Free to Be... You and Me was a record album for children, and later a 1974 television special featuring celebrities (Marlo Thomas and Friends). Using poetry, songs, and sketches, the basic concept was to salute being oneself; the thematic message was: you, whether you are a boy or a girl, can achieve anything you want. The album has largely become a cult classic amongst many children raised in the 1970s. An album (from Latin albus white, blank, relating to a blank book in which something can be inserted) is a packaged collection of related things. ... Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution...

The TV cast included:

• Alan Alda
• Harry Belafonte
• Mel Brooks
• Rita Coolidge
• Billy De Wolfe
• Roberta Flack
• Rosey Grier
• Michael Jackson
• Kris Kristofferson
• Shel Silverstein
• Tom Smothers
• Marlo Thomas
• Dionne Warwick
• The New Seekers
• The Voices of East Harlem

Songs included "It's Allright to Cry," sung by football hero Rosey Grier, the title track by the New Seekers, "Help" by Tom Smothers, "Sisters and Brothers" by The Voices of East Harlem, and "When We Grow Up" by Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack. Alan Alda as Benjamin Franklin Hawkeye Pierce Alan Alda (born January 28, 1936 as Alphonso Joseph DAbruzzo) is an American actor, writer, director and sometime political activist. ... Harry Belafonte in Almanac, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1954 Harry Belafonte on The Muppet Show. ... Mel Brooks (born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, writer and director, best known as a creator of broad film farces and parodies. ... Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a American singer. ... Roberta Flack (born February 10, 1939) is an American singer, and considered by many a musical genius in the areas of jazz, soul, and folk, best known for singles like Killing Me Softly with His Song and Where Is the Love, many of which were duets with Donny Hathaway. ... Roosevelt Rosey Grier (born July 14, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Cuthbert, Georgia), is an American football player, actor, and Christian minister. ... Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana), is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. ... Kris Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936 in in Brownsville, Texas) is an influential country music songwriter, singer and actor. ... Sheldon Allan Shel Silverstein (September 25, 1930-May 10, 1999) was an important American poet, songwriter, composer, cartoonist, and childrens writer. ... Tom Smothers (born February 2, 1937) is an American comedian, composer and musician from New York, New York. ... Marlo Thomas (born Margaret Julia Thomas on November 21, 1937 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American actress. ... Dionne Warwick on the cover of her Christmas album My Favorite Time of the Year Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940 as Dionne Warrick) was an American singer, best known for her work with Hal David and Burt Bacharach as songwriters. ... The New Seekers was a British pop group formed in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. ...

Other sketches included "Atalanta," narrated by Alan Alda, "Boy Meets Girl" with Marlo Thomas and Mel Brooks, and "Dudley Pippin" with Billy De Wolfe.