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Ed note: The “folk singer” talked about in this article is never specifically named.
By Joe Queenan
In October 1970 senior officials of the Nixon administration met secretly with representatives of the anti-war movement in a Carson City, Nev., motel. There, a broad agreement was reached: In exchange for the government’s bring the war in Vietnam to a close, the movement would see to it that all American folk singers went away. The government even agreed to provide job retraining and new identities under the Federal Witness Protection Program. Everyone thought this was fair.
. . .
Let me recount a personal experience that alerted me to the impending horror. One recent Friday morning I spied a tiny box in The New York Times announcing that a folk singer would be giving a benefit concert for the homeless on Sunday at a Times Square church. Reading this, I immediately asked myself, “If I were a homeless person, would this new cheer me up?” No, I decided, it would not. But for fairness’ sake, I tried to get some of my friends to go to the concert. They refused. They all said they had other things to do, even when I offered to pay their admission.
Why didn’t I go myself? I had better things to do on a Sunday night. Chores, for example.
On Monday I called the folk singer’s apartment and got his roommate. She told me that 50 or 60 people had attended. I asked who her roommate’s influences were.
“The Chad Mitchel Trio,” she said. “Crosby, Stills & Nash. James Taylor. And he loves the Cowsills.”
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