From: jewell@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Larry Jewell)
Subject: Austin City Limits
Followup-To: soc.veterans
Organization: Purdue University
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 13:50:56 GMT


Date: 02 Nov 1992 08:52:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Lydia Fish <@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU:FISHLM@SNYBUFVA>
Subject: Austin City Limits

                        AUSTIN CITY LIMITS Presents

                    In Country: Songs of the Vietnam War

                                                        CONTACT:
                                                        Rebekah E. Morris
                                                        Publicity Director
                                                        Vicky Hill
                                                        Publicist
                                                        (512) 471 4811

AUSTIN, TX--November 2, 1992--_Austin City Limits_ continues to explore the
best of America's music with a special Veterans Day program honoring the music
of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War.  Kris Kristofferson,
legendary pioneer of the outlaw country music movement of the 1970s, hosts _In
Country: Songs of the Vietnam War_ with Vietnam-era veterans Saul Broudy, Chip
Dockery, Bull Durham, Bill Ellis, Toby Hughes, Dick Jonas, Chuck Rosenberg and
Emily Strange.

The songs range from comical to profound, touching a myriad of human
experiences in between.  The men--and women--who perform these songs bring
their own memories of Vietnam to the music, sharing a piece of their own
personal war with the audience.

The Vietnam War was part of a very painful and divisive time in United States
history.  People on both sides of the issue struggled with powerful feelings of
loyalty, patriotism and justice.  Only now, two decades later, has the healing
process begun.  As Bill Ellis, one of the performers on _In Country_, put it,
"I feel that people are read to learn more about Vietnam now...people are
ready to listen."

Many people remember Vietnam War-era music as rock and roll, psychedelic music
and protest anthems.  The Americans who fought in Vietnam listened to the same
music, but they also created some of their own.  To relieve boredom, to release
stress, to process their experiences or just to sing, the men and women who
served in Vietnam followed a long, informal military tradition of writing,
arranging or adapting their own songs.

They sang about the same things that all soldiers have sung about: great
leaders, heroic deeds, the death of comrades, incompetent officers,
vainglorious rear-echelon troops, drinking bouts and exotic young women.  Some
of the songs came from other wars.  Other music grew directly out of the
Vietnam experience, either as original compositions or words set to familiar
tunes.  Those pieces reflected musical styles of the era, from folk and country
to the rock sounds of the late '60s.  All of this work has gone mostly
unnoticed by the majority of Americans.

Spearheaded by folklorist Dr. Lydia Fish, the Vietnam Veterans Oral History and
Folklore Project at Buffalo State College inspired seven Vietnam-era veterans
to put together a recording of 28 songs written and sung by American service
people about their experiences in Vietnam.  Last year, Saul Broudy, Chip
Dockery, Bull Durham, Bill Ellis, Toby Hughes, Dick Jonas and Chuck Rosenberg
recorded the album _In Country: Folk Songs of Americans in the Vietnam War_.
Vietnam Red Cross veteran Emily Strange joins the group for this special.

Kris Kristofferson is best known as a singer/song-writer, but during the
Vietnam War, he was a soldier/songwriter.  Stationed in Germany, he volunteered
for Vietnam but never made it over.  Two of his songs, however, did.  "Sky
King" and "Finthen Tower" (adapted to  "Phan Rang Tower") became widely popular
with the troops in Vietnam.  Later, "Talking Vietnam Blues" was the first songs
he recorded in Nashville.

Kristofferson rocketed into the spotlight in 1970 when Johnny Cash, Roger
Miller and Janis Joplin began singing his songs.  Since then, his musical
career has earned him two Grammy Awards, 31 songwriting awards, 16 platinum and
13 gold records world-wide, and membership in the Nashville Songwriters
Association's Hall of Fame.

_Austin City Limits'_ presentation of _In Country: Songs of the Vietnam War_
includes "Talking Vietnam Blues," "Ho Chi Minh Trail," "Firefight," "Crack Went
the Rifle," "My Daddy's Been a Prisoner," "Will There Be a Tomorrow?," "Saigon
Warrior," "Dai-Uy Joe," "Incoming," "Played Around and Stayed Around Vietnam
Too Long" and more.

_Austin City Limits_ is produced by KLRU TV-18 in Austin, Texas, and funded by
public television viewers and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Executive producer: Bill Arhos.  Producer: Terry Lickona.  Director: Gary
Menotti.  Associate producers: Jeff Peterson and Susan Caldwell.  Associate
director: Mike Archenhold.  Audio director: David Hough.  Lighting director:
Bob Selby.  Engineering director: Jack Wells.  Executive in charge of
production: Dick Peterson.

*****************************************************************
Lydia Fish, Director
Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project
Buffalo State College
1300 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo NY 14222
Office: (716) 878 6230
FAX: (716) 878 4009
BITNET: FISHLM@SNYBUFVA
*****************************************************************


-- 
#L.W. Jewell Moderator at the Veterans Information Site (veteran@cc.purdue.edu)#
#& WWII-L Listowner: "Sunday's horoscope is note worthy because of its strange,#
#sudden and wholly unpredictable and inexplicable occurrences, affecting all   #
#phases of life." "Your Horoscope" L.A. Evening Herald Express, Sat, 12/06/41  #
From: cross1@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ed Cross)
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 05:15:12 GMT
Subject: Re: Riverine
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA