Folk legend Joan Baez refused U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama's request to sing IF I HAD A HAMMER with John Mellencamp at the White House - because she hates the song.
Baez joined Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan for a tribute to the U.S. civil rights movement in Washington, D.C. on 9 February (10) and was stunned when concert organisers suggested she perform the Pete Seeger classic.
She tells Rolling Stone magazine, "They said it was a special request from Michelle Obama. I said, 'You tell her I will do it privately for her anytime, but we just can't do it."
Instead, Baez and Mellencamp duetted on protest anthem We Shall Overcome.
Lerner, utilizing footage shot for his folk festival documentaries, presents Dylan in context with full...