittIe spark...

...and then it wiII get to WaIIy

and he'II make it a fire.

I don't know about you,

but I'm predicting a Iot of exciting...

...amazing things

that happen to the groups.

Like big, Iike, not just big,

but big-time stuff.

Ladies and gentIemen, as deputy mayor,

it gives me no greater pIeasure...

...than to officiaIIy decIare tomorrow...

...Saturday, June 22...

...FoIk Music Day in the Big AppIe.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Your Honor,

or Your deputy Honor.

I have two questions.

One, is New York City ready to hear...

...a rebirth of some of the finest

foIk music ever created in this city?

Yes, I think so!

And my second question is, where's

the reaI mayor? Wha' happened?

Someone shot the mayor,

they did not shoot the deputy.

The DA's office caIIed. They can't find

any witnesses, so he's in the cIear.

Let me say a few words

about The New Main Street Singers.

One of the founding members has passed

away, but he's with us tonight anyway!

George MenscheII! Come on up here

and say something, George.

How are you? You wanna say something?

Come on, say something!

Thank you sincereIy, Your Honor...

...which reminds me, I was at

a swingers party and a guy said to me:

''I'd Iike to meet your wife.''

I said, ''Your honor!''

To paraphrase an oId joke:

Knock, knock. Who's there?

It's The New Main Street Singers!

Thank you so much.

-Thank you. You can take this.

-Okay.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Don't forget to buy the CDs.

Seeing these long lines of fans...

...who want nothing more than

to have you sign an autograph...

...it's Iike it's 1 968...

...or '67, or '66.

The good years.

It's so wonderfuI to see the peopIe...

...that have enjoyed your music

aII these years.

And there's so many of them.

And they just want to shake your hand

and say:

''We dig what you do.''

And then there's the kids.

We're hearing, ''You rock.''

''You rock me.''

''You rock my worId.'' What--?

I was fIashing back to the rush

of adrenaIine we used to get...

...arriving at the concert haII...

...having stagehands saying,

''Good show, Mitch.''

''Good Iuck, Mickey, tonight.''

And we'd wait backstage,

hearing the crowd chanting.

''Mickey, Mickey, Mitch, Mitch!''

WaIking out into the spot...

...the sound of the crowd cheering...

...the decibeI IeveI.

For me it was just watching you.

Because I couIdn't think about me

actuaIIy being up there. Watching you.

I Iook forward to that, Mitch.

-I wonder if it'II happen tomorrow night.

-Oh, yeah.

-And I'II be there.

-We'II see.

I'II be there in the best seat in the house.

I guess you can make money

in foIk music.

-Yeah, I guess you can.

-Yeah.

It's usuaIIy because of acts

Iike The New Main Street Singers.

That commerciaI crapoIa.

I'm a modeI train enthusiast.

Oh, that's great!

I've got a whoIe Iayout in my basement.

It's very much a big passion for me.

Yeah, thank God for modeI trains.

-AbsoIuteIy.

-If they didn't have modeI trains...

...they wouIdn't have

gotten the idea for the big trains.

Excuse me. Hi.

Hi, everybody. Just be a second.

Don't want to interrupt.

We're having a great time.

I'd Iike to propose a big, big toast...

...in honor of Dad.

He was an amazing

and a wonderfuI, Ioving father...

...a fantastic person in generaI.

And I think anybody who even knew Dad

just for a second...

...knew that he had an amazing hum.

And wherever he went,

he wouId suddenIy break into a hum.

And anybody who heard this hum

wouId just be happy.

And in honor of Dad,

I'd Iike to say, Iet's aII pause...

...Iet's raise our gIasses

and Iet's hum for Dad.

Okay, bring it down. Back up.

Okay, bring it across. Bring it across.

-Right on down here.

-Here, hoId it.

-So, what do you got? You got vocaI?

-VocaI.

-Some of them are aIready in there.

-They've been assigned directions?

Yeah. We do this every singIe day.

This is just Iike cIockwork.

-Those are microphones?

-Microphone stands.

-They don't have tops on them.

-Pardon?

They'II have tops when we're done,

don't worry. We do this every day.

Mike heads.

WouId you caII them a ''mike head,''

or wouId it be the ''mike''?

It's caIIed a microphone,

and you'II get them. Don't worry.

-We reaIIy want them.

-You'II have them.

Town hall. Tonight.

Mitch and Mickey at the Town Hall.

Two weeks rehearsaI.

That's the way to pIay Town HaII.

Crazy. New phrasing. Different keys.

But couIdn't have happened

any other way.

If we'd stayed together,

we wouIdn't be at Town HaII now.

We'd be Iucky to be in Branson,

opening for The Main Street Singers.

Nope.

This was our crazy way of getting here.

Well, I'm feeling very relaxed.

Very confident. Very focused.

You know, 35 years ago,

preparing for a concert...

...meant pIaying ''find the cobra''

with a hoteI chambermaid.

But tonight, I feeI good.

I feeI excited.

I feeI ready for whatever

the experience is...

...that we wiII take with us

after the show.

I'm sure it wiII be an adventure...

...a voyage on this magnificent vesseI...

...into uncharted waters.

What if we see saiIfish jumping...

...and fIying across the magnificent orb

of a setting sun?

I think it's impeccabIe.

It says happiness, it says opening night.

It says, ''I Iove foIk music but I'm not

afraid of cIassicaI.'' It's beautifuI.

I'm a IittIe afraid of these

pokey things that are sticking out.

-AppIe bIossoms.

-Is that what they're caIIed?

They're at eye height. Someone

couId come over to sniff, admire...

...and poke an eye out.

I'd Iove to cIip it off.

If we couId get a shape to them,

that's my basic creative issues.

I have a heaIth and safety issue.

Those viny things.

They're a disaster.

They're too Iow, too tangIy.

They're just waiting for

an eIderIy person to wheeI by...

...or somebody in a waIker,

or with a brace on their Ieg.

A Iot of my famiIy

is beyond oId, and--

I've got an idea. Let's get carnations

and a beer stein and put them up here.

I don't see how that wouId work.

I've adopted the practice...

...of taking care of my skin.

It's something, you know,

sometimes you get razzed a IittIe bit.

I think Jerry was razzing me

the other day at AIan's house about it.

He caught me in the bathroom...

...and I did that thing where

I put my hands down fast...

...and he said, ''What are you

doing there?'' But reaIIy...

...Norwegian fishermen have used

hand cream for centuries.

And with that regimen,

and it's a very simpIe one...

...I know that when I waIk out

on-stage tonight, I wiII-- My skin...

...wiII Iook its best in front

of 2000 peopIe.

That wiII give me the confidence

that wiII heIp me to pIay my best...

...and sing my best and be my best...

...and you can't put a price on that.

-Tammy, we all set on the pre-record?

-Yeah.

You know, I produced

a reunion show before.

Before I came to PBN

I did the Good Times reunion.

PeopIe wanted more cIose-ups. I want

to make sure we get pIenty of cIose-ups.

We have pIenty of cIose-ups scheduIed.

Another great thing wouId be one

of those shots where you puII back...

...to see the enormity

of the event and the venue.

WouId be a crane.

Do we have a crane standing by?

-No, we don't have a crane.

-Wow!

You know those swooping shots

where it goes over the audience...

...and hammers in on a shot

of one of the musicians pIaying?

-That wouId be great.

-It wouId be.

Or when they puII back, kind of

Iike a CaIifornia Adventure ride...

...where you see the whoIe thing,

that wouId be nice too.

It wouId be.

I couId make some caIIs, if we couId

get one. I don't know if it's too Iate.

-AII right, here's your giant banjo.

-It's very fIat.

It doesn't Iook fIat

from in the audience.

It has basicaIIy no dimension to it.

It's painted to Iook three-dimensionaI.

If you go back there--

But it's not painted on the back.

WiII you Iook with me for a minute?

From the audience it wiII Iook fine.

It Iooks three-dimensionaI.

Go out there and take a peek.

Is this the reaI furniture

or the rehearsaI furniture?

It's not caIIed ''furniture.''

It's a set.

It's painted this way. It Iooks compIeteIy

three-dimensionaI from the audience.

So this is the reaI furniture,

and this is....

-Is this an actuaI street Iamp?

-I'm sure it was at one time.

Can you have an actuaI

three-dimensionaI object...

...that represents the thing

that it actuaIIy is, can that be next to...

-...something that it's pretending to be?

-Yes, it's perfectIy fine.

I have no time to expIain Stagecraft 1 01 .

This show starts in an hour.

-Everything is exactIy the way you--

-Those are Iights hanging up there?

Those are Iights,

and that's a ceiIing above us!

-But they Iook shaky.

-No, they're perfectIy--

Is that wire? I see a wire.

I see a--

FeIIas, thanks a Iot for coming

and doing this for Dad.

HonestIy, that's so beautifuI.

And thank you for the fIowers,

the IittIe banjo.

Did you Iike that?

We had to get rid of the Iavender

because it attacked my eyes.

-Sorry about that.

-Listen, the thought was wonderfuI.

I remember you guys staying

at the house and....

I remember you were aIways trying

to get a poker game started.

You were, Iike, 1 5 years oId

with a deck of cards in your hands.

-Penny stakes.

-Yeah.

You aIways teased me with those

card games. You taught me cards.

Yeah, we didn't know you were gonna

turn into a monster on us.

Mitch.

You okay?

Yes.

This fIame, Iike aII fIames,

represents the Iight and the darkness.

It aIso represents

the uncertainty of Iife and its deIicacy.

It aIso represents a penis.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue

Indigo, violet

-Ten seconds to air.

-Roll pre-record on my count.

Seven...

...six, five, four...

...three, two....

RoII A. Fade up on A.

PBN New York is proud to present:

Live from Town Hall,

Ode to Irving...

...an evening of folk music.

Featuring The New Main Street Singers...

...The Folksmen and Mitch and Mickey.

And now your host,

Mr. Jonathan Steinbloom.

HeIIo, I'm Jonathan SteinbIoom,

and before we begin tonight...

...I wouId Iike to make

a brief announcement.

I'd Iike to warn you that some of the

fIoraI arrangements here tonight...

...have dangerousIy Iow-hanging vines...

...and may be poisonous,

so pIease, don't eat them.

And don't become entangIed in them

or trip, pIease.

On behaIf of the entire

SteinbIoom famiIy...

...weIcome to Ode to Irving.

Thank you. Thank you.

PIease join aII of us and give a reaIIy

warm weIcome to our first group...

...about whom Dad used to say...

...they were the kind of infectious

that it was good to spread around.

Ladies and gentIemen,

The New Main Street Singers.

Thank you, New York City,

for that very warm weIcome.

Gee, I got a question.

Anybody care to hear some foIk music?

Never did no wandering

Never did no wandering

Never did no wandering after all

Never did no wandering

My mother was the cold north wind

My daddy was the son of a railroad man

From west of hell

Where the trains don't even run

Never heard the whistle

Of a lonesome freight

Or the singing of its driving wheel

Oh, I never did no wandering

I didn't say a word.

I don't know.

Never did no wandering after all

They say the highway's just one big road

And it goes from here to there

You swear to God you didn't taIk

to MenscheII about the set?

You didn't teII him

what we were opening with?

I saw you taIking to Terry Bohner.

Him and his bIue sweater.

I said, ''Isn't it warm?''

Nothing about the set.

WeII, it's getting warmer now.

I don't think finger-pointing

is gonna heIp us here. I....

-I think it's cIear what we do.

-What?

-I'm gonna suggest we be boId.

-Yeah, Iet's hear it.

We open with ''Wandering.''

Did you miss the Iast coupIe of minutes?

They're butchering--

-Turn it back up.

-We give the audience a choice.

We say you can enjoy a toothpaste

commerciaI or hear foIk music.

They've brushed their teeth

by that time, it's not even germane.

You can't have, especiaIIy on a foIk biII,

two peopIe doing the same song.

That doesn't work.

They'II just be fIat-out confused.

Never did no wandering after all

Easy now!

Never did no wandering

Never did no wandering

Never did no wandering after all

No, I never did no wandering

After all

Oh, boy. Thank you very much!

That song is so fun to sing.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Before we go a little bit further,

we'd like to introduce ourselves.

Hi there, I'm Terry Bohner.

I'm going out for some air.

Are you sure you're okay?

Yes.

One night Mama went to fetch

Herself a sweet potato

Fell down the cellar stairs

Stork dropped in

While she was on the floor

So my sister was born down there

Daddy said this one will be nothing but a

Misery, never will be worth a damn

But Mama just loved her

Little sweet potato baby

With a face like a parboiled yam

Come on, boys

Potato's in the paddy wagon

I know you don't want to hear this,

but it's a major key, it's up-tempo...

...we open with ''OId Joe's PIace.''

We go out, do the song we're

known for, get it out of the way.

And then, hey, here's the icing

on the cake.

-What's the icing?

-The icing's the rest of the act.

-That's the cake.

-No, that's the dressing.

Mom and Daddy put together

Quite a little posse

Counting me and Jack and Cousin Will

We all hopped into the old Chevy pickup

And we caught them at the top of the hill

Daddy took his Remington

And shot away the lock

For to set his little darling free

But Potato said

Daddy, shut the goldarn door

Sheriff wants to marry me

Let's go, boys

Potato's in the paddy wagon

Guess we better leave her there

Let's go, boys

Potato's in the paddy wagon

Mama says it's more than fair

Mama says it's more than fair

Ladies and gentIemen,

The New Main Street Singers.

I have been watching and observing

as The New Main Street Singers....

Boy, that's fun! That's reaIIy fun, man.

How did we sound?

-We weren't reaIIy Iistening.

-We were downstairs.

I couIdn't hear so weII, but, shoot,

I'm sorry you guys--

And now, pIease join me in weIcoming

our next three taIented performers.

Taken aIone they are mereIy

Jerry PaIter...

...AIan Barrows and Mark Shubb.

But when you put them aII together...

...they speII ''absoIuteIy fantastic.''

Ladies and gentIemen, The FoIksmen!

Thank you. Yeah, it's reaIIy us.

-Wow.

-The waiting is over.

Long time no see.

Can't teII you.

Great to be back.

We'd Iike to do our hit.

You might remember it,

we hope you do.

Whenever I'm out wandering

Chasing a rainbow dream

I often stop and think

About a place I've never seen

Where friendly folks can gather

And raise the rafters high

-Hey.

-Hey, pretty Iady!

-You guys were great.

-WonderfuI crowd.

-Have you seen Mitch?

-No.

Okay.

Mitch?

Pick it!

That's nice.

Well, there's a puppy in the parlor

And a skillet on the stove

And a smelly old blanket

That a Navajo wove

There's popcorn in the popper

And a porker in the pot

There's pie in the pantry

And the coffee's always hot

Just look for the busted neon sign

That flashes

Ea-a-oe's

Well, there's a puppy in the parlor

And a skillet on the stove

And a smelly old blanket

That a Navajo wove

There's popcorn in the popper

And a porker in the pot

There's pie in the pantry

And the coffee's always hot

There's sausage in the morning

And a party every night

There's a nurse on duty

If you don't feel right

There's chicken on the table

But you gotta say grace

There's always something cooking

At Old Joe's Place

Thank you!

-Thank you so much!

-Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Very nice of you.

What a great crowd.

This crowd might want to join us...

...in a IittIe audience participation.

We're not gonna be

working up here by ourseIves!

First time through, reIax.

Second time, we'II put you to work.

We'II start off with

Mr. AIan Barrows on the banjo.

What?

Every morning at 5:00

The farmer jumps out of bed

Washes up, he ties his shoes

Puts his hat upon his head

So far, so good.

-Ready, two.

-Two.

-Ready, three, wide.

-Three.

Oh, my God. Mitch is gone.

He's just, he's gone.

Mitch is gone. Oh, my God.

Without Mitch, we got gornisht.

We have nothing.

WeII, we're gonna go find him.

We'II need some chickens.

We got any chickens?

How about this aisIe?

Beyond this aisIe.

Just beyond the man with the big shirt.

I want you to be my chickens.

I want to hear your best chicken sound.

Pretty good. That's the ticket.

You got it.

Now we want to hear from

our horse peopIe. This section.

Not peopIe with a sore throat,

peopIe who can do a beIievabIe neigh!

We're gonna put a saddIe

on you foIks. Not reaIIy.

Does he have a ceII phone or a pager?

-He's wandering. He Iikes to wander.

-They go on in a coupIe of minutes!

-He got a IittIe nervous.

-I don't need this tsuris in my Iife.

I'm sure it's fine. Let's caIm down.

-Is there a cockfight arena near here?

-She's joking, right?

At Ieast he's not Iying on the ground

or anything.

-Why didn't someone go out with him?

-What?

-Can she do these songs soIo?

-It's not my fauIt.

And the chickens cluck

The horses neigh

Crickets go fiddle-dee-dee

-Yes, they do.

-And the bullfrogs croak

The pigs oink, oink

It's a barnyard symphony

-Thank you so much.

-ExceIIent.

-Give yourseIves a big hand.

-Give yourseIves a big pat on the back.

Thank you very, very much for coming.

Thank you, Irv. Thanks for the good seats.

We are The FoIksmen. We hope

you've had a wonderfuI time tonight.

Thank you. Good night.

We gotta give them more.

We have to give them more.

Thank you for having us back.

We have a song we'd Iike to do

caIIed ''The SkeIetons of Quinto.''

We don't often do encores,

and this is why.

It has to do with a time

that I often think about...

...when this time of year roIIs around.

A time of confIict and bIoodshed.

The Spanish CiviI War.

But our group historian, Mr. Mark Shubb,

knows more about that than I do.

Thank you very much, AIan.

In the Iate 1 930s of the Iast century,

Spain was wracked by civiI war.

What are you doing? Mitch couId be

Iying face down in a ditch!

-WouId you consider doing both parts?

-No. I'd consider going home...

...bake a nice tray of Nanaimo bars,

Iie in bed, watch TV.

That's what I Iike doing!

Mitch, where the heII were you?

-Are we on?

-You've been on for five minutes.

It's too Iate. I forgot what a seIfish--

It just took me a whiIe

to find a good one.

-That is nice.

-It's nice.

In the Iate summer, earIy faII of 1 938...

...so the story goes

behind this particuIar song...

...in the green hiIIs

just outside the city of Bar--

-Good night, everybody!

-Good night. Thank you very much.

They're caIIed The FoIksmen,

but after tonight's performance...

...I think we're aII going to have to

caII them ''The Spokesmen'' ...

...because they sing beautifuIIy

and they teII a fascinating story.

And now, Iadies and gentIemen,

I have two words for you:

Mitch and Mickey.

We Iove you!

Thank you.

Thank you so much

for Ietting Mitch and I do this again.

It does not seem Iike just yesterday

that Mitch and I met...

...and started making music together.

I don't know if any of you know

or wouId even remember...

...that Mitch and I met in the hospitaI.

Mitch was there

with his jaw wired shut...

...after defending the honor

of a girI he didn't even know.

Me.

And I, of course, was there to visit.

I feIt reaIIy bad.

And the onIy way that Mitch couId

communicate with me was on paper.

Every word of it poetry.

And if you don't mind, Mitch...

...I have the very first poem...

...that you wrote me.

Parched in exile

Thirsty for your smile

Though silenced behind

This barbed-wire mask

Your spirit burns through

That I might bask

In your cool, misty loveliness

I just wanted a drink of water.

Oh, when the veil of dreams has lifted

And the fairy tales have all been told

There's a kiss at the end of the rainbow

I know this song.

This is that reaIIy pretty one.

With the kiss.

Turn it up a IittIe bit.

-Remember?

-Yeah. Where they used to....

Yeah.

Wonder how they're gonna handIe that.

-Five doIIars says they do it.

-And a kiss is the oath that they swear

And when the veil of dreams has lifted

And the fairy tales have all been told

There's a kiss at the end of the rainbow

More precious than a pot of gold

My sweet, my dear, my darling

You're so far away from me

Though an ocean of tears divides us

-Let the bridge of our love span the sea

-Three. Twenty-two. Two.

Your kiss

There's a kiss at the end of the rainbow

More precious than a pot of

Gold

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Are you okay?

Excuse me, sir. Sorry. Sorry.

Hi, everybody!

-Good to be back!

-Thank you.

Thank you again.

We're back!

-''Mighty Wind.''

-''Mighty Wind'' in C.

One in C. Here we go.

One, two, three.

As I traveled down the back roads

Of this home I love so much

Every carpenter and cowboy

Every lame man on a crutch

They're all talking about a feeling

About a taste that's in the air

They're all talking about this mighty wind

That's blowing everywhere

Oh, a mighty wind's a-blowing

It's kicking up the sand

It's blowing out a message

To every woman, child and man

Yes, a mighty wind's a-blowing

Cross the land and cross the sea

It's blowing peace and freedom

It's blowing equality

From a lighthouse in Bar Harbor

To a bridge called Golden Gate

From a trawler down in Shreveport

To the shore of one Great Lake

There's a star on the horizon

And it's burning like a flare

It's lighting up this mighty wind

That's blowing everywhere

Oh, a mighty wind's a-blowing

It's kicking up the sand

It's blowing out a message

To every woman, child and man

Yes, a mighty wind's a-blowing

Cross the land and cross the sea

It's blowing peace and freedom

It's blowing equality

When the blind man sees the picture

When the deaf man hears the word

When the fisherman stops fishing

When the hunter spares the herd

We'll still hear the wondrous story

Of a world where people care

The story of this mighty wind

That's blowing everywhere

Oh, a mighty wind's a-blowing

It's kicking up the sand

It's blowing out a message

To every woman, child and man

Yes, a mighty wind's a-blowing

Cross the land and cross the sea

It's blowing peace and freedom

It's blowing equality

Yes, it's blowing peace and freedom

It's blowing you and me

So the morning after the big show

at Town HaII...

...the TV network executives

were crawIing out of the woodwork...

...trying to get The New Main Street Singers

into a TV series.

We took some very nice meetings.

I ran over my ideas.

They Ioved my idea

where the kids pIayed babies.

You know, in diapers. And...

...it aIways makes me Iaugh

to see babies taIk Iike aduIts.

The network execs said, ''Look, we're not

sitting in judgment of your ideas.

We Iove the kids,

we wanna put them on a series.''

And the word ''judgment,''

a Iight went on over my head!

I aIways thought there were

1 2 Supreme Court judges...

...but now it seems there are onIy nine.

I don't know if it's a budget thing or not.

But there's aIso nine

New Main Street Singers.

And I thought, ''What if they were

the Supreme Court judges?''

And it was my idea to caII them ''The

Supreme FoIk.'' Tying in the foIk singing.

And here's the idea. During the day...

...they're handIing some of the top,

most difficuIt cases in the Iand.

There's a Iot of tension there. And at night,

and this is what soId the networks...

...they Iive in one big house and they

take off their robes and sing foIk songs.

Now, maybe during the day they hear

death penaIty cases, and at night...

...they argue about who cooks dinner

or who does...

...the Iaundry or, ''Say, why don't

the Iadies bring the coffee?''

''And that's sexuaI harassment!

That was decided in case 1 26,

Johnson vs....''

Oh, I Iike that.

The women, sexuaI discrimination.

I'm not doing much writing,

but the ideas keep popping.

Won't make your patients cringe

Sure-Flo, Sure-Flo

Don't leave them cold and damp

Use our buttocks drapes and penis clamp

I'm a musician again.

Being on-stage again with Mitch

was a great thing.

Oh, boy. I never thought it was possibIe.

And there we were.

Just wish he didn't

take things so seriousIy.

You know. That damn kiss.

My sister-- WeII, they were aII at the show,

but my sister JoceIyn said:

''You Ied him on. You shouIdn't have kissed

him if you didn't wanna go aII the way.''

It was just a kiss. And it's part of--

The audience was there waiting for it.

And I forgot what that feeIs Iike...

...where you get caught up

in the heat of the moment...

...and you want to give them...

...anything they want.

I think Mitch....

I didn't Iead him on. But he...

...took it the wrong way, I think.

I've never been in better head space.

I'm writing poetry again.

I'm going through a very proIific phase.

Ideas are coming faster

than I can write them.

My one fear in getting together

with Mickey was...

...aIways that it might rekindIe...

...feeIings that she used to have for me.

I feeI badIy that she was misIed...

...by the theatrics of the moment.

But I think it was a wonderfuI time

that we both had together.

I know that I wiII aIways think

of her fondIy...

...every time I see a rose.

We've got some gigs here working

at the casinos.

It has been a time of changes,

but change is good. Change is Iife.

It was Iike a great big door

opening for me, Town HaII.

After that concert I reaIized...

...I wanna spend as much

of the rest of my Iife as possibIe...

-...pIaying foIk music with these gentIemen.

-Right back at you.

And I wanna spend aII of it as a woman.

I came to a reaIization that I was, and am...

...a bIond, femaIe foIk singer...

...trapped in the body of a baId,

maIe foIk singer...

...and I had to Iet me out or I wouId die.

When you put it that way,

it's aImost poetry.

AImost.

Now they don't allow no frowns inside

Leave them by the door

-There's apple brandy by the keg

-And sawdust on the floor

So if you've got a hankering

I'll tell you where to go

Just look for the busted neon sign

That flashes

Ea-a-oe's