Freedom - Songs from the Heart of America [FLAC]

National pride, patriotism, and ruminations on the spirit of freedom were in vogue in America in the early 00s in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center. This three-CD, 67-song set is the companion musical release to the eight-hour PBS television series Freedom: A History of US. American freedom is a big concept to cover even given eight hours, and the same challenge, with its rewards and problems, applies to a box set based around the theme, even given three discs and 67 songs. To be sure, there is an enormous amount of variety within this package, spanning World War I to 2001 and stylistically covering most forms of American music from folk, country, blues, pop, jazz, and classical to rock, gospel, soul, Broadway, and cowboy music. Theres a lot of good stuff here, from recognized classics (and even some chart hits) to some imaginatively off the beaten track selections. The sets chief drawback is inextricably linked to its chief asset, though. With so much variety, its not too certain that a whole lot of listeners will be in the mood to hear so many styles and sentiments side by side, particularly once the memory of the TV series has faded, if only for those inspired to purchase the music by the program. There does seem to be some rough categorization to the sequencing, though, with much of the more traditional material on disc one, recordings and popular styles from the early and mid-20th century on disc two, and disc three devoted largely to more popular rock, soul, and folk songs from the rock era.

There is, as expected, a surfeit of flag-waving tunes: Yankee Doodle (a 1917 recording by the Broadway Quartet featuring Charles Harrison thats the oldest track on the set), The Star Spangled Banner (Duke Ellington), Dixie (Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers), The Battle Hymn of the Republic, America the Beautiful (by Keb Mo, and with a 2001 recording date, one of the most recent offerings), Stars and Stripes Forever! (by the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein conducting), and God Bless America (Kate Smith). Others focus on the beauty of the land itself, like This Land Is Your Land (a duet between Woody Guthrie and son Arlo Guthrie) and Gene Autrys Home on the Range. To its credit, though, this isnt just jingoism, also giving time to songs that strive for freedom against oppression and express dissent, or at least ambivalence. Foremost among those are Nina Simones I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free (not exactly a well-known standard and a particularly imaginative selection), Louis Armstrongs (What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue?, Bing Crosbys Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, Billie Holidays Strange Fruit, Paul Robesons Joe Hill, Mahalia Jacksons We Shall Overcome, Bob Dylans The Times They Are A-Changin, Pete Seeger doing If I Had a Hammer, Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions People Get Ready, Simon & Garfunkels America, the famous America song from the Broadway show West Side Story, Richie Havens Woodstock performance of Freedom, and the Isley Brothers Fight the Power...

Full review too long for TPB.

http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Songs-America-Various-Artists/dp/B00007FOGP