Song Of America CD

MUSIC

POP

Song Listing

Disc 1

Song Title

1. Lakota Dream Song - Earl Bullhead ~ Various Artists

2. Once More Our God Vouchsafe To Shine - Julie Lee ~ Various Artists

3. Let Us Break Bread Together - The Blind Boys of Alabama ~ Various Artists

4. God Save The King - John Wesley Harding ~ Various Artists

5. Young Ladies In Town - Elizabeth Foster ~ Various Artists

6. Old Woman Taught Wisdom, The - Malcolm Holcombe ~ Various Artists

7. Liberty Song, The - Ed Pettersen ~ Various Artists

8. Yankee Doodle - Harper Simon ~ Various Artists

9. Jefferson & Liberty - The Wilders ~ Various Artists

10. Hail Columbia - Steven Kowalczyk-Santoro ~ Various Artists

11. Star Spangled Banner, The - Take 6 ~ Various Artists

12. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child - Beth Nielsen Chapman ~ Various Artists

13. Peg And Awl - Freedy Johnston ~ Various Artists

14. Sweet Betsy From Pike - BR5-49 ~ Various Artists

15. Trail Of Tears - Will & Jehnean ~ Various Artists

16. Declaration Of Sentiments - Minton Sparks/Pat Hynn ~ Various Artists

17. Go Down Moses - Fisk University Jubilee Singers ~ Various Artists

18. Dixie's Land - The Mavericks/Thad Cockrell ~ Various Artists

Disc 2

Song Title

1. John Brown's Body - Marah ~ Various Artists

2. Battle Hymn of the Republic - Joana Smith ~ Various Artists

3. Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye - Janis Ian ~ Various Artists

4. Thousands Are Sailing To Amerikay - Tim O'Brien ~ Various Artists

5. Farmer Is The Man, The - Otis Gibbs ~ Various Artists

6. Home On The Range - Joni Harms ~ Various Artists

7. Stars & Stripes Forever - Jake Shimabukuro ~ Various Artists

8. Sleep My Child - Judith Edelman/Neilson Hubbard ~ Various Artists

9. Over There - Jen Chapin ~ Various Artists

10. How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm - Andrew Bird ~ Various Artists

11. Lift Every Voice And Sing - Karen Parks ~ Various Artists

12. Happy Days Are Here Again - Danielson ~ Various Artists

13. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime - Andy Bey ~ Various Artists

14. Seven Cent Cotton And Forty Cent Meat - Jim Lauderdale ~ Various Artists

15. Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos) - Old Crow Medicine Show ~ Various Artists

16. Rosie The Riveter - Suzy Bogguss ~ Various Artists

17. Reuben James - Folk Family Robinson ~ Various Artists

Disc 3

Song Title

1. Great Atomic Power, The - Elizabeth Cook & the Grascals ~ Various Artists

2. Little Boxes - Devendra Banhart ~ Various Artists

3. Times They Are A Changin', The - The Del McCoury Band ~ Various Artists

4. Apache Tears - Scott Kempner ~ Various Artists

5. Get Together - Kim Richey ~ Various Artists

6. Say It Loud (I'm Black and Proud) - Charles Walker/Dynamites ~ Various Artists

7. Ohio - Ben Taylor ~ Various Artists

8. What's Going On? - Anthony David ~ Various Artists

9. I Am Woman - Martha Wainwright ~ Various Artists

10. Youngstown - Matthew Ryan ~ Various Artists

11. Wave - Gary Heffern/Chris Eckman ~ Various Artists

12. Message, The - Shortee Wop ~ Various Artists

13. Streets Of Philadelphia - Bettye LaVette ~ Various Artists

14. Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning - The Wrights ~ Various Artists

15. This Land Is Your Land - John Mellencamp ~ Various Artists

Album Notes and Credits

Notes & Personnel Info
	Any reasonable music fan would be forgiven for being wary of a collection of American folk music whose executive producer was former attorney general Janet Reno, but as it happens Reno knows more about such things than one might expect. At the very least Reno had the good judgment to suggest singer, songwriter and activist Ed Pettersen coordinate an album of songs that reflected different aspects of American history, from the colonial period to the present day. Pettersen's long gestating project, Song of America, has finally surfaced as a hefty three-CD set, featuring 50 songs from as many artists, and the final product is frequently fascinating and ambitious stuff, music that demonstrates how art mirrors our history and how that art can carry its message in a broad range of interpretations. Pettersen, co-producers David Macias and Bob Olhsson, and their cast of singers and musicians are clearly mindful of the message and context of these songs, but they don't insist on treating them with kid gloves; the discordant horns on John Wesley Harding's "God Save the King" boldly reflects the chaos of the Revolution, Danielson's interpretation of "Happy Days Are Here Again" is at once playful and aware of the dark shadows of the Depression, the Mavericks transform "Dixie's Land" into a spectral anthem to a cause that would soon be lost, and "The Times They Are A Changin'" seems to speak to both past and present through the Del McCoury Band. Pettersen and company are also smart enough to realize that while the folk process has changed, it's hardly stopped, and that the work of James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Grandmaster Flash, and Marvin Gaye are all a part of the broad banner of our history, with their works interpreted with the same intelligence and thoughtfulness as the traditional numbers. The set closes with John Mellencamp singing Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," and in this context, Guthrie's simple but eloquent song has rarely displayed a greater resonance, revealing how these tunes don't merely reflect our lives and history, but are a living part of it. Song of America is hardly the first album that seeks to chart this nation's progress through song, but few have done it with this degree of intelligence and imagination, and everyone involved deserved to be congratulated for creating something very special indeed. ~ Mark Deming
Producer: Mac McAnally; Daniel; Janis Ian; Marah; Jen Chapin; Del McCoury; Ronnie; Neilson Hubbard; Stephan Crump; Beth Nielsen Chapman; John Mellencamp; Michael Rubin; Harper Simon; The Grascals; The Wilders; Herb Jordan; Chris Eckman; Kevin Bacon; Jonathan Quarmb
Engineer: Scott Davis; Dave Martin; Andy Hunt; Pat Sansone; Dave Kowalski; Philip Clark; Joe Martino; Bob Olhsson; Patrick Murphy; Carter William Humphrey; Paul Mahern; Rich Feaster; Mike Esser; Patrick Miller; Brian Fulk; Peter Robbins; Willy Will; Josiah Mazzasch

Technical Info

	Release Date : 09/18/2007
	Original Release Date : 2007
	Catalog ID : 12065466
	Label : Thirty Tigers
	Number of Discs : 3
	Studio/Live : Studio
	Mono/Stereo : Stereo
	SPAR Code : n/a
	UPC : 00827912065466

Professional Reviews

Uncut (p.106)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]pectacular....[F]ive centuries of song are crammed into three red-white-and-blue discs. It's all here: colonial war, revolution, immigration, the expansion of the West and capitalism."

Mojo (Publisher)
(p.122)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "Fine performances abound -- Beth Nielsen Chapman's enthralling 'Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child' one among many."

BloomReach Content

Song Of America (2007)

Product Details:

Song Listing

Album Notes and Credits

Technical Info

Professional Reviews

Rakuten