A mini concert somewhat suggested by Teddy Kennedy’s passing. I think for a lot of us who lived through the turbulent sixties, his death brings back memories of former years and former Kennedys.
First choice is obvious I guess. Dion singing Abraham, Martin and John. I guess now Teddy’s on that hill, though we can be thankful he didn’t die young.
There was another video of Dion from back in the 60s, but someone spliced in a picture of Jefferson Davis in part of the tape, so I nixed that one. I guess you can say the song is a bit maudlin, but there’s nothing wrong with maudlin once in a while. When I was searching youtube for a good version of this song I also happened upon two interesting audio only (and therefore ineligible for posting) versions, one my Moms Mabley. The other is by Marvin Gaye. What a sweet voice the man had. Well worth searching out, if you’re interested.
This next song needs some explanation, since it has no explicit connection to Kennedys or politics, but I remember (at least I think I remember) seeing it performed on television back in 1968 or so, accompanied by images of the train carrying RFK’s body to Washington from New York. It evokes some of the sense of despair, the “empty and achin'” that the twin deaths of MLK and RFK engendered.
Another from Simon and Garfunkel, sans Simon this time.
This is the best version I could find, the second best is a studio rehearsal version for a special, perhaps the same show I remember, that Simon and Garfunkel were to do sponsored by AT&T. The story is here:
A week before the show was due on the air, they showed the film to Bell, who rejected it completely. It was out of the question. They strongly objected to a sequence with Robert and John Kennedy and Martin Luther King, using Bridge over Troubled Water as background. According to Paul, their objection was on the grounds that: “They were all Democrats. There’s no Republicans in there. And we said, “Is that what you get? How about that they were all assassinated””
Well, they’re still all Democrats, and Teddy can claim to have been a bridge for a lot of folks.
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