Kiss At the End of the Rainbow

Still watching movies. I'm always way behind the times because I really don't enjoy going to the theater anymore. So I wait for movies to hit Pay-for-View or DVD and sometimes I wait until they show up in the $5.50 bin at WalMart. That's where I found A Mighty Wind just recently.

The movie is a hoot for those of us who remember the folk music boom of the early sixties. It's a mock documentary covering the reunion concert of three folk music groups: The Folksmen (think Kingston Trio), the Main Street Singers (think New Christy Minstrels), and Mitch & Mickey (think Paul & Paula). It's all played very seriously and it sometimes takes a second to realize the total absurdity of what has just been said. (The Folksmen had a distribution problem--no holes in their records. You had to put the hole in yourself. Ok, the CD generation probably didn't even get that one.)

I found myself thinking of a night many, many, many years ago when I had the chance to meet Ray Hildebrand. Also known as Paul of Paul & Paula. He was performing at a youth revival somewhere in Central Texas and a group of us kids went to one of the services. He was past the Paul & Paula phase of his career and had become an inspirational speaker. He graciously signed autographs and posed for pictures, both of which I've lost over the years. A little Googling shows that he is still performing as a Christian singer. Glad to see he's still alive and kicking.

Ah, the good old days. Watching the folk singers on Hootenanny on Saturday nights. Playing the Brothers Four and the Kingston Trio records until you could sing every part of every song. Peter, Paul & Mary. The Chad Mitchell Trio. The New Christy Minstrels and the Serendipity Singers.

The folk music heyday didn't last that long, thanks to some long-haired boys that came over from England and sent music in an entirely different direction. But some of us old fogies still have a stash of folk music that we pull out and listen to from time to time. Good stuff.

Speaking of the long-haired Englanders, have I told you yet about the time we did the Beatles parody at the Halloween carnival and I played one of the band members? Now there's a night to forget.

LSW