My Annual Bitch
George Z. Bush
our nation. A staple and basic feature of just about every such celebration
is the playing and/or singing of our national anthem.
Once again, with fear and trepidation, we have to face an endless supply of
pop singers who are going to abuse us with their crooned adaptions and
versions of The Star Spangled Banner. I've learned how to cope with
listening to a childishly weak voice that wouldn't even be heard in a
stadium were it not for the mega-watt amplifier in the performer's hand by
the simple expedient of turning off the sound.
However, it's not as if I don't hear the lyrics of that stirring music as
they were intended to be heard. In my mind's eye, I reckon back to an
Army-Navy football game that I attended in 1950. As part of the opening
ceremonies, after both corps of cadets/midshipmen had taken their places in
the grandstands, a black Army Master Sergeant was introduced as the singer
who would render the national anthem. We all rose, the stadium fell silent,
and he proceeded to belt out the lyrics of the national anthem acapella with
a magnificent basso profundo voice. He sang it the way it was written, and
it was so stirring and, after all these years, so memorable that I can
recall my goose bumps getting goose bumps to this very day. Sadly, the puny
little voices of the millionaire performers we'll all have to listen to
tomorrow won't even come close to cutting the mustard.
There are some things that never change and so, tomorrow, during the various
programs and celebrations, this old man's going to hit the mute button and
think back to the good old days, when you could still get goose bumps just
from listening to a man sing the national anthem the way it was supposed to
be sung.
A Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow Americans.
George Z
Andrew Chaplin
news:KY5qg.532$f36...@fe06.lga...
He may not be as good as your master sergeant in 1950, but Constable Lyndon
Slewidge of the Ontario Provincial Police sings both Canadian and U.S. anthems
at the Ottawa Senators' home games. He doesn't mess with the Star Spangled
Banner, he does it with the gusto it deserves in a bass baritone (he's an
amateur opera singer and has performed with Opéra Lyra). Tune in sometime -- I
guess it will be on OLN where you live -- and see if he doesn't do it justice.
I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
Harry Thompson
"Andrew Chaplin" <ab.ch...@yourfinger.rogers.com> wrote in message
news:8N-dnezlBJV4cjXZ...@giganews.com...
And a happy Canada Day, belatedly.
Joe King
"George Z. Bush" <georg...@charter.net.nospam> wrote in message
news:KY5qg.532$f36...@fe06.lga...
anthym at the wrong tempo, makes it 'their song', and uses insulting and
verbal acrobatics.
davidthenavigator
George Z. Bush wrote:
> It's that time of year once again when we Americans celebrate the birth of
> our nation. A staple and basic feature of just about every such celebration
> is the playing and/or singing of our national anthem.
> little voices of the millionaire performers we'll all have to listen to
> tomorrow won't even come close to cutting the mustard.
>
> There are some things that never change and so, tomorrow, during the various
> programs and celebrations, this old man's going to hit the mute button and
> think back to the good old days, when you could still get goose bumps just
> from listening to a man sing the national anthem the way it was supposed to
> be sung.
>
> A Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow Americans.
>
> George Z
I agree with you there are some ways much better than others.
In the first place I don't believe it should be done as a performance,
rather it should be sung by all present.
If however it is a concert performance then many forms can be
appriciated from Hendrix RayCharles Mahlia Jackson ...
Sometimes the artist's rendition can be very moving.
WaltBJ
would be appropriate reward. I've some warblers who interpolate 'grace'
notes that are not in the score.. Also, a lot of those egoistes should
not even try to sing since they don't have the vocal range necessary to
hit the correct notes. Sing it the way it is written or go someplace
where I am not. 'Artistic Impressionism' is as bad as rewriting the
Gettysburg Address, IMHO.
Walt BJ
Tankfixer
mumbled
AMEN !
ANd thanks for sharing that story..
Justine
Yesterday some radio jock assulted my ears with the very worst of the
abuse - Jimi Hendrix playing his Woodstock opener, "The Star Spangled
Banner". I think he should have been jailed for what he did to our
national anthem. No doubt he was stoned out of his skull and thought
he had accomplished a great work of art.
Justine
wrote:
So true. What I like about directors of classical music who direct
great orchestras or choral groups is that they study for years to
learn the different composers and musical periods. When they undertake
to direct a performance of a symphony or some other great work, they
give it hard study to learn what it was that the composer intended for
the work. Thus the integrity of the music is preserved and the
audience is presented with a viable rendition of the work, even if it
be 200 years later.
If anyone would be entitled to put their own egotistical stamp on a
work, it would be a director who has studied long and hard for the
sake of his art. Sometimes they allow themselves to be tyrants and
beat their musicians about the brain, but they generally retain the
humility of just whose music it is they are performing.
Last night I heard a dissapointing work. Kurt Lockhart, director of
the Boston Pops, directed a John Williams composition which was
written for the completion of the restoration of the Statue of
Liberty. It was mediocre. I didn't think John Williams could write a
flop, but that work proved me wrong. John Williams must have been
under pressure during a dry spell, because he relied totally on
formula, sort of like Hadyn. Generally Williams' music is
inspirational and stirs the heart.
George Z. Bush
I feel your pain and you have my total sympathy. I had the misfortune of
watching the NY Mets play the Pittsburgh Pirates on TV yesterday afternoon
and, during the seventh inning intermission, they introduced three female
singers of the Broadway USO troupe. These ladies, in an attempt to show
their musical wares, totally butchered "God Bless America" into something
almost unrecognizable as a well loved patriotic song; it was distinguished
only by the fact that they somehow managed to finish their respective
individual assaults on that poor song at approximately the same time.
Having earlier turned my mute on in an effort to avoid regurgitating, I
couldn't be absolutely sure of that except for the fact that their mouths
appeared to close at the same time, so I thought it was probably safe to
remove the mute then. It was and I thank God for having had someone invent
the mute button on my remote. It saved me from barfing all over myself.
(^+^))))))
George Z
George Z. Bush
I, too, watched the same program last night. In general, I think that
Lockhart is overrated. I guess I'm no longer in the mainstream of American
music lovers. I don't remember if it was on the Boston Pops program or the
Capital Fourth which preceded it on PBS, but I recall two young gentlemen
who were introduced as supposedly fantastic musicians. One of them
proceeded to strum his banjo or whatever while his partner strummed his
vocal chords, punctuating what was supposedly singing with occasional bursts
of what I would have called robust screeching.
Later on, Stevie Wonder was called upon to do his thing which, it turns out,
was a world and a half musically removed from my thing. It was so
entertaining that I spent half of the time he was doing his thing doing my
thing in the kitchen putting together a sandwich and refilling my jug of
coke from my 3 liter bottle.
In retrospect, I watch these things only for the occasional presentation of
something worthwhile, like the 1812 Overture complete with cannon and
fireworks (which no one has yet figured out how to screw up, thank God).
George Z
Rumpelstiltskin
Obviously you're completely oblivious to Haydn.
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger
Thumper
<georg...@charter.net.nospam> wrote:
Jimi Hendrick's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner is one of the
finest renditions of our national anthem ever produced.
Thumper
Rumpelstiltskin
>On Wed, 05 Jul 2006 17:40:09 GMT, jimstevens
><jimst...@forgetthemail.com> wrote:
>>As a certified right winger I can remember the first time I heard
>>Hendrix masterpiece. Stoned or no, his rendition is absolutely
>>wonderful! Guess it is eye on beholder.
>>
>>I still include it in music I love hearing regularly. IMV, it says
>>that even a stoner like Hendrix could apply his talents to love of
>>country. Rank right there with that Kate Smith masterpiece of unique
>>artists who spoke with their music.
>
>My favorite is America the Beautiful sung by Ray Charles.
That is a classic performance, for sure. It goes along in
my mind with his rendition of "Georgia". I think the state
of Georgia has itself assigned some special status to Ray
Charles' rendition of that song.
America the Beautiful is for my money much more
appropriate (less stuck in a particular moment of history)
for America's national anthem than The Star-Spangled
Banner. Also of course it's a lot easier to sing, which I think
should be a consideration in a national anthem.
AndyS
George Z. Bush wrote:
> It's that time of year once again when we Americans celebrate the birth of
> our nation. A staple and basic feature of just about every such celebration
> is the playing and/or singing of our national anthem.
Andy writes:
I agree with you completely. They should leave the vocal gymnastics
alone and sing it the way God wrote it.....
Andy
George Z. Bush
"AndyS" <andys...@juno.com> wrote in message
news:1152161053....@v61g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
God wrote it? Why, then, does John Stafford Smith, a Brit, usually get
credit for composing the music for the Anacreon Society, a group of British
beer and ale guzzlers? Maybe the better question would be to ask when God
got into the music composition bizness? You'd have thought that what with
running the world, He prolly had His hands full and wouldn't have had enough
time free to sit down at a piano and noodle with notes.
(^+^))))))))
George Z
>
> Andy
>
Andy
George Z. Bush wrote:> God wrote it? Why, then, does John Stafford
Smith, a Brit, usually get
> credit for composing the music for the Anacreon Society, a group of British
> beer and ale guzzlers? Maybe the better question would be to ask when God
> got into the music composition bizness? You'd have thought that what with
> running the world, He prolly had His hands full and wouldn't have had enough
> time free to sit down at a piano and noodle with notes.
> (^+^))))))))
>
Andy comments:
Golly, George, everybody knows that God doesn't play the piano. He
uses a Celestial Harp, and it is darn hard to play. Howver, the Star
Spangled Banner does sound really well on it..... I suspect that God
messes about with it when He plays, but that's His privilege cause He
can play it anyway he wants.....
I've never heard of this Smith guy, tho the last name sounds
familiar.
I would imagine that Brit beer guzzlers would need something to sing
in between fights and lambasting the Americans (their allies) and the
French (who deserve it)....
Heck, if it hadn't been for great Americans like George Washington,
we would all be singing our national anthem in English now....
Andy in Eureka, TExas
Joe King
"Andy" <andys...@juno.com> wrote in message
news:1152183608.8...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
Good point! It would be awful if we had to sing the national anthem in
English. Say what?
>
> Andy in Eureka, TExas
>
George Z. Bush
Ah say......thanks, guys, for joining in the fun. It's been grand and I did
enjoy it.
(^+^)))))))))
George Z
>>
>> Andy in Eureka, TExas
Andrew Chaplin
news:0o9rg.60419$Lm5....@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
All together now, "O Canada, terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux...." :^)
vincent p. norris
God will get you for blaming that tune on Him/Her. You just blew any
chance of getting into heaven!
It might be an appropriate song for a bunch of drunks, like the
Anachreon Society, but it's not a tune for a nation to be proud of.
(And it became our national anthem only in my lifetime.)
I've heard quite a few singers, and I mean GOOD singers of operatic
quality, say they find it difficult to sing.
"God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful" would be much better.
I remember reading some time ago that there had been a serious
movement to make "God Bless America" our national anthem but it was
killed by anti-semites because it was written by (horrors!) a Jew.
Perhaps that group was led by Archie Bunker.
But I agree that since it is our national anthem, singers should not
play games with it. This year's performance was atrocious, as was,
IMHO, the entire Boston Pops concert. They didn't even close with the
Star Spangled Banner.
Arthur Fiedler, where are you, now that we need you?
vince norris
Peter Stickney
Ah, yes. The second verse of the "Star Spangled Banner". Just ask any
Hockey fan 'round here.
--
Pete Stickney
Without data, all you have is an opinion
Andy
vincent p. norris wrote:
> Arthur Fiedler, where are you, now that we need you?
>
> vince norris
Andy answers:
I think he's on the roof....... :>)))))
Andrew Chaplin
Fiedler? On the Roof? If he's not careful, the whole structure might Topol.
George Z. Bush
> "Andy" <andys...@juno.com> wrote in message
> news:1152292053.1...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> vincent p. norris wrote:
>>> Arthur Fiedler, where are you, now that we need you?
>>>
>>> vince norris
>>
>>
>> Andy answers:
>>
>> I think he's on the roof....... :>)))))
>
> Fiedler? On the Roof? If he's not careful, the whole structure might
> Topol.
And to think....I started this thread because I hated listening to the
national anthem crooned or otherwise butchered. Fiedler on the Roof?
(groan)......what did I ever do to deserve this?
(^+^)))))))
George Z
vincent p. norris
>national anthem crooned or otherwise butchered. Fiedler on the Roof?
>(groan)......what did I ever do to deserve this?
Well, you didn't have to repeat it!!!
Once was more than enough.
vince norris
Guy Alcala
IMO, if we have to keep a virtually unsingable national anthem (even opera
singers have trouble), we ought to have an official, purely instrumental
recorded version played at all events. preferably one recorded by a
veteran. I vote for Jimi Hendrix' (former 101st AB paratrooper) version
at Woodstock - that way people can really hear the "bombs bursting in air"
;-)
Guy
vincent p. norris
>singers have trouble), we ought to have an official, purely instrumental
>recorded version played at all events. preferably one recorded by a
>veteran. I vote for Jimi Hendrix' (former 101st AB paratrooper) version
>at Woodstock - that way people can really hear the "bombs bursting in air"
>;-)
>
>Guy
If this thread is going to turn serious, I'd argue that the words are
far more important than the tune, so a purely instrumental version
doesn't serve the purpose. And playing a record is like that "bugle"
that was designed to play a recorded version of "Taps" at funerals of
veterans.
As a patriotic ceremony, it's kinda like taking a shower with your
raincoat on, if you know what I mean.
vince norris
Guy Alcala
> >IMO, if we have to keep a virtually unsingable national anthem (even opera
> >singers have trouble), we ought to have an official, purely instrumental
> >recorded version played at all events. preferably one recorded by a
> >veteran. I vote for Jimi Hendrix' (former 101st AB paratrooper) version
> >at Woodstock - that way people can really hear the "bombs bursting in air"
> >;-)
> >
> >Guy
>
> If this thread is going to turn serious,
What on earth persuaded you that it was? ;-)
> I'd argue that the words are
> far more important than the tune, so a purely instrumental version
> doesn't serve the purpose.
However, everyone knows the words (to the first verse), but being unable to
sing it most people do a Milli Vanilli or just say the words to themselves.
> And playing a record is like that "bugle"
> that was designed to play a recorded version of "Taps" at funerals of
> veterans.
>
> As a patriotic ceremony, it's kinda like taking a shower with your
> raincoat on, if you know what I mean.
Granted, but with Jimi dead for 36 years now (and Stevie Ray Vaughan dead too),
live renditions would be a bit hard to come by. ;-) Most of the time when it's
played, a far better sound system is available than the small portable stereo
typical for funerals. One problem might be the length of Hendrix' version, but
IMO we play the thing too often anyway, cheapening it. Do we really need to
play the national anthem at every sporting event? Traditionalists will no
doubt howl, just as they did in 1969, but I've never seen them complain about
leaving out the other three verses. I suspect many (most) are unaware of them,
so here's verses 2, 3 and 4:
On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Guy
Bob McKellar
"Guy Alcala" <g_al...@junkpostoffice.pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:44B0D307...@junkpostoffice.pacbell.net...
> "vincent p. norris" wrote:
<snip>
> Granted, but with Jimi dead for 36 years now (and Stevie Ray Vaughan dead
> too),
> live renditions would be a bit hard to come by. ;-) Most of the time when
> it's
> played, a far better sound system is available than the small portable
> stereo
> typical for funerals. One problem might be the length of Hendrix'
> version, but
> IMO we play the thing too often anyway, cheapening it. Do we really need
> to
> play the national anthem at every sporting event? Traditionalists will no
> doubt howl, just as they did in 1969, but I've never seen them complain
> about
> leaving out the other three verses. I suspect many (most) are unaware of
> them,
> so here's verses 2, 3 and 4:
>
Actually, depending on geographical region in the US, there are three
alternative second verses:
1. "O, Canada........."
2. "Play Ball!"
3. "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!" (Preceeded by military aircraft
flyover during the anthem)
Bob McKellar
Another thought: Willie Nelson gets an exemption and is allowed to change
the anthem.
vincent p. norris
>
>What on earth persuaded you that it was? ;-)
Perhaps just gullibility. I can't remember ever listending to Jimi
Hendrix so I don't know if you were serious or not.
But if it wasn't already serious, quoting all those verses certainly
made it so!
vince norris
Guy Alcala
> >> If this thread is going to turn serious,
> >
> >What on earth persuaded you that it was? ;-)
>
> Perhaps just gullibility. I can't remember ever listending to Jimi
> Hendrix so I don't know if you were serious or not.
Ah. Well, if you'd ever heard Hendrix' version, you'd remember;-)
Guy
vincent p. norris
Was it that good? Or was it that bad?
vince norris
588
>> Ah. Well, if you'd ever heard Hendrix' version, you'd remember;-)
>
> Was it that good? Or was it that bad?
Like sex, it can be both.
Jack
John Keeney
vincent p. norris wrote:
> >Ah. Well, if you'd ever heard Hendrix' version, you'd remember;-)
>
> Was it that good? Or was it that bad?
In the eye of the beholder.
It employed a lot of feed-back.
I can understand the claims that it demonstrated talent & technical
merit.
But while it was easily identifiable, please don't make me listen to
it.
Billzz
news:1152679100....@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
After I retired I learned music, and now sing in the Cantare Chorale, a
small classic group. Before I retired I thought that the Star-spangled
Banner was sacrosanct, and had only one interpretation. If you think that,
then the Jimi Hendix version is really, really, bad.
Afterwards, I understood that an artist can "take off" and if you understand
that, then you understand the music, and not what you "want" to hear.
A good introduction is "Roy Orbison, A Black and White Night," with Bruce
Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and others. It's great, just what you wanted
to hear, but then, right in the mddle, the guitar players "take off." It's
nothing that was written, they just "take off." You get it, or not.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000203YR/103-8414531-4279032?v=glance&n=130
So, here is Jimi Hendrix. You can see every note, and play every bar. He
may have been deranged, and he may have been high, but it is the music.
Just let go of what you "want" to hear and hear what he played. What he
played does not detract from our National Anthem. It is still there.
http://www.guitaralliance.com/guitar_lessons/star_spangled_banner.htm