1961 at the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village. Dave Vano Ronk ran a Hootenanny, and he encouraged everyone to get up and sing a couple of songs. If he could talk a half a dozen young squirts to get up and sing a couple of songs each, he could go upstairs to the Kettle Of Fish, have a few beers and entertain his cronies. I was scared to death... had been playing guitar and singing for about ten years and had never sang in public. I figured that there was no sense rushing into things. I don't honestly remember what I sang, but it was surely determinedly simple, sung in the most nasal, old, toothless voice I could recreate. But, I got through it because once I started singing, the song took over. If you really love something, it can calm you down.

Jerry