Page 17 - 2018 Mar-Apr Art-i-facts

Photo provided by Marc Black.

Singin' and Swayin' to the Fifties and Sixties

By Bill Quinlan

Marc Black's “A History of the 50s & 60s Through the Lens of 1988.” In the late '80s, the company composed music for New
Popular Music” will be performed Monday, March 19 at 6:00 pm York Mets baseball games. “It was fun. I remember taking my
at the Haines City Public Library. The show is free to the public, 8-year-old son into the Mets locker room.”
thanks to the Friends of the Haines City Public Library, Inc.
Friends of the Haines City Public Library, Inc. is a not-for-
A New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Black has performed profit, volunteer organization chartered in 2012. It sells used
with Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Art Garfunkel and Pete Seeger. paperbacks for fifty cents and hardbacks for one dollar at the
His music has stirred audiences for decades. His slides bring library, and runs additional book sales there. “We sell ten to twelve
back memories, like when Black and White music began to come thousand books a year,” said Friends President Linda Kuchta.
together with Elvis, Chuck Berry and others at Sun Records in
Memphis and elsewhere. His show reminds people of when Friends has purchased many amenities in use at the library. It
times were a changin': Brown versus the Board of Education, the pays for subscriptions to several major newspapers. It funds
Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War. several summer programs each year, attended by 400 to 500 kids
each, at Lake Eva Park.
“The show takes people back in time, gets them singing,
laughing, and feeling good about themselves,” said Black. His “Friends has purchased items we have not been able to get with
program includes “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot city funds, such as tables for the teen room, a display case for
Bikini,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” and Bob Dylan's “Blowin' in the Wind.” the lobby, and prizes for reading events for all ages. They're
always willing to help with special events. I consider Friends an
Black's band, “The Blades of Grass,” once made the top ten on the important partner,“ said Haines City Librarian Mary Ellin Barrett.
popcharts. His music production company, Black Market Music,
produced the “longest Super Bowl ad in history, two-and-a-half Friends welcomes new members. Annual dues are five dollars,
minues,” he said. “It was an AT&T ad the Super Bowl in 1987 or and lifetime memberships are $100.

Art-i-facts • A Publication of the Polk Arts Alliance 17