I learned alot & heard many moving stories at last weekend's Wisconsin Veterans Museum symposium, celebrating the release of the archival CD set Next Stop is Vietnam: The War on Record (1961-2008), curated by musicologist Hugo Keesing. This event in Madison served as a valuable reminder that music has the power to help musicians tell personal stories as well as to help listeners endure traumatic experiences.
Country music expert Bill Malone, PhD candidate Charles Hughes (who's writing a dissertation on soul music), African-American writer/vet Art Flowers and musician/vets Jim Walktendonk & Lem Genovese offered fascinating insights into how those who served in Vietnam were uplifted by popular music and how folks on the home front reacted - through country, rock & soul music - to the war's unfolding futility.
Emotions were strong among Vietnam vets in the audience, but the abundance of laughter made attending the 5 sessions a pleasure. Here's a list of the songs most mentioned by Vietnam vets - including nurses - as having a special resonance, according to researchers Doug Bradley (a USARV reporter in Vietnam) and Craig Warner (UW professor and a self-described "undrafted hippie" musician from Colorado):
1. "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" by The Animals, written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weill (for the Righteous Brothers) - the title suffices to explain its popularity among US troops in Vietnam.
2. "Fixin' to Die Rag" by Country Joe MacDonald (a veteran who still supports fellow vets as well as an iconic anti-war activist) & the Fish.
3. "Leaving on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul & Mary (written by John Denver) - originally released in 1967, but not a hit till '69 - beloved by soldiers overseas for its theme of reluctant parting from a lover.
4. "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding (co-written by Steve Cropper) - sadly, a posthumous release & another melancholy lyric full of longing.
5. "Detroit City" by Bobby Bare, a crossover country hit popular among troops due mainly to its mournful refrain "I wanna go home." Some 58,000 of our nearly 3 million Vietnam vets never did make it home. Many more couldn't adjust to their post-Nam world.
6. "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix, an ex-paratrooper & rebel hero to many fighting men, especially combat grunts in Vietnam, after the war turned sour in 1967.
7. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra, who has made a living largely from entertaining Vietnam vets. And, of course, she looked damn good in those boots circa 1966.
8. "The Letter" by The Box Tops, memorable mainly because of its urgent theme - i.e. missing my gal - and the late Alex Chilton's great growling vocal delivery.
9. "Chain of Fools" by Aretha Franklin - US troops in Vietnam apparently applied the lyrics to the military chain of command, among other sources of irritation.
10. "What's Goin' On" by Marvin Gaye - title track of that masterpiece album, which Marvin wrote after deep conversations with his brother Frankie upon Frankie Gaye's return from combat duty in Vietnam. Art Flowers said that the cut "What's Happenin' Brother" just about blew his mind when he first heard it after his Nam tour.
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