I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free - Nina Simone
America (My Country 'Tis Of Thee) - Washington Men's Camarata
Yankee Doodle - The Broadway Quartet (feat. Charles Harrison)
Because All Men Are Brothers - Peter, Paul & Mary w/ Dave Brubeck
Simple Gifts - The New York Philharmonic
The Star Spangled Banner - Duke Ellington
Amazing Grace - Willie Nelson
Erie Canal - Dan Zanes & Friends (feat. Suzanne Vega)
New River Train - Louise Massey & The Westerners
When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Dixie - Gil Tanner's Skillet Lickers
Follow The Drinking Gourd - Taj Mahal
Oh Freedom - The Boys Choir Of Harlem
The Battle Hymn of the Republic - Washington Men's Camarata
Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier - Pamela Warrick Smith
Shenandoah Lullabye - Jerry Garcia & David Grisman
Healing Song #1 - Verdell Primeaux,Johnny Mike & Robert Attson
Home On The Range - Gene Autry
America The Beautiful - Keb' Mo'
Can The Circle Be Unbroken - The Original Carter Family
Semper Fidelis - The Goldman Band
Stars and Stripes Forever! - New York Philharmonic
Track Listings (24) - Disc #2
I'm On My Way (Live) - Mahalia Jackson
In My Merry Oldsmobile - Les Brown & His Orchestra
Keep Off The Grass - James P. Johnson
Over There - Arthur Fields
When The Moon Shines On The Moonshine - Bert Williams
The Death Of Mother Jones - Gene Autry
(What Did I Do To Be So) Black And Blue? - Louis Armstrong
Hittin' The Ceiling - Smith Ballew
Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? - Bing Crosby (w/ Lennie Hayton & His Orchestra)
Dancing In The Dark - Ben Selvin & His Orchestra
The Gold Diggers' Song - Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (w/ The Boswell Sisters)12. God Bless America - Kate Smith
On The Trail - Pittsburgh Symphony Suite
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie & Arlo Guthrie
Union Maid - The Almanac Singers (w/ Pete Seeger & Woody Guthrie)
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
Trouble - Josh White
Joe Hill - Paul Robeson
We'll Meet Again - Peggy Lee (w/ Benny Goodman)
Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition - Kay Kyser & His Orchestra
The Freedom Train - Paul Weston Orchestra
Atom And Evil - Golden Gate Quartet
Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? - Count Basie & His Orchestra
The Bourgeois Blues - Leadbelly
Fanfare For The Common Man - London Symphony Orchestra
Track Listings (20) - Disc #3
The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan
America - Chita Rivera, Marilyn Cooper & Reri Grist
A Change Is Gonna Come - Terence Trent D'Arby & Booker T & The MG's
We Shall Overcome - Mahalia Jackson
Dancing In The Street - Martha And The Vandellas
If I Had A Hammer (The Hammer Song) - Pete Seeger
This Little Light Of Mine (Live) - The Freedom Singers
Chimes Of Freedom (Live) - Bruce Springsteen
People Get Ready - The Impressions
America - Simon & Garfunkel
Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us 'Round - Sweet Honey In The Rock
Stand! - Sly & The Family Stone
Freedom - Richie Havens
Goodnight Saigon - Billy Joel
Wake Up Everybody - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Fight The Power - The Isley Brothers
Song Of The Patriot - Johnny Cash (w/ Marty Robbins)
Hard Times - James Taylor
Open Letter (To A Landord) - Living Colour
Someday We'll All Be Free - Donny Hathaway
Long annoyed with the dry, dusty nature of American history textbooks, author Joy Hakim set out to create a multivolume narrative that revolved around the deceptively simple idea of freedom. But as her books, the PBS serie... more »s they spawned, and this, the show's soundtrack, have proven, it's a word whose meanings have been filtered through myriad historical, cultural, and political prisms. The three discs here span some 67 performances across 90 years of recording history, from WWI-era recordings of "Yankee Doodle" (who knew it had so many verses?) and Cohan's "Over There" through a dizzying array of folk, country, pop, R&B, and classical selections. And if it virtually ignores two decades of hip-hop and shortchanges nonvocal jazz (what's "freer" than Monk and Miles?), it's nonetheless an intriguing collection that delivers surprises and musical revelations on every disc. Hoary American patriotic standards are cast in fresh light, while other worthy performances (a vibrant take on "Erie Canal" by Dan Zanes and Suzanne Vega; Booker T. & the MG's and Terence Trent D'Arby's soulful "A Change Is Gonna Come") are rescued from obscurity in a collection that seems to delight in trashing the narrow-minded marketing philosophy that has largely ghettoized American culture in recent years. Sousa, Seeger, Sly, and Simone are hardly the least of its charms. --Jerry McCulley« less
Long annoyed with the dry, dusty nature of American history textbooks, author Joy Hakim set out to create a multivolume narrative that revolved around the deceptively simple idea of freedom. But as her books, the PBS series they spawned, and this, the show's soundtrack, have proven, it's a word whose meanings have been filtered through myriad historical, cultural, and political prisms. The three discs here span some 67 performances across 90 years of recording history, from WWI-era recordings of "Yankee Doodle" (who knew it had so many verses?) and Cohan's "Over There" through a dizzying array of folk, country, pop, R&B, and classical selections. And if it virtually ignores two decades of hip-hop and shortchanges nonvocal jazz (what's "freer" than Monk and Miles?), it's nonetheless an intriguing collection that delivers surprises and musical revelations on every disc. Hoary American patriotic standards are cast in fresh light, while other worthy performances (a vibrant take on "Erie Canal" by Dan Zanes and Suzanne Vega; Booker T. & the MG's and Terence Trent D'Arby's soulful "A Change Is Gonna Come") are rescued from obscurity in a collection that seems to delight in trashing the narrow-minded marketing philosophy that has largely ghettoized American culture in recent years. Sousa, Seeger, Sly, and Simone are hardly the least of its charms. --Jerry McCulley
"If you're going to spend some rather serious bucks on a compilation CD, you could do a lot worse than this! It takes us on a multidimensional, multigenerational trip through some of the plateaus of American music from the first half of the 20th century, on. I guess Columbia is trying to catch up with Sony on these all encompassing compilations, and if so, more power to them. This recording touches so many bases and appeals to so many different sensibilities, fans of different genres, etc. that it would be impossible to cover it in under 2,000 words. I'm far too lazy to attempt that, amyway. Suffice it to say that there isn't a bad cut on the CD and that the compilers actually took some thought into arranging the thing.
As it's nearing 4th of July this year and our country is not in the best of shape (OK, maybe I'm spending too much time looking in the mirror after my showers this summer!), this CD collection should come as a refreshing and fulfilling reminder of what American music is all about, and why we should remember why it's still a vital, freedom loving country, with room for differing styles, tastes, etc!