...most people are embarassed to sing today...

Haven't you watched American Idol George;-)

People are singing today. When I was a kid it would be at a party at home or around a piano in the pub.

Now it's Karaoke and Open Mics. But folks are still out there singing even though these venues don't fit the 1954 definition.

The songs that they remember and sing to their kids will be the folksongs of the future.