I have been fortunate in my career to have filmed Joan Baez on two separate occasions in two separate documentaries. This recording is very special. At the time, Joan's husband was in prison as a draft protester to the Vietnam War. My partner at the time, producer Harry Wiland, contacted her to ask her if she would participate in a Thanksgiving day event that we were planning at Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. We both taught a class in filmmaking inside the prison at that time as we lived nearby it. Ossining is the home of Sing Sing prison. The famous electric chair that electrocuted many.

Joan Baez not only agreed to come at her own expense but brought her sister Mimi. They have rarely been filmed singing together. A good portion of the audience was Spanish-speaking. Many inmates came from the famous New York Puerto Rican gang, the Young Lords. She sang songs in English and in Spanish. Some of the inmates didn't respond to her and others did. Her performance in my view, is one of the best she ever gave and the film one of the classic concert music films. It is titled "BB King At Sing Sing Prison". You can see other clips from the film on my YouTube channel by searching the words Sing Sing.

The film is not only a concert film but looks at the life of inmates inside the joint at that time. The warden gave us free reign to walk around the prison and film what we saw. I brought 6 fellow cameramen/directors with me on that day and each went to a different place to film.

Today, everything is more controlled and I doubt we would get the opportunity to film what you see here. Thank you Joan Baez and Mimi Farina and the New York State prison system for allowing this film to be made

Other scenes involve BB King, Jimmy Walker, The Voices of East Harlem and other performers.

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