From the July 13, 1982 edition of the Vineyard Gazette:

Tom Rush was arrested for skinny-dipping in Chilmark. With his clothes on.

He had walked out onto the beach and a naked woman had come running up to him, talking. He had tried to avert his eyes, “in the innocence of youth,” but the effort had become ridiculous.

In the next moment, as if this wasn’t enough, police swarmed around him, arresting other nudists. Tom was caught in the sweep and carried away.

These were the late 1950s and Tom was in his late teens. In those years he spent five straight summers living in an aunt’s house in Chilmark. The episode on the beach was just part of his “Summers of ‘42.”

“It was great,” he said. “Lots of beach parties....Lots of talk and not much action.”

Tom Rush will celebrate his 20 years of music Friday night at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs. In the years since he last summered on the Island, he attended Harvard, became a folk music star, did five solid years of touring the country, and then retreated to his farm in New Hampshire.

He never really stopped playing music, but Tom is in the midst of a coming-out and the Vineyard concert is the second in a series of special celebrations for him.

On Dec. 27 Tom played to a packed Symphony Hall in Boston in the first concert billed as a celebration of 20 years. He mixed old songs and new, playing alone with acoustic guitar and with a band comprised of old musical friends. He’ll do the same here.

Tom is in the process of mixing a record from the Symphony Hall concert, his first record in six years. He took time out from the work in the studio Friday afternoon to talk about the Vineyard concert, his Vineyard memories and his musical career.

Tom Rush is 40 and there are hints of gray in his thick brown mustache and curly hair. his voice is deep and makes for nice listening.

Recalling those halcyon days on the Vineyard, he spoke of playing guitar on the beaches, of hanging out. He described himself and his teenage friends as a very tame group compared to teenagers today.

Music was the thing. Folk music. He played at the Chilmark Community Center during square dances. But for the most part he played out on the beaches and in living rooms. It wasn’t until he went off to Harvard and began establishing a name for himself in the Cambridge coffee house scene that he later returned to the Vineyard and played the Island coffee houses.

Tom said he remembered that none of the Island coffee houses survived very long. “I always thought it was striking that none of these places seemed to be able to make a go of it,” he said. “I was tempted to make a go of it myself...thank God I didn’t.”

What he did do was make a name for himself. And on his Circle Game album he helped the careers of three young songwriters, recording the songs of James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell, whose work had never before been recorded. He hit the road and played his music for five straight years with only 10 days’ rest.

“Gradually and subtly I got beaten by it,” he said.

So he turned to life on the farm, to till the soil and spend time with his wife and child.

“I’m getting involved now for two reasons,” he said. “I sense that acoustical music is due for another go-around. I sense that people of our generation are getting interested in music again, and so far nobody is catering to them.”

But he won’t do it just any old way.

“I’m trying to construct events that will appeal to everybody involved. That’s why I’ve chosen the Tabernacle. It’s the closest thing to heaven a performer can find. Where do you play in Hartford? Even in New York city it’s a problem....If I could get Carnegie Hall to set up pop style it would be great.”

Tom will do another Symphony Hall concert next winter and the Public Broadcasting System will air it as a television special.

“Hopefully, this will bring more good situations out of the woodwork.”

He feels great about the band he’s assembled and the new music he’s playing and recording. He’s particularly excited about playing within the context of “20 years of music.”

“It’s a great format because I get to do the best tunes of 20 years of playing, and I get to work with some of the best players of those 20 years.”

He thinks the music business needs a shot of something a little different, music with a roughened, personal edge, music with words for listening, and music that doesn’t knock a fellow over with volume but rather feeling.

“It will be a magical, special evening,” he said, smiling. And for those who listened to a few cuts from the album in progress there could be little doubt.

There is always magic in the beauty of the sea, whether its mood is fierce or benign, but the serenity of this Saturday past was a welcome relief to Island fishermen, frustrated by weeks of capricious New England weather.

It’s days like Saturday that keep the New England fishermen going through the tough times of wind and rain. One was great. Let’s hear a round of applause for a bunch of encores.

Compiled by Hilary Wallcox

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