Happy Independence Day!

In honor of Independence Day, I humbly offer a series of patriotic favorites for your delectation.

Enjoy!

Folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote this famous tune in 1940, allegedly as a response to what he saw as the jingoism in Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” which was popular at the time.

America’s “March King” John Phillip Sousa composed this in 1896. An arrangement for an all-puppet band probably never occurred to him, but it strikes me as a bit of classic Americana.

This historic Easter concert by contralto Marian Anderson took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial because the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow a black singer to appear in Constitution Hall. President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt arranged what turned out to be a far more meaningful location for the concert—at the marble feet of “The Great Emancipator.” Anderson’s appearance before a gathered audience of 75,000 and a radio audience of millions demonstrated how far America had come since Lincoln’s presidency and how far we had yet to go to realize the “sweet land of liberty” imagined in the song’s lyrics.

This song, with music by John Kander, takes its lyrics from a letter sent by a Union soldier to his wife during the American Civil War. The simplicity with which the writer expresses his feelings of duty and indebtedness to his countrymen in what was perhaps our nation’s darkest hour are matched by the beauty of the music. This version, sung by American soprano Renée Fleming, is from a live performance in honor of a quintessential American singer, Marilyn Horne, on her 60th birthday.

(Sullivan Ballou was killed in the Battle of Bull Run about a week after this letter was written.)

If you grew up in the good ol’ U.S.A. in the 1970’s,  this will bring back some memories.

Classic Hendrix. Needs no introduction.

Although this is not, strictly speaking, a “patriotic” song, this performance captures an important moment and a mood in our country’s history.

Judy Garland sang it on her television show in December, 1963, in  honor of her dear friend, President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated the previous month. I think her performance captures the nation’s grief beautifully.

Ray Charles—an American original. His voice was not “beautiful” by conventional standards, but it encompassed something of the story of America’s beginnings: gritty, hardscrable, and simple.

Bold, brassy and a bit overconfident—Kate Smith’s voice married to Irving Berlin’s music captured the spirit of the country at war.

A classic American tune in a classic American movie.