And The Home Of The Brave

Francis Scott Key wrote the words to The Star Spangled Banner in 1814, but it would not become the national anthem of the United States until 1913.

The words were set to the tune of a (then) well-known drinking song, To Anacreon in Heaven, the composition of which has been attributed to British composer John Stafford Smith.

I find it doubtful that either of these two men could ever have conceived of an event like Woodstock, nor would they have imagined their combined work being performed as it was by Jimi Hendrix at the notorious 1969 festival.

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Mexican Kids Are Shootin' Fireworks Below

Happy 4th of July from MP3 Of The Day!

This fine song was written by Dave Alvin of The Blasters for the Los Angeles based punk band X in 1987.

X was formed in 1977 by singer/bassist John Doe, singer Exene Cervenka, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake.

When I think of Billy Zoom, I think of a cross between Brian Setzer and Johnny Ramone.

Alvin replaced Zoom as X guitarist in 1985.

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From Sea To Shining Sea

Although it was never intended to be sung, America The Beautiful has become one of the most famous of American hymns.

Inspired after a climb of Pike's Peak in Colorado, the poem was originally composed by Katherine Lee Bates in 1893.

Bates wrote the second version of the poem in 1904, which was published by the Boston Evening Transcript.

The final version was written in 1913.

As many as 60 different tunes have been applied to the lyrics. The song as we know it is set to the tune of Materna, composed in 1882 by Samuel Augustus Ward, which was originally written for the hymn O Mother Dear, Jerusalem.

Today, the lyrics and the tune are inseparable.

America The Beautiful, as recorded by Ray Charles, has also been reviewed by MP3 Of The Day.

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Let Your Mind Go, Let Yourself Be Free

Say you're running a soul food restaurant in Chicago and in walk a tall, skinny guy and a shorter, heavier guy "Dressed like Hacedic [Hasidic] diamond merchants [and] they look like they're from the CIA or something. "The tall one wants white bread, toast, dry with nothing on it... And the other one wants four whole fried chickens and a Coke."

Take a look in the mirror, you just might find that you've become the "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin. Those two sitting at the counter behind dark sunglasses? They would be Jake and Elwood Blues, from the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers," and they're "On a mission from God."

Your husband, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, will be leaving with them, and so will your busboy, "Blue" Lou Marini.

Before you just let him walk out that door, sing him a song (with the help of the customers and staff). Make him Think about what's trying to do to you in his quest for freedom, freedom, freedom, yeah freedom (don't forget to wave your arms in the air).

Matt "Guitar" Murphy suffered a stroke in December, 2001, and has yet to regain the use of his hands.

John Belushi, who played Jake Blues, died of a drug overdose in 1982.

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Keep On...

In the early eighties, Neil Young expressed sympathy for Ronald Reagan's politics. Although he has been known to be unpredictable, Young's fans were nonetheless caught off guard.

As if to set the record straight, "The Loner" released Rockin' In The Free World in 1989, a sardonic essay of America which seems to be misinterpreted about as often as Springsteen's Born In The USA.

It became the theme for the fall of the Berlin Wall, resistance to the emerging New World Order and an encore performance at the musicians' tribute to the victims of the WTC attacks with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

The "Granddaddy of Grunge" takes a few stabs at the elder Bush with the line, "A kinder, gentler machine gun hand." and perhaps offers foresight to the potential for terrorist attacks in the first stanza with "There's a warnin' sign on the road ahead; There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead." As an accomplished song writer, Young then covers his tracks with the eulogic chorus for the American way, Keep On Rockin' In The Free World.

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