Album information and notes for 1956 3 Folk Sing:

3 FOLK SING
with
BROOKS JONES, WALT WINTER, ERNESTINE BROWN
accompanied by
PAUL PRESTOPINO
conceived and produced by
BROOKS JONES
production supervised by
MILTON LYON

Executive Producer Sidney Brinckerhoff
Publicity: Bill Pierce, George Thomas, Darby Dannard, Jerv Janney
Technical Director: Jerry Raibourn
Lighting: Harry Lacey
Stage Manager: Steve Lipsitz

A
PRAISE
SORROW
PRAYER

B
COMPLAINT
LOVE

"Though meanings vary, we are alike in all countries and tribes in trying to read what sky, land and sea say to us. Alike and ever alike we are on all continents in the need of love, food, clothing, work, speech, worship, sleep, games, dancing, fun. From tropics to arctics humanity lives [with] these needs so alike, so inexorably alike."

A placard bearing the above inscription taken from Carl Sandburg's Prologue to the photographic essay, The Family of Man, was displayed in the lobby of Murray Theatre in Princeton on the night of May 4, 1956. The festive crowd that filled the theatre at midnight that night couldn't have known how relevant this quotation was to the show they were about the see. For 3 Folk Sing was a musical essay on the "family of man"—an expression, through folk songs, of the oneness of all men.

Though theatre audiences are often reluctant to give the new innovation, the novel presentation, immediate acceptance, the five-minute standing ovation given 3 Folk Sing on its opening night served as a unanimous vote of praise and acclaim for the program.

The idea for this show was formed and carried through by Brooks Jones who proved his just claim on the title "Most Original Senior" accorded him by his graduating class at Princeton. This able folk singer and guitarist, past president of the Princeton Triangle Show, brought together Walt Winter of Swarthmore College, Ernestine Brown of New York City, and Paul Prestopino of Roosevelt, New Jersey, to perform together for the first time.

Walt has a unique quality of song and freedom of delivery which resembles that of Josh White and other folk song greats while Ernie, with a varied musical background including work with the Westminster Choir, lends her fine voice and wide vocal range to the group. Paul, although still in high school, is a highly accomplished instrumentalist; in this program he uses a five-string banjo, a guitar (in three different tunings) and an auto harp. Of the many factors that made 3 Folk Sing an exciting and memorable show, one of these is surely the sprit of freshness and spontaneity exhibited by the performers. These four retained a vital and sincere feeling while achieving a highly polished professional performance—this constitutes a rare blend.

In folk singing the listener is almost as important as the performer. In 3 Folk Sing the singers' sympathetic treatment of their material couldn't help but elicit a spirited response from the audience. Listen when they join Ernie in "Union Maid" or react to Brooks' "Sow Took the Measles." The audience was an integral part of 3 Folk Sing; the recording would not be complete without them.

A major factor contributing to the success of 3 Folk Sing was the staging and lighting of Milton Lyon, one of New York's top musical comedy directors. The presence which Milt gave to each number lent additional insight into the emotional content and dramatic meaning of the song. This made 3 Folk Sing more than a concert.

3 Folk Sing is an organic whole; it is three singers addressing themselves to an idea, which they come to share with their audience. The endeavor has been to make public a very private idea; to take folk songs in their pure form and successfully cast them in a modern theatrical form. In 3 Folk Sing, the folk songs have been effectively taken out of an area of limited appeal and given back to the source of all folk music, the folks.

This is a record made from a tape recording of the Saturday, May 5, demand performance. This is a record of the experience of "3 Folk Sing."
NOTES BY DICK LUKINS