Tom Winslow

Thomas Griffin Winslow (November 13, 1940 – October 23, 2010) was an American folk singer and writer known as a "disciple" of Reverend Gary Davis and a former member of Pete Seeger's band. He performed with his family as The Winslows and recorded with Al Polito. His career as a performing artist lasted over forty years. He was most notable as the composer of "Hey Looka Yonder (It's The Clear Water)", a folk song that has been the anthem of the Sloop Clearwater.

While he toured throughout the United States, he continued to perform in Upstate New York until shortly before his death at the age of 69. His children are the performing artists Thomasina Winslow and Gary T Winslow.

As a teenager, Winslow learned to play guitar from his grandfather, Thomas Winslow. He was a band member of the Reverend Gary Davis, a country-folk musician from the first half of the 20th century. He toured throughout the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, sometimes as a solo act, as well as with his family act, The Winslows. In the 1960s, he worked at Vassar College in the equestrian program, and off-season, as a construction worker at Albany, New York's Empire State Plaza.^{[citation needed]}

Winslow's great enduring fame comes from penning and performing the now-classic ballad, "Hey Looka Yonder", which is known also as "It's the Clearwater" and "It's the Clear Water". This song, recorded by Biograph Records in 1969, is about the fundraising for the sloop Clearwater, and in particular how "black and white" got together to create a floating environmental education school. Its mission was to clean up the water of then-polluted Hudson River.

This song is significant and historic in several ways:

A huge hit for a musical tradition outside of the popular music mainstream, the album and single of "It's the Clearwater" are coveted still by collectors of old-time folk music.

Winslow was part of the folk music circuit for four decades. His music has been described as "classic blues and spirituals" by "a seasoned craftsman".

Tom is an old-school country bluesman, picking and singing in a classic style. He studied with Rev. Gary Davis, collaborated with Pete Seeger, and released an album on the Biograph label. He first came to Saratoga to work with the horses and has for many years enjoyed playing gigs around the area, including at Lena's.