The Story of Gershwin, Harlem and the Blues

Israeli pianist Astrith Baltsan performs Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, explaining the inspiration of the music in the young Gershwin's fascination with Harlem blues.

Country Joe McDonald: Vietnam Song

Country Joe performing at Woodstock in 1969. This song was originally released as the title track of the 1967 album of Country Joe & the Fish, I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die. It was written by Country Joe.
 

Why the Music of Protest Is Still Worth Defending - Dar Williams interview; new movie about Victor Jara; songs are illegal in Wisconsin

Madeline Ostrander, John Summa
We can't change the world if we can't even sing together - Dar Williams on what happens if political music dies. "When people come together and sing, mountains can be moved." New film about Victor Jara, Chilean troubadour, murdered by the junta 40 years ago - brings Victor's story up to date. "If you are watching people singing in Wisconsin, you could be subject to arrest." (video)

Tidbits - August 1, 2013

Portside
Reader Comments - Songs of Immigration; Fruitvale Station; Blow the Whistle, Face Life in Jail; Bradley Manning; On Vultures and Red Wings: Billionaire Gets New Sports Arena in Bankrupt Detroit; U.S. Prison Population; North Carolina Worst Voter Suppression Law; Shorts - You Helped Cut the Pentagon Budget; Justice Department's Bold Voting Rights Move; Conference - The Global E. P. Thompson: Reflections on Making of the English Working Class after Fifty Years Oct. 3-5

Friday Nite Videos -- Songs of Immigration -- July 12, 2013

Portside
Who defines the Dream, as the Dreamers movement implicitly asserts, matters a great deal. In fact, it defines the nation. Here are 10 songs of immigration and identity: Crash at Los Gatos (Deportee). Ice El Hielo. Jamaica Farewell. Across the Borderline. Follow the Drinking Gourd. No Irish Need Apply. Rumania, Rumania. America (West Side Story). Where Is the Love? Ballad for Americans.

Johnny Cash -- Deportee

Lyrics by folk trailblazer Woody Guthrie, and set to music by Martin Hoffman, in honor of 28 Mexican nationals who died in a plane crash while being flown back to Mexico. They were buried in an unmarked grave, their names unknown until 65 years later, when a remarkable piece of detective work brought them to light. This performance is by The Highwaymen -- Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. For more Songs of Immigration, Deportation and Identity, go here.
 

Paul Robeson -- Ballad for Americans

Written by John La Touche, with music by Earl Robinson, as part of a WPA theatre project in 1939, Ballad for Americans was first performed by Paul Robeson. The song emphatically asserts the democratic character of Amerian nationality from class, ethnic and racial, and religious angles, declaring that to be American is to be "Irish, Negro, Jewish, Italian, French and English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Polish, Scotch, Hungarian, Litwak, Swedish, Finnish, Canadian, Greek and Turk and Czech ... and lots more." For more Songs of Immigration, Deportation and Identity, go here.
 

Black Eyed Peas -- Where Is the Love?

Lead rapper will.i.am (William Adams) introduces this 2011 performance in New York's Central Park with an impassioned explanation of the debt the Black Eyed Peas owes to immigrants and their supporters: fellow BEP Allan Pineda (apl.de.ap) immigrated "from a third world country."  Where Is the Love was written by Ralph MacDonald and William Salter, and originally performed by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. For more Songs of Immigration, Deportation and Identity, go here.
 

West Side Story -- America

The musical West Side Story is a Romeo and Juliet crossing rival Italian and Puerto Rican gangs in New York City. In the song America, George Chakiris and Rita Moreno debate whether life is better in the adopted country or the native land. The music is by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. For more Songs of Immigration, Deportation and Identity, go here.
 

The Limeliters -- Rumania, Rumania

A nostalgic Yiddish song about 'The Old Country,' here performed by the Limeliters in Yiddish and with English translation and wry commentary by Lou Gottlieb. Rumania, Rumania was written by Aaron Lebedeff, who immigrated to the United States in 1920. For more Songs of Immigration, Deportation and Identity, go here.
 
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