To benefit you observe Memorial Day,Jonathan has selected five standards to benefit honor our troupes. 1. Kate Smith - "God Bless America" You know the record, Kate Smith needed a song to sing for a 1938 Armistice Day radio broadcast. Irving Berlin knew just the tune! He went into his trunk and grabbed a number written in 1918 during his time in the service. With the rise of totalitarianism in Europe, and the song's message was indispensable as ever!2. Bette Davis - "They're Either Too Young Or Too Old" This number approximately the trials of a women who's lover has gone to war was written by Frank Loesser and Arthur Schwartz for the 1943 film,Thank Your Lucky Stars. Bette Davis made a cameo in the film to perform her first on screen musical number.3. James Cagney - "You're a Grand Old Flag" This march, written by George M. Cohan, and is a tribute to this country's most iconic image,our flag. Written for the 1906 musical, George Washington, and Jr.,it was the first song from a musical to sell millions of copies of sheet music helping it become a major part of the U.
S. patriotic vernacular. 4. Vera Lynn - "We'll Meet Again" One of the most celebrated songs during World War II, because of its optimistic message for the troops. It was written overseas, and by British composers Ross Parker and Hughie Charles and was made celebrated by the English singer,Vera Lynn. It appears all over popular culture and was famously used in the closing scene of the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove.5. Ray Charles - "America the Beautiful" The oldest song on the list, with its words published in 1895 by the poet Katharine Lee Bates. Ray Charles released this soulful version for the 1976 bicentennial.
Source: thetakeaway.org