My favorite song

[953 nut 59,779]

 

National Anthem Day on March 3 observes the songs nations around the world have adopted and chosen to represent their national identity. For America, that song is “The Star-Spangled Banner” and has a rich history to match the pomp and circumstance any national anthem should garner for the country it represents. Learn all about the fateful night which inspired the United Satiates’ national anthem.

Let’s take a step back in time to the evening of September 13, 1812. Maryland attorney Francis Scott Key found himself aboard a British sea vessel negotiating the release of Dr. William Beans, a prisoner of war accused of misleading the British troops. While Key’s negotiation was successful, the British troops would not allow him to disembark the ship out of fear he may disclose the Brit’s battle plans to American forces.

So, Key and Beans remained on the ship through the night witnessing the intense attack on Fort McHenry. Expecting American troops to have lost the battle, Key was astounded to see the American flag flying over Fort McHenry the next morning. The events of the evening ending in the triumphant flying of the American flag inspired Key to write a poem that ultimately became “The Star-Spangled Banner”, our national anthem.

By the early 1900s, there were several different versions of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” so President Woodrow Wilson asked the Bureau of Education to standardize it making one official version. The Bureau hired five musicians, including John Philip Sousa, to standardize the song which was first performed on December 5, 1917.

Finally, on March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional order into law making “The Star-Spangled Banner” America’s national anthem. National Anthem Day falls on March 3 annually commemorating the signing of the law.

 

 

[953 nut 59,779]

No one who has heard the National Anthem as performed by Jimi Hendrix holds a neutral opinion on it. Max Yasgur’s farm in upstate New York was not the first place he had performed the Star-Spangled Banner; it was a part of his playlist and had been such for over a year. The schedule for entertainment at Woodstock had been trashed by Monday morning when Jimi Hendrix came on stage to close out the weekend, he had been scheduled for the night before. Of the 400,00 attending that weekend only about 30,000 remained by Monday.

In the summer of 1969 protest songs calling for the end of the Vietnam War were prevalent and patriotism amongst young Americans was extremely low. Some felt the Hendrix rendition of the National Anthem was just another protest ballad but the anthem had become a fixture on The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s concerts since August 1968. He played it because he loved our country. Hendrix had been a US Army paratrooper and the National Anthem was an affirmation of his pride in the American experiment and the opportunities it had afforded him.

The sounds Hendrix drew from his Fender guitar were a reflection of the agonizing polarization which was tearing our country apart and destroying Vietnam. Hendrix treated the song with surprising reverence. Without the pyrotechnics, Hendrix’s approach was as much a statement about his feelings about war as it was a demonstration of love of country. Since the origins of the Star-Spangled Banner were rooted in wartime it was a perfect vehicle for Hendrix’s complex vision of incorporating stunning technical work with completely new ideas in feedback. One man with one guitar said more in three and a half minutes about the agony that swept our nation and its reverberations than all the novels, memoirs, and movies that have ever been produced.

Vocalists, bands, and instrumentalists have added their twist to the National Anthem and I for one appreciate all of them, including this one.

 

 

[WHX?? 51,701]

58 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Hendrix had been a US Army paratrooper

I didn't know... 

[SylvanLakeWH 28,325]

[steelman 252]

Thanks for sharing…I enjoyed most of his music, particularly this version of the Star Spangled Banner. I would not have guessed that he served our country. He left us way to soon…RIP Jimi 🇺🇸

[Wayne0 1,167]

44 minutes ago, steelman said:

Thanks for sharing…I enjoyed most of his music, particularly this version of the Star Spangled Banner. I would not have guessed that he served our country. He left us way to soon…RIP Jimi 🇺🇸

I do have to add, I think I had every album he made except maybe a couple of bootlegs. Gone now.

[wallfish 18,069]

I've posted little Malea before but it's worth posting again.