Appreciating all that makes America special

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Just think of all the music that’s distinctly American. Jazz. Rock and roll. Motown. The blues. Zydeco. (And if we didn’t invent it here, we found a way to make it better.) We tap our toes, we dance, we thrill to the music of America.


Music: Tommy Dorsey

Posted by on Jul 6, 2011 in Music | 1 comment

America has produced some great American pop and rock performers. I’ve paid tribute to some of them here: Tom Petty, The Rascals,...

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Song: “God Bless America”

Posted by on Jul 3, 2011 in Holiday, Songs | 1 comment

Hard to believe, but “God Bless America” languished unsung and unknown for its first twenty years. The great Irving Berlin...

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Singer: Tom Petty

Posted by on Jun 16, 2011 in Singer | Comments Off on Singer: Tom Petty

Whether he was fronting The Heartbreakers, singing with the Traveling Wilburys, or recording as a solo artist, Tom Petty has always...

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Song: “I Hope You Dance”

Posted by on Jun 13, 2011 in Songs | Comments Off on Song: “I Hope You Dance”

In 2000, Lee Ann Womack had proved to be a reliable, but unspectacular country singer who’d had a couple of good albums, each of...

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Music: Sun Records

Posted by on Jun 3, 2011 in Music | Comments Off on Music: Sun Records

With today’s sophisticated software, almost anyone can record music and cut their own CD, or create a digital file that can be...

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Song: "Johnny B. Goode"

Posted by on May 23, 2011 in Songs | Comments Off on Song: "Johnny B. Goode"

Not every song is great because it has memorable lyrics. Or a memorable performance. Some achieve greatness by striking the culture in the...

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Music: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil

Posted by on May 22, 2011 in Music | Comments Off on Music: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil

This husband and wife team were a part of the famous Brill Building songwriters (Great American Things, June 18, 2010), and they wrote some...

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Song: “Your Cheatin’ Heart”

Posted by on May 12, 2011 in Songs | Comments Off on Song: “Your Cheatin’ Heart”

In the early 1950s, country music had just begun to make its presence felt outside of the Deep South. Perhaps no one did more to advance...

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Song: "Your Cheatin' Heart"

Posted by on May 12, 2011 in Songs | Comments Off on Song: "Your Cheatin' Heart"

In the early 1950s, country music had just begun to make its presence felt outside of the Deep South. Perhaps no one did more to advance...

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Singer: Carrie Underwood

Posted by on May 9, 2011 in Singer | Comments Off on Singer: Carrie Underwood

One of the cool things about watching Carrie Underwood rise to the highest heights of the country music industry is that those of us who...

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