Inaugural Tunes

From Ike to Obama, Ain't That America?

You may have heard, a new president will be inaugurated tomorrow. Perhaps you’ve missed that with most of the focus on the exit of the current monster and the threats of violence he helped inspire. But finally, a little after noon, it will be, Hey, Joe, and then we can enjoy the nationally televised inaugural music festival, with Gaga, Bruce, John Legend, and all the rest, hosted by Tom “It’s a Wonderful Day in the Bidenhood” Hanks. So to get you in the mood, here are some highlights from past inaugural concerts with a few familiar faces. Note: No film survives of Sinatra doing the JFK concert and we will skip Frank at Reagan’s and his tribute to Nancy. There’s also no tape of James Brown at Nixon ‘69 urging the nearly all-white audience to “say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud.” If you like what follows, please subscribe—it’s free!

Okay, first, a little history here. Marian Anderson was an American contralto who toured the world performing everything from opera to spirituals. In 1939, when she was forty-two, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow her to sing to an integrated audience at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., still a racial backwater. With the aid of the Roosevelts, she performed a celebrated concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before an integrated crowd of 75,000 and a national radio audience. So it was was soaked in significance when she was invited to sing the National Anthem at both the 1957 Eisenhower and 1961 Kennedy inaugurals. She also performed at MLK’s March on Washington in 1963.

Then here’s Linda at the peak of popularity at an inaugural event for Jimmy “Rock ‘n Roll” Carter. Willie Nelson, who wrote “Crazy,” famously smoked pot in the White House on a visit later in Carter’s term.

The godfathers of rock, plus Mighty Max Weinberg on drums, for Clinton and Gore. Chuck actually did sing “My Ding-A-Ling.” Soon Tipper Gore would move against ding-a-ling rock ‘n roll lyrics. Carole King, Michael McDonald, Bruce Hornsby and Judy Collins also took the stage. Chuck: “We wanted change and we sure got more / Bill and Hillary and Big Al Gore.”

Same year, Bob with a speedy version of one of his greatest songs. (Just yesterday here at the newsletter we showed Bob singing in the exact same spot for MLK’s March on Washington.) Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett and Michael Bolton also performed at this outdoors event for Clinton which drew up to a million.

The Mac reunited briefly for this. “Don’t Stop” had been the prime Clinton campaign song. Michael Jackson joined in. Stevie Nicks later recalled, "Bill [Clinton] was very sparkly… Michael Jackson had lost his makeup and wanted to borrow some, so we sent over [for] foundation and it was not the right color.” Elton, Streisand and Steve Stills also appeared.

Beyonce with the wise choice of Etta James for Barack and Michelle. She also sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at the actual inauguration.

Bruce’s final Seeger Session: It’s touching to see Pete, channeling his old friend Woody, here with a guy from Jersey, where Guthrie spent some of his last years in a hospital.

Bruce also did “The Rising” on his own (with the large choir). See if you can spot Biden with Obama. My only appearance on these hallowed steps was to speak at a Hiroshima Day rally in 1995, the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing. The one celebrity that day was actor Michael O’Keefe (who was then married to Bonnie Raitt).

Ain’t that America? For you and me? Or at least it used to be. We’ll see what’s next.

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels, the current The Beginning or the End, and The Campaign of the Century, which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. For all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he won more than a dozen awards as editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and now has written and directed his first feature, Atomic Cover-up, which will have its American premiere at a festival this spring.