I often tell people that the Midwest has the most native musical talent in the country. Don’t get me wrong, there are amazing bands and songwriters in cities like Seattle and Brooklyn and Nashville–but how many of those people were actually born in those cities? Not many. There’s something wholly unique about the music of this region.
I don’t know what it is , but there’s something very rare that happens here that doesn’t happen in similar towns. For whatever reason, cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Indianapolis and Detroit breed great artists with the incredible consistency. It’s not judgingg so much as it is genuine wonderment.
In the first Detroit Tigers home game of the American League Championship Series had Aretha Franklin singing our national anthem. Aretha Franklin, I think, is the most important woman singer in the history of recorded music.
That being said, her overly stylized version of the song was so different from the original that my Pops and I couldn’t tell whether she was singing the right words or not. The actual tune of the song was so different we ourselves forgot the words.
But is that really such a big deal?
There is a long history with stylized interpretations of the national anthem. In fact, it was at Tiger Stadium in 1968 when the first major re-interpretation of the tune occurred. The great Ernie Harwell personally invited folk singer Jose Feliciano to perform the song at the World Series. Feliciano’s slow, acoustic, “Latin jazz”-type version drew boos from the crowd and earned Ernie bags of hate mail. It also spent five weeks on the charts and ushered in a new era where musicians routinely re-interpret the song.
For better or worse? Let us know!
This post is brought to you by the fine folks at Paragon Apartments, offering apartments across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and the Paragon Patio, where residents connect. We’d love to talk with you on Facebook and Twitter!
This post is brought to you by the fine folks at Paragon Apartments, offering apartments across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and the Paragon Patio, where residents connect. We’d love to talk with you on Facebook and Twitter!
