This thread is bringing up some memories for me on this subject. They're like earworms, so I'll set them down here:

I dragged my (30 year old) son to a Leon Redbone show last week. Leon specializes in early 20th century music hall songs, if you don't know him (You are my Sunshine, Shine on Harvest Moon, Minnie the Moocher, etc.) The crowd knew him and were very enthusiastic for him. He invited the crowd to sing along, and only half-finished several songs when the crowd didn't join in (this was an enthusiastic crowd, they didn't seem to care). Near the end of the concert it was mentioned that there was supposed to have been a songsheet, which never got distributed. Maybe. The entire concert could have been a cynical comment on the audience. I don't know, but everyone seemed to have a good time anyway. My son didn't know any of the songs, and hadn't heard Leon Redbone since I played tapes in the car when he was small. Any irony was lost on him, and he saw it as sad that the singalong didn't happen. Since he couldn't focus on words, he actually listened to an hour and a half of pretty good ragtime, not something he'd have chosen for himself.


At the Old Songs Festival this spring, I heard twice in one day the song I Wanna Be a Dog by Barry Louis Polisar, a song I hadn't heard since my kids' childhood (at least 20 years). Actually, one version was on NPR in the morning, I believe by Willie Nelson. It makes a nice string band/bluegrass number. So is this a childhood song being recycled by current adult musicians?


A couple years ago at the National Storytelling Festival John McCutcheon offered a set of requests. It was being recorded for XM radio. He opened one note, said "This isn't mine, but it's a great song," and started playing Unchained Melody. He played the first few notes, the audience caught on, and sang the song. This is an audience of singers, and they were there to sing along with John. He actually only sang a few words at the beginning, then again leading into the break. The audience knew the words, and sang in harmony. This was in a large tent with wonderful acoustics. It was a magic, sentimental few minutes. At the end, he chuckled and said, "Let them figure THAT out." I presume he was talking about the royalty/copyright folks. If the performer does nothing more than accompany the audience, does that count as a performance for royalties?


One of my kids learned Barrett's Privateers word-perfect, and taught it to his friends when they were about 10 years old. These were Nintendo-oriented kids, not known for singing anything. Why? Well, they were tickled to be able to belt out "God damn them all" without punishment.