The
video is of the singer Dion, performing the exquisite song "Abraham, Martin and
John," which had been released in August of that year. The song was written (by Dick Holler) in the
aftermath of the assassinations of Dr. King, and Robert Kennedy.
Dion's performance of the song, on the TV show (as on his
original recording of it) is extremely beautiful--both his singing, and his
guitar playing.
I don't remember being aware, prior to watching the video, that it
was Dion who played the guitar on the record itself.
The Wikipedia page about the song notes: "Dion felt
during post production that the song needed more depth and added a track
featuring him playing classical guitar notably at the bridge, lead ins and the
close."
The record had first
appeared on the Cashbox music chart near the end of October, 1968 (and on
Billboard's chart the following week). A little over a month after the
Smothers Brothers appearance, the song reached #2 on the Cashbox list. It would also reach #4 in the Billboard ranking (and became a #1 record in Canada).
Here is the video of Dion's television performance:
