Show #29: MARTIN LUTHER KING JR 1963 CIVIL RIGHTS MARCH ON WASHINGTON DC - Full Audio & Transcript
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MEL BERNAM (ANNOUNCER): Here is Radio New York Folk Music Worldwide. A program devoted to the best in folk music throughout the world. Showcasing the top performers and authorities in the field. Now your host for Folk Music Worldwide, Alan Wasser.

ALAN WASSER (HOST): Hello again, and welcome to Folk Music Worldwide.

Most shows on Folk Music Worldwide are a little bit different from the others, but today's is going to be unusual. There'll be as little talking as possible, mainly music.

Music by quite a few artists, all recorded at the same place. Not a recording studio, but in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Because today we're going to be playing selections of folk music, recorded by some of the biggest names in folk music, at the March on Washington. The Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963.

Joan Baez came all the way from Spain just for this occasion. She doesn't like to come to the United States and appear more than she has to, but for this one, with no pay, she came and sang "All My Troubles, Lord."

(Song performance 1 of 6: "All My Troubles, Lord" by Joan Baez at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1963 Civil Rights March):

Lyrics:

Hush little baby, don't you cry
You know your mama was born to die
All your trials, Lord, soon be over.

The river of Jordan is muddy and wide
But you've gotta home on the other side
All your trials, Lord, soon be over.

If living was a thing that money could buy
You know the rich would live and the poor would die
All your trials, Lord, soon be over.

And there grows a tree in Paradise
And the pilgrims call it a Tree of Life
All your trials, Lord, soon be over.

Too late, my brothers
Too late, but never mind
All your trials, Lord, soon be over
All your trials, Lord, soon be over.

[end of music]

ALAN: Joan Baez, singing "All My Troubles, Lord" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC during the Civil Rights March, August 1963.

While Joan Baez came all the way from Spain, Marian Anderson came, perhaps more appropriately in this case, from the families in The South.

I believe her parents were originally slaves. She's probably the greatest name in negro gospel music today.

She too appeared on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to entertain those hundreds of thousands of marchers who came from all over the United States. She sang, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".

Marian Anderson, singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".

(Song performance 2 of 6: "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" by Marian Anderson):

Lyrics:

Marian Anderson
flickr / Hans Kylberg

He's got the whole world in his hands,
He's got the big round world in his hands,
He's got the wide world in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got the wind and the rain in his hands,
He's got the moon and the stars in his hands,
He's got the wind and the rain in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got the little bits of baby in his hands,
He's got the little bits of baby in his hands,
He's got the little bits of baby in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got you and me brother in his hands,
He's got you and me sister in his hands,
He's got you and me brother in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got everybody in his hands,
He's got everybody in his hands,
He's got everybody here right in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands.

[end of music]

ALAN: You know, the theme song of the integration movement is a song called "We Shall Overcome". The day before the March on Washington, The New York Times commented on it"

Now that the integrationists on the picket line sing "We Shall Overcome" as their semi-official song, they may prove the truth of the saying, 'For three with a new song's measure can trample an empire down.'

Sometimes it is the simple songs as well as the great national anthems that move and shake the world. The integrationists' song is "gentle and meaningful". So said The New York Times.

I think we ought to hear that song, "We Shall Overcome", as sung by Joan Baez.

(Song performance 3 of 6: "We Shall Overcome" by Joan Baez at the 1963 MLK Civil Rights March):

Lyrics:

We'll walk hand in hand,
We'll walk hand in hand,
We'll walk hand in hand, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe
We shall overcome, some day.

(We're not afraid.)

We are not afraid,
We are not afraid,
We are not afraid, today.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe
We shall overcome, some day.

(We shall overcome.)

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe
That we shall overcome, some day.

[end of music]

ALAN: Joan Baez, entertaining the hundreds of thousands who came to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 28, 1963 for the Civil Rights March on Washington.

We'll be back with some more music recorded on that day right after this message.

(Commercial break, edited out)

ALAN: This is Alan Wasser again, on Folk Music Worldwide, with some more songs from the Civil Rights March on Washington. By the way, I'd like to hear from you as to what you think of this program, this kind of music.

Why don't you write in to me, Alan Wasser, or to the program Folk Music Worldwide, Radio New York Worldwide, 4 West 58th Street, New York 19, NY, USA.

Now let's get back to the music. You know, of the protest songs that have come out of the Civil Rights Movement, only one has really reached the tops of the popular music charts.

It's a song called "Blowin' in the Wind" written by Bobby Dylan, sung by Peter, Paul & Mary. Well, Peter, Paul & Mary were at the Lincoln Memorial that day, and of course they sang, "Blowin' in the Wind".

(Song performance 4 of 6: "Blowin' in the Wind" by Peter, Paul & Mary at the 1963 Civil Rights March):

Lyrics:

How many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?

How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?

How many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

[end of music]

ALAN: Peter, Paul & Mary singing "Blowin' in the Wind".

Let me make a comment here. Look, musical quality of that song, the recording quality, is of course very bad.

You've got a lot of background noise, a lot of wind noise. There's not professional equipment making the recording. It's not a recording studio.

But if folk music is going to have a meaning, it's got to be the music of the people. Music of people doing things, protest songs like this, just happy songs, many of them not recorded in professional recording studios with the finest acoustical equipment.

Now you've all heard that song, I'm sure, recorded in a recording studio. But I thought you really ought to hear that song, and one other we'll play, even though there not as good a recording quality as we'd like, musically speaking.

Because they really have meaning. This is where that song was designed for.

One of the reporters down there collared Peter, Paul & Mary for a short interview, a man named David Edwards, of the Educational Radio Network. We were able to get a copy of part of that interview.

I thought you might like to hear some of that conversation.

(Following is a recording of David Edwards' interview with Peter, Paul & Mary in Washington DC at the Civil Rights March, played on Folk Music Worldwide):

DAVID EDWARDS (REPORTER): Could you tell us why you are here at the March, Peter?

PETER YARROW, of Peter, Paul & Mary: We're here as everybody else is, personally, as individuals to say that we feel that all human beings are equal, and in this case we're saying something that we've said in our songs.

That the colored man in America must have, today, must have the same rights we enjoy, as white people. We are saying it both as individuals, and we've been given the opportunity and the honor of saying it as a group, as Peter, Paul & Mary.

It's a great, great honor.

REPORTER: Mary, why are you here?

MARY TRAVERS, of Peter, Paul & Mary: I'm here as a citizen of the United States of America to exercise the right and the privilege of speaking out on something that I believe.

That belief is that the peoples of the United States of America, in order to be a true and strong nation, must mean legally and morally the things that this country stands for.

REPORTER: You have a very popular record at the moment, "Blowin' in the Wind", a song written by Bob Dylan, one of the people who has performed here today. Would you tell us why you decided to record this song?

MARY TRAVERS: Because the song speaks of caring. Of listening to one another.

It is so easy today to not see the things that are happening around you. Because you're too busy, because you're doing something else.

But the responsibility, and it is a responsibility, we do not have freedom as a gift. It's not given to us as a God-given right. It's something that you must take, and you must fight for, and you must preserve this liberty.

And that's what the song speaks of. Of listening, and watching, and being careful not to lose this liberty.

REPORTER: Thank you very much, Peter, Paul & Mary.

(End of recording of David Edwards interview of Peter, Paul & Mary at the 1963 MLK Civil Rights March)

ALAN: Now the song Peter, Paul & Mary sang earlier, "Blowin' in the Wind", is by Bob Dylan, as I mentioned. And Bob Dylan has a very raspy voice.

It's not a pretty voice. But, then again, maybe many of the best folk singers have not had "pretty" voices.

Let's hear Bob Dylan singing another song with a message, a song about Medgar Evers, the Civil Rights worker who was killed in Mississippi fighting for what he believed in.

(Song performance 5 of 6: "A Pawn in Their Game" by Bob Dylan at Dr. King's 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington):

Lyrics:

A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hid out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game.

A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than the blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin" they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
So it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoof beats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet that he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain:
Only a pawn in their game.

[end of music]

ALAN: Bobby Dylan, singing "A Pawn in Their Game", a song about Medgar Evers.

You see what I mean about his voice. It really is not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination.

But then neither was Lead Belly's. And he is considered to be the greatest of American folk singers.

Bobby Dylan is becoming very popular, because the songs he writes and sings have so much meaning to people that the quality of his voice can be easily overlooked.

I think we've got only time for one more song. Here's a selection done by Bobby Dylan, Joan Baez, Len Chandler, and a group of other folk singers.

It's to the tune of an old song, "Keep Your Eye on the Plow", and it says, "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize".

(Song performance 6 of 6: "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" at Dr. King's 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington DC, by several folk singers together):

Lyrics:

I read it in the paper the other day
Things are swingin' in the USA
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

Let me hear you now, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

I want to tell you so you know
I'm building a coffin for ole Jim Crow
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

Tell your butcher, your baker, your clerk
We won't buy where we can't work
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

When men are brothers the whole world round
Malcolm X won't be found
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

Ross Barnett and Wallace scream
Their nightmare's the American dream.

Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Sing it, Sing it
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

Many good men have fought and died
So we could sing here side by side
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

[end of music]

ALAN: "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize". And the marchers did, and within a year the main objective of that march on Washington, the Civil Rights bill, was the law of the land.

There's a lot to be won still for them. There's a lot of progress to be made.

But it's another example of the fact that here in the United States, even when things are wrong, as this situation certainly is, it's possible for American citizens to protest and get remedies.

These have been songs of the Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28th, 1963. This is Alan Wasser, thank you for listening.

MEL BERNAM (ANNOUNCER): This has been Folk Music Worldwide. Devoted to the best in folk music throughout the world and spotlighting top performers and authorities in the field. If you have any suggestions, request requests or comments why not write in to Folk Music Worldwide, Radio New York WRUL, New York City 19 USA. This has been a Music Worldwide presentation of Radio New York Worldwide.

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