Belafonte, Streisand, Cosby, Alpert at the Hollywood Bowl 1968

Streisand / LIVE 

Belafonte, Streisand, Cosby, Alpert at the Hollywood Bowl (1968)

Los Angeles, California

July 17, 1968
Poster for the event. Art by Sandy Dvore.
Barbra Streisand at The Hollywood Bowl
When Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy succeeded him as Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) president.

This all-star concert — with ticket prices ranging from $4.75 to $25 — benefitted the SCLC and raised $142,000.

Program:

  • Bill Cosby
  • Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
  • Intermission
  • Harry Belafonte & Orchestra
  • Barbra Streisand & Orchestra

After the intermission, Harry Belafonte (and orchestra) introduced the SCL's leader, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, and reminded the audience of the seriousness of the evening. “A few nights ago,” Belafonte said, “Bobby Kennedy was murdered in this city. And a few weeks before that a black man named Martin Luther King was killed.”

Belafonte, speaking passionately from the stage, urged the audience “to take up the banner not only of the civil rights movement but of the human movement.”

Streisand, who'd been filming the parade scene for Hello, Dolly! that week, rehearsed for this concert till 12:30 a.m. the night before. She closed the evening and was only onstage, by all accounts, for about 20 minutes – The Hollywood Bowl had a curfew for finishing, so Streisand ended her short set with “People” (it was midnight by then), center stage in a blue spotlight. She ended by saying she was “proud to be here to contribute what I can.”

Barbra wore a gorgeous, green peacock gown, and when she came on stage she admitted to audience, “I'm not pregnant,” which elicited laughs.

48 years later, the SCLC’s Andrew Young told The Hollywood Reporter that “Chauncey Eskridge, who was Muhammad Ali’s attorney, arranged for us to hear [Streisand] sing at a club in Chicago. We were very impressed. I remember when we left, Martin said, ‘How come we’ve never heard of this woman with this great voice?’ ”
Belafonte, Streisand, Rev. Abernathy and his wife, Juanita Jones Abernathy, and Bill Cosby.
Belafonte, Streisand, Abernathy and Cosby.
End / Hollywood Bowl 1968
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