Happy 2021 Birthday to Stephen Foster, Blind Owl Wilson, and US Independence
by Robert Wilkinson Our musical July 4 celebration kicks off in a big way with 3 birthdays! With all respects to Mister Chuck, "And we'll be rockin' in Westwood, at UCLA, all the way to Jakarta, and the Bay of Biscay, straight up to Manchester, up in the UK, everyone be rockin' right here today!" Today we have two musical birthdays to celebrate, and I’ve thrown in a few more to commemorate what America at its best means to me. Because these tunes represent some of the greatest songs in history, kick back and enjoy pure American music! First, July 4 is the birthday of one of America’s greatest songwriters, Mister Stephen Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864). While this “Father of American music” is mostly forgotten today, his songs live forever and are still part of the Great American Songbook. In his very short life he wrote over 200 songs, two of which have become official state songs, and one was the anthem of the California Gold Rush (“Oh Susanna.”). A...
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