Customer Reviews

Freedom Sings: First Amendment Center

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This is one of my finds at NYC this past Holiday. I think it was at a St. Vincent DePaul Thrift Store on 79th & Broadway... Great little place; big on books and knick-knacks and a surprisingly beefy little selection of CD's.
The reason this particular CD stands out from the others is 2-fold. 1st, {amendment}.. I can't get this to show-up on All Music, which is where I go for a little background sometimes.. Sometimes alot. and 2nd, There are substantial cover-materials here to warrant a cop.
Dan Baird of the Legendary Georgia Satellite turns in a kill-me-with-it version of "Stret Fighting Man".. and Rodney Crowell, the first Mr. RoseAnne Cash, trips into Merle-Town with that anti-hippie chestnut "Okie from Muskogee".
You also get "Society's Child" and "Ohio" and "In the Ghetto"- - -

Bill Lloyd seems to be the thread. It's like great evening out with a group of musicians doing what they do best.
18 in all.

This unique and now rare CD captures a two-night performance at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville to benefit the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. The CD was originally offered to the public for free (with only a nominal mailing charge), with the hope that the recipient would recognize the importance of the cause and make an additional monetary donation to the Center, which battles censorship and other infringements on First Amendment rights.

The concept behind the choice of songs was simple; every song on this disc was banned or surpressed in some manner at the time it was originally released. They dealt with a variety of subjects: sex, integration, and the Vietnam-era anti-war movement among them. Some of the tunes are very familiar, such as Good Rockin' Tonight (best known through Elvis Presley's recording), Ohio (Crosby Stills Nash & Young) Blowin' In the Wind (Bob Dylan) and In the Ghetto (also Elvis), while others were more obscure, then and now. In some cases, it seems almost laughable that the song prompted such an uproar. But almost all of them had an important message about society at the time they first recorded.

The list of performers is diverse and impressive. Steve Earle performs one of his own recent compositions, and Rodney Crowell, Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd (who also serves as musical director), Dan Baird, Kim Richey, Kevin Welch, and Greg Trooper also appear. The best performance is turned in by Tommy Womack, whose version of Eve of Destruction has an honesty, passion and energy that Barry McGuire's hit version (1965) sorely lacked. Another highlight is a straightfaced trio rendition of Where Have All the Flowers Gone, a song I never again expected to enjoy, having lived through too many saccharine versions during the Sixties folk boom. Sadly, its powerful anti-war message is relevant again in our times.

The purpose for these performances is found in the songs themselves; there are no heavy-handed speeches or politicizing. But these sensitive and intelligent renditions serve to remind us how precious is the right of free speech, and that artistic expression should not be crushed by political or social agendas.

Even if you remain unpersuaded by the politics, this recording is a lot of fun, with a lot of terrific songs, and it stands up to repeated listening. Good luck finding this CD, but if you do, grab it. You won't be disappointed.