This looks to be an interesting boxed set of American song. The idea came to the former Attorney General when her niece and nephew-in-law songwriter Ed Patterson were visiting her in Washington in 1998.
She is the brains behind Song of America, a three-CD, 50-song ''history book'' that is due in stores on Tuesday.The sonic journey begins in 1492 with Lakota Dream Song and wends its way through 25 eras of the American Story before concluding with Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning, a 9/11-inspired song.
[snip]
Song of America presents an unblinking look at the nation's history, one that doesn't shy away from troubled chapters. Dixie's Land, with all the emotionally charged baggage it has picked up through the years, and Streets of Philadelphia, the modern-day lament on the AIDS epidemic, play alongside Battle Hymn of the Republic and Stars and Stripes Forever.
"It's the good, the bad and the ugly," Reno said. "To omit Dixie or the Streets of Philadelphia is to omit a part of what has made America."
[snip]
She did attend the 2005 Grammy Awards with Macias, though, to recruit artists to cover and reinterpret the songs on the CD.
"It was fascinating," she said of the awards ceremony. "It was a festival. They would ask me, 'What are you doing here?' and they'd look at me in stunned amazement when I told them."
John Mellencamp, Janis Ian, Old Crowe Medicine Show, the Black Crowes, Bettye Lavette and the Blind Boys of Alabama are some of the artists who signed on to the project.
I own an earlier compilation of American song which is much more celebratory; it's called Sing America. This one (Amazon link) is much broader in scope (well, hey; three CDs rather than one).
If you have an interest in the history of American music as I do, this looks to be a should-have.
Posted by Linkmeister at September 18, 2007 09:08 AM | TrackBack