[Dixielandjazz] Singers

[Don Ingle]

Well, technically this lady is an American...a North American. We are the
United States of America, but the northern hemisphere of this continent is
North America, the southern half  South America.
This fellow may have flunked geography.
America the Beautiful may be of USA origins, but we can apply much of its
visual content to our neighbor to the North.
Incidentally, as one who attended Colorado College before transferring to
Michigan State, I was well aware that the words were composed by a summer
college teacher who was inspired by a trip to the top of Pike's Peak and
looking over the plains to the east for "amber waves of grain." You can get
a similar view from the Canadian Rockies towards the wheat fields of
Saskatchewan. So I find no fault in selecting a Canadian to sing this song.
I might argue as to the choice of the singer on grounds of whether it was
jazz or swing, or other favored style, but to slam her for her birthplace is
utter nonsense.
I like Canadians, don't like their overly socialist  taxing policies in many
matters, but the people are just gracious and friendly to this visiting
Yank, even if taking my shotgun to hunt grouse in Canada is getting to be
more bother and red tape than it's worth. Thank God their government hasn't
figured out a way to add similar red tape to carrying over my fishing
tackle.
By the way, there are some terrific jazz bands playing in that other part of
America, Always the Beautiful.
Don Ingle
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 7:41 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Singers


> Yes, don't those singers inflame one's passions. The opinion I love best
> was by the commander of a local American Legion Post in my area. He said
> in a letter to the local newspaper:
>
> "Doesn't anyone but me care that Celine Dion sang "God Bless America" at
> the super bowl? Since when did we annex Canada? She's a Canadian. Worse
> yet, a French Canadian. Can't the Super Bowl producers get Americans to
> perform instead of foreigners?"
>
> Now there's a man after my own heart. Doesn't give a damn that the
> "Americans" singing at these events just murder the songs. All he cares
> about is that some "French Canadian" sang "God Bless America".
>
> Seems to me we should be happy that a "foreigner" would want to sing
> that song publicly in the first place, and that she did such a good job
> of it to boot.
>
> Some folks need to get a life. Thank goodness this complainer was not
> the Commander of the American Legion Post  to which I belong.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
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