I still well remember the first evening I met, and heard, the crew from the Vancouver Folk Song Society for the first time. This was in the early 70's at a hoot in the "U" district of seattle. I'd heard of them, but had never encountered them, especially John Bartlett and Ricca (sp?). As I sat down and looked around, I saw a lot of new faces, but that was not too unsual. A few songs happened, then I started one.

I couldn't believe what happened. I made a choice of a song that obviously EVERYONE knew. My GAWD what a sound. 17 part harmony, FULL VOLUME and they knew EVERY VERSE and verses I didn't know. The walls of the house fairly vibrated.

I was stunned. I kept looking behind me to see if I could see that giant sized speakers or maybe the chorale conductor. It was weird and very intimidating.

After I krept out to the garage, using my best "back door Bob" stealth, the host John explained who they were. I came to love them and their sound, but it not a simple adjustment.

Whew!! What memories.