Twice recently, following the sad deaths of Bill Withers and John Prine, I've found myself reaching for A Soldier's Sad Story - Vietnam Through the Eyes of Black America 1966 -73 a terrific compilaton of the ever excellent Kent Label.
From this I featured Bill Withers with I Can't Write Left Handed and Swamp Dogg's haunting version of John Prine's Sam Stone.
I subseqently gave the whole album a listen
The album is sub-titled - the anticipation,action and aftermath of the years of the Vietnam War, as seen through the eyes of Black America
A quote from the sleevenotes tells us Of the 240,00 men recruited under Project 100,000 (the draft) between October 1966 and June 1969 41% were black, although black Americans represented only 11% of the US population. Something, I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone reading this.
There are 24 tracks of the CD all of which could easily grace these pages. Here are three more:
The Players - He'll Be Back
Jimmy Holiday - I'm Gonna Help Hurry My Brothers Home
James Carr - Let's Face Facts
An album worth checking out. Thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteSuch sad deaths - As you say this is like 2016 all over again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the album info - It's been pointed out to me before but must take more heed. A shocking statistic that one and a bit like the statistic we will soon have to hand - the disproportionate amount of minimum wage workers filling the majority of key worker roles.