The Music of
Gil Turner
and the New World Singers


He was born as Gilbert Strunk on May 1, 1933 in Bridgeport, CT. Music was a big part of his upbringing as his parents sang in church choirs. Gil became a lay preacher and attended college with an eye for social work. He worked with autistic children as well as those inflicted with rheumatoid arthritis, an infliction that he also suffered from that affected the left side of his body.

Gil became enamored with folk music and was soon working as the emcee at Gerdes Folk City where he met most of the new singers flocking to the Village. Turner became one of the editors of Broadside Magazine and would help introduce many artists of the early folkDon't think Twice revival – including Mark Spoelstra, Bonnie Dobson, and Bob Dylan. It was in Gil Turner’s apartment in February of 1963 that Dylan would record a number of songs into Gil’s tape recorder. The tape eventually found its way into the hands of collectors and has become one of the most famous of the thousands of Dylan bootlegs.

[Note: Scroll down to hear recordings]

The legend has it that one evening at Folk City, Turner walked into the basement where Dylan was strumming a guitar. Dylan told Turner that he had a new song he wanted to hear. Turner was so impressed that he asked Dylan to teach him the song, and that night Gil Turner sang “Blowin in the Wind” to an audience for the first time.
New World SingersTurner was deeply involved in the civil rights movement, another social movement that used music as a powerful tool to motivate and educate. To help get the new songs heard, Turner helped form the New World Singers in 1962 and arranged for the first Broadside recording to be issued by Folkways Records. Turner would record several albums on his own as well.

After the commercial boom of the folk revival subsided, Turner remained committed to his work with the civil rights movenment and other organizations such as War Resisters League. He passed away on Sept. 23, 1974.

One of Turner’s compositions became an anthem for the civil rights movement and was recorded by numerous artists including Joan Baez. The song “Carry it On” stands as a reminder of those times, and inspiration that there is still work to be done.

There’s a man by my side walking
There’s a voice within me talking,
There’s a voice, within me saying,
Carry on, carry it on.

They will tell their empty stories,
Send their dogs to bite our bodies,
They will lock us up in prison,
Carry on, carry it on.

When you can’t go on any longer,
Take the hand, hand of your brother,
Every victory brings another, Carry it on, carry it on.

Complete biography and history of Gil Turner at Wikipedia is here.

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