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Just think of all the music that’s distinctly American. Jazz. Rock and roll. Motown. The blues. Zydeco. (And if we didn’t invent it here, we found a way to make it better.) We tap our toes, we dance, we thrill to the music of America.
Music: Tommy Dorsey
America has produced some great American pop and rock performers. I’ve paid tribute to some of them here: Tom Petty, The Rascals,...
Read MoreSong: “God Bless America”
Hard to believe, but “God Bless America” languished unsung and unknown for its first twenty years. The great Irving Berlin...
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Singer: Tom Petty
Whether he was fronting The Heartbreakers, singing with the Traveling Wilburys, or recording as a solo artist, Tom Petty has always...
Read MoreSong: “I Hope You Dance”
In 2000, Lee Ann Womack had proved to be a reliable, but unspectacular country singer who’d had a couple of good albums, each of...
Read MoreMusic: Sun Records
With today’s sophisticated software, almost anyone can record music and cut their own CD, or create a digital file that can be...
Read MoreSong: "Johnny B. Goode"
Not every song is great because it has memorable lyrics. Or a memorable performance. Some achieve greatness by striking the culture in the...
Read MoreMusic: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
This husband and wife team were a part of the famous Brill Building songwriters (Great American Things, June 18, 2010), and they wrote some...
Read MoreSong: "Your Cheatin' Heart"
In the early 1950s, country music had just begun to make its presence felt outside of the Deep South. Perhaps no one did more to advance...
Read MoreSong: “Your Cheatin’ Heart”
In the early 1950s, country music had just begun to make its presence felt outside of the Deep South. Perhaps no one did more to advance...
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Singer: Carrie Underwood
One of the cool things about watching Carrie Underwood rise to the highest heights of the country music industry is that those of us who...
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