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Our beloved Spock is featured in the header photo, taken in 1979. These are some of my LPs, themed compilations, and the like.

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Monday, July 3, 2017

Happy 4th of July! A New Comp: MA-90 - USA


Here's another music compilation of songs that show various aspects of this aspiring-for-greatness country.  By that I mean, there's always been much to celebrate about American ideals, but being flawed humans we continually strive to betterness (is that a word?) -- to encourage and respect our better ideals of equality, decency, opportunity and all those higher behaviors.

The songs are:

01 - The Star-Spangled Banner - Classical Brass   1990  (1:05)
02 - Living in America - James Brown   1985  (4:43)
03 - Cruel War - Peter, Paul and Mary   1962  (3:28)
04 - The March from “1941” - John Williams   1979  (4:05)
05 - Country Band March - The President's Own United States Marine Band   1998  (4:04)
06 - United We Stand - The Brotherhood of Man   1970  (2:53)
07 - Ramblin' Man - Hank Williams   1953  (3:01)
08 - I'm for Love - Hank Williams Jr   1985  (2:55)
09 - Swanee (piano roll) - George Gershwin    1920  (2:16)
10 - American Tune - Paul Simon   1973  (3:45)
11 - Home! Sweet Home - The  Yankee  Doodle  Society   1982  (2:50)
12 - (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 - Nat King Cole   1944  (2:59)
13 - I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier - Marilyn Horne   1986  (2:18)
14 - Hoedown - Emerson, Lake & Palmer   1972  (3:44)
15 - America the Beautiful - Coca-Cola TV ad   2014  (1:01)
16 - The Star-Spangled Banner - The Heritage Choir & Orchestra   1998  (1:57)
17 - The Stars and Stripes Forever - The United States Army Field Band and Soldiers' Chorus   2012  (3:25)
18 - God Bless America - LeAnn Rimes   1997  (3:04)
19 - America (from “West Side Story”) - Bill Charlap Trio   2004  (3:50)
20 - “The Comancheros” Main Title - Elmer Bernstein   1961  (1:38)
21 - Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor - Allyn McLerie, Miss Liberty Ensemble   1949  (2:58)
22 - If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)   2015  (3:10)
23 - Faded Love - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys   1950  (2:51)
24 - The Star Spangled Banner with Brilliant Variations - Augustus Cull   2014  (4:54)
25 - Seventy-Six Trombones (from “The Music Man” - edit) - Meredith Willson   1962  (4:07)

Track One is an interesting arrangment of our national anthem as a semi-refined waltz.
     Track Four is a wonderfully bombastic march from John Williams.  However, because it's from 1941, its arrogance and pride come off as hubristic.  But musically, I love its swagger.
     Track Five, Charles Ives's "Country Band March," is an example of a type of music that I love, mashing bits and motives together to form a new whole -- a serious-music version of the lampooning of  Peter Schickele's "Quodlibet."
     Have you seen the TV commercial from which Track 15 was taken?  Being a generous, everybody-into-the-pool American, I think the idea is wonderful -- a perfect visual illustration of one of our national phrases, "E pluribus unum."  Y'know, that whole "one formed from many" bit.  It saddens me that some self-righteous types seem to hate American inclusivity (there were some very nasty responses to the ad, by the mentally unwashed).
     Track 22 is from a new arrangement of Elvis's vocals, with new accompaniment.
     Track 23 -- it's a classic song of heartbreak, unashamed in its sentimentality.  As a native Oklahoman, I think it's kinda neat that this song is "the official country-and-western song of Oklahoma."  This designation occurred in 1988.  If you're anything like me, your next thought is, "Wasn't some more important state business to perform that day?"
     Track 25 is an edit of several places in the wonderful 1962 film The Music Man.

MA-90 - USA --- NEW 2021 LINK

Happy Independence Day!

See you Thursday with another new music compilation, reflecting a significant part of musical memories.
 

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