Saturday, October 06, 2007

Ken Burns' The War (part 3)

Aanensons on honeymoon (from The National Gallery)

"As they lived through the cataclysmic events of World War II, Americans overseas and on the home front found a safe harbor, emotionally, in the buoyant sounds of popular music. Classic titles from The Great American Songbook served, with the highest distinction, as an indispensable part of the war effort, lightening the burden of sacrifice as well as giving voice to the deepest feelings of loneliness, sorrow and anxious hope."
-from the back notes to
Sentimental Journey, Hits From The Second World War


This last companion disc to the soundtrack for Ken Burns' The War includes songs that were some of the biggest hits during some of the darkest days of the war. I would say that in content, it's closest to the soundtrack, but all twenty of its tracks hail directly from that bygone era. Some are instrumentals, some include vocals, but there are no new tracks here by present day artists; everything here is classic.


Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra - Memories Of You : Sentimental Journey, Hits From The Second World War


Frank Sinatra - Saturday Night Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week : Sentimental Journey, Hits From The Second World War



(Read part 1 where I talked about the documentary and two of the other discs from the series and part 2 about Songs Without Words, one of the other companion CDs)


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