Tony Saletan, the beloved folk singer who helped revive “Kumbaya” and was the first-ever musical guest on Sesame Street, has passed away.
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Saletan died peacefully on Aug. 26 in Tacoma, Washington, according to his online obituary. He was 94.
Tony Saletan, born on June 29, 1931, in New York City, was the second of two children. He attended the Walden School and earned degrees in social relations and music education from Harvard University. After living in Greater Boston, he later relocated to the Tacoma area.
Saletan taught public school music and hosted public television series and specials starting in the mid-1950s, teaching songs to young children. Many local music teachers used his programs in their classes.
Saletan made history as the first person to appear on Boston’s WGBH Channel 2 when it launched in 1955.
“We didn’t think of ourselves as pioneers at the time,” Saletan told The Sun Chronicle in 2016. “That didn’t occur to us until much later.” He also recalled that the station was initially only on air from 5:30 to 10 p.m
On December 16, 1969, Saletan appeared in episode 27 of Sesame Street as the iconic show’s first musical guest. In his first segment, he led the cast, including Big Bird and Oscar, in two songs: “So Merry, So Merry Are We” and “Ten Little Angels.”
In the second segment, he sings and takes ideas from the children to invent new verses for “I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground,” and then plays “Cripple Creek” on banjo as Gordon demonstrates the limberjack.
In the third segment, he sings Woody Guthrie’s “Pick it Up” and then “Mi Chacra” (“my farm”), teaching animal names in Spanish. This was the first time Sesame Street featured content in Spanish. Saletan concludes the show with Guthrie’s “Gonna Take Everybody (All Work Together).”
Tony Saletan Revived Two Songs Which Became Folk Standards
The singer is also known for reviving two former slave songs from the 1800s: “Kumbaya” and “Michael Row the Boat Ashore.” The latter became a major hit for The Highwaymen.
“I found a dusty book of old slave songs at the Widener Library at Harvard University,” Saletan told The Sun Chronicle. “In it was Michael Row the Boat Ashore.”
The song initially featured minimal lyrics and a single-word chorus, “Hallelujah.” Saletan later enhanced it by expanding the lyrics and incorporating rhyming couplets.
Saletan, working at a summer camp, played the song for folk legend Pete Seeger at a living room concert. Seeger added it to his repertoire, and the popularity of “Michael” quickly grew.
In 1961, The Highwaymen soared to the top of the charts with their rendition.
Saletan is survived by his wife, Jill Rosenthal, MD; his children, Nina, Jesse, Charlie, and Emily; his grandchildren, Kevin, Sean, and Steven; his nephew, Peter; his niece, Tonia; and his first wife, Irene.