John Clark and his Great American Music Experience presents:  

The Music of the Civil Rights Movement (1940-1970)

This program begins with a controversial Marian Anderson concert and a shockingly sad Billie Holiday song. Then leading up to the Civil Rights songs are You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught from South Pacific and Nat King Cole’s We Are Americans Too, his response to a 1956 racial incident. The rest of the program is devoted to the history of 1950s and 1960s anthems like We Shall Overcome, Eyes on the Prize, Blowin’ in the Wind and other Bob Dylan songs that brought racial issues to even greater national attention. Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come, James Brown’s Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud and Sly & the Family Stone’s Everyday People and even Elvis Presley’s In the Ghetto were all influential and reflected greater public awareness of the need for change. Also included are important songs by Mahalia Jackson, Odetta, Nina Simone, Curtis Mayfield and Janis Ian.  

John Clark grew up in a small town in Ohio, attended college in Illinois and graduate school north of Boston. In the eighties he worked on the fringes of the music business in Nashville. Moving to Atlanta in 1992, he worked for Score Productions, compiling music and writing liner notes for the boxed set, History of Brunswick Records and a CD for the 1996 Cultural Olympiad called Celebrate Africa. He taught adult education for twenty years for Emory University and Mercer University, creating classes on Bob Dylan, 50s, 60s and American Roots music and a series called Lyrics as Literature as well as guest hosting on several Atlanta radio stations. From 2008-2014 he was a high school history and English teacher. Since moving to the Boston area nine years ago, he has taught adult ed for Brandeis, Tufts, Cambridge, Brookline, Newton and Lexington and has guest hosted on the MIT radio station, WMBR. Last year over 300 of his Great American Music Experience lectures were delivered to a variety of groups. John boasts a combined record and CD collection of over 8,000 recordings.