Free Republic

Protest music has always been a source of contention for every big name in Washington. Even though it may just be a chance for someone to exercise free speech, there’s no telling whether they will be able to sway any public opinion by the time they hit the big time. Most artists have much more power than they think, and Phil Ochs knew that it was dangerous for him to be saying what he was saying when the FBI became involved. Throughout his time in the spotlight, Ochs was practically on the same level as Bob Dylan in terms of...

As a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of his iconic 'American Pie' gets underway, singer-songwriter Don McLean reveals the deep 'yearning for something American' that he feels he's captured. New York-born Don McLean, the one-man cultural force behind "American Pie," "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)," "And I Love You So," "Castles in the Air," and many other songs, albums, tours, and projects, told Fox News Digital in a revealing in-depth interview that he "was the right guy at the right time" for "American Pie." That song attained No. 1 on the Billboard charts after its release more than 50 years ago,...

Full title: Leon Bibb dies after more than seven decades thrilling audiences and almost as long advocating for equal rights One of Vancouver's most beloved performers has passed away at the age of 93 in a Kitsilano care home. Leon Bibb died this morning of natural causes after several strokes dating back to February 20, 2014 ... Bibb was born in Louisville, Kentucky, when segregation kept blacks and whites separate. Growing up, he was a friend of Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., father of three-time world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali ... In the 1960s, Bibb appeared in Annie Get Your Gun...

The new president of the largest teachers union in the country will become the voice of roughly 3 million teachers at perhaps the most critical moment in the National Education Association’s history. First item on the agenda: Win back the public. Union watchers say the newly elected Lily Eskelsen García — a former school cafeteria worker teacher, folk singer and Utah teacher of the year — has a “hell of a job” ahead of her. She faces court cases challenging teacher tenure and job protections, the defection of historically loyal Democrats, growing apprehension over the Common Core, diminishing ranks, public...

Facundo Cabral, a wide-roving Argentine musician who had been one of Latin America’s most celebrated folk and protest singers, was shot to death July 9 in Guatemala City. He was 74. Mr. Cabral, who had given a concert two days earlier in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, was en route to the Guatemala City airport when his vehicle was hit by a hail of bullets in an orchestrated attack involving three carloads of gunmen, the Associated Press reported.

A US busker called Bongo Jesus has been arrested after hitting a man who criticised his playing over the head with his guitar. The busker, whose real name is Brandin Hochstrasser, 31, was playing in the street in Madison, Wisconsin, when his critic approached him. Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said the 54-year-old homeless man had been unable to keep his thoughts about the guitar playing to himself. "The dispute started over some questionable guitar playing," Mr DeSpain told the Cap Times. "He went over to Bongo Jesus and provided some sort of critique which did not sit well. "When police...

Irish folk singer Liam Clancy, called the "best ballad singer I'd ever heard in my life" by singer Bob Dylan, is dead at the age of 74, his manager said.

It never stops, does it? Last night brought the news that Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary had become, at age 72, yet another beloved entertainer gone too soon. Not a complete surprise — Travers was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 — but very sad nonetheless. Peter, Paul and Mary played a crucial role in helping the folk-music scene become a mass popular movement in the early 1960s. They couldn’t have done it without Mary Travers’ clear, expressive vocals. A gifted interpreter of others’ songs, she was the principal reason why the trio’s covers of Pete Seeger’s “If I...

Loni Anderson was married Saturday to Bob Flick, a founding member of the 1960s folk group The Brothers Four. The ceremony was attended by friends and family, including son Quinton Reynolds, who walked the "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "Nurses" star down the aisle. Reynolds is Anderson's son with Burt Reynolds, whom she divorced in 1993. Flick met Anderson at a movie premiere in her native Minneapolis a few years after his group hit No. 2 on the pop charts with "Greenfields" in 1960. A local newspaper had sent her out to pose with the group as the "lucky young fan,"...

DES MOINES, Jan. 3 — Senator John Kerry reached into the past on Saturday with an endorsement — and a 10-minute song of tribute — from Peter Yarrow, a member of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. But the mini-celebrity moment took a turn when Mr. Yarrow, a peace activist since before the two men met protesting Vietnam, was asked if he was disturbed that Mr. Kerry voted in favor of war in Iraq. "Absolutely!" Mr. Yarrow shouted to a questioner, and he raised his hands to try to command the attention of reporters and Kerry supporters at the...

NEW BRUNSWICK: The Old Bay Restaurant's owner lashed out at France on Friday -- flushing nearly $1,000 in French wine and champagne down a toilet to protest the country's lack of support for the United State's position on Iraq. In response, local folk singer Spook Handy is spearheading an Old Bay Boycott. "The Old Bay is for the war and is apparently willing to attack any party that disagrees," he wrote in a mass e-mail distributed yesterday. Owner Anthony Tola had no comment yesterday about the proposed boycott. Handy of Cranbury urged bands and patrons alike in his e-mail to...