Happy Independence Day, July 4th, 2021! Let Freedom Ring!!! Uninterrupted songs that are uniquely American, and songs that are not. Songs of struggle, songs of joy, and songs of freedom. Freedom means different things for different people. This show, (with no back announcing) is celebrating The 4th of July, The United States’ Independence Day. God Bless America!!! I designed this episode of #ITWWSS to be the soundtrack to your holiday weekend. It's… joyful, patriotic, a toe tapper, thought provoking, and fun! I hope it makes you want to sing along and dance, blast it out loud on the beach, turn it up to 10 on the highway, backyard, park, mountain top, or anywhere you are right now! I hope you’ll share the link with your friends and family, workmates, roommates, mates, lovers, haters, or any one else that you can. We start where most children in the U.S.A. do, with the Pledge Of Allegiance, into a lovely choir, thanks to Neil Young, singing God Bless America. Enter Ray Charles to finish the song, as only he could. By chance, I thought the two versions blended well, so that’s how I mixed it. Jimi Hendrix honors us with The Star Spangled Banner, into his original, Freedom. Both recorded live at the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1970. As hard as that may be to follow, Willie Nelson, performing Paul Simon’s American Tune, makes for a great segue. As you might expect, this is an eclectic journey, with multiple genres and artists, equally diverse. Rock N Roll, Country Western, Cajun, Folk, Jazz, R&B, Reggae, Funk, World, etc. No borders, no boundaries, no limits. Pure artistic freedom, that’s what it’s all about! The non stop music continues with, Tears For Fears, Kinks, Neil Coty, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Heart, covering Led Zeppelin, George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen covering Bob Dylan, Mumbo Gumbo, Martin Sexton, Boxing Ghandis, Loggins and Messina, Bob Marley, The Killers, No Doubt covering Talk Talk, Billy Idol, George Michael, Dianne Reeves, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Scorpions, and the New York Rock and Soul Revue, featuring The Rascals, Phoebe Snow, and Michael McDonald. I cross referenced some of this music (all from my personal library) with Repeat Replay dot Com. The 20 Best Songs About Freedom. Some of these tunes would not be here, had I not read what they had to say. I support artistic freedom in every way possible! Thanks for your patronage and support! Let Freedom Ring!!! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stewart-strauss/support