Goodnight
Last Friday, I was planning to embed this next video today, another clip from the documentary about The Weavers 1980 reunion, Wasn't That a Time. But when the news pummeled the country, I figured it best to put off and find something more appropriate. But as I was searching around, I realized something and checked the video out again. And as I watched Lee Hay's narration, putting the career of the group in context through bad times and good -- and then watched as his words led into their traditional closing number at concerts, Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene," at the end of an evening of survival and triumph, I realized that it was, in fact, the right thing to post after all.
Two things stand out. One, as I've mentioned, the unique sound of the applause from that Carnegie Hall audience, not just rousing cheers, but mixed with deep affection and profound admiration for this group surviving with such strength after 30 years, creating a sound of applause like I've never quite heard before. And the other is the affection the group itself has for Lee Hays.
And related to all this, I love the audience's reaction when Hays sings his verse.
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