Monday, July 2, 2007

Almost Independence Day
















However you may feel about it in a time war, it is almost Independence Day. I love watching the fireworks, despite whatever connotations they may carry. Also, I love these songs. I may be taking a break from the antiquities here at the flu, or at least sprinkling them with some slightly more contemporary selections, although these are hardly current. Below, we have Van Morrison's prelude to the holiday; an outtake from my favorite summertime LP: The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle; and two versions of "The 4th of July" - one by its composer Dave Alvin, and a demo version by X.

Fire up the bar-b-q and some bottle rockets too...

Download:

"Almost Independence Day"
mp3 by Van Morrison
available on Saint Dominick's Preview, 1972.

"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) Alternate Take" mp3
by Bruce Springsteen
available on The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, 1973.

"Fourth of July"
mp3 by Dave Alvin
available on Romeo's Escape, 1987.

"4th of July" demo version mp3 by X
available on Beyond And Back: The X Anthology, 1986.


Photograph: © Robert Frank, Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey 1955.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Unknown said...

I was going to post a comment about how much I loved your photo, when I scrolled down to see it is, as usual, a photo you admire rather than one that you took.

Ted Barron said...

Damn! I wish I had taken that photograph. I wasn't born yet in '55, but I have been to Hoboken. I thought of using one my own for that post, but RF's shot was too perfect.