Joe Bussard, right, collector of records and maker of truly unusual music. (AP Photo Illustration/Courtesy of Fonotone Records) (AP Photo Illustration/Courtesy of Fonotone Records)
John F. Kennedy's funeral on Nov. 25, 1963. (AP Photo)
Jesse James. Enough said. (AP Photo)
Once, people spread the word about big events through songs. From medieval times to the assassination of William McKinley and the sinking of the Titanic, the stories that became our history lessons were passed from mouth to ear.
We don't really need that anymore, what with the Internet and 24-hour news channels and news delivered directly to your cell phone. And yet ...
Dust to Digital, a company that issues old recordings in new collections, has just released a five-CD set from the vaults of Fonotone Records, a private label that existed from 1956 to 1970 and recorded many unusual and rarely heard folk songs.
Among them are some odd storytelling hybrids: 19th-century-style ballads about events that happened in the 1960s -- the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the flight of John Glenn, Apollo 8's orbit of the moon.
It makes for an intriguing blend of the old and the modern -- and makes you think about how, for the most part, songs about big events don't make it to immortality like they used to.
Sure, there's the occasional "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" (Toby Keith) "American Skin (41 Shots)" (Bruce Springsteen) or "John Walker's Blues" (Steve Earle). But it's more common for us to associate a popular song with a big event -- whether by popular demand or PR strategy (think the Clinton-Gore campaign using "Don't Stop (Thinkin' About Tomorrow)" -- than it is for someone to write one.
In this audio essay, asap's TED ANTHONY takes a look at the tradition of songs about the big news of the day -- and what became of them. Listen to it by clicking below or download the MP3 here for your portable audio player.
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Ted Anthony, the editor of asap, is writing a book about the history of the song "House of the Rising Sun."
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Audio edited by Eliza Cooke Browning.
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