Some context: Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. (September 6, 1888 - November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician known for his high-profile positions in United States politics. Kennedy was married to Rose Kennedy, and three of their nine children attained distinguished political positions: President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968), and longtime Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy (1932-2009). He was a leading member of the Democratic Party and of the Irish Catholic community.
Kennedy's close ties with Republican (GOP) Senator Joseph McCarthy strengthened his family's position among Irish Catholics, but weakened it among liberals who strongly opposed McCarthy. Even before McCarthy became famous in 1950, Kennedy had forged close ties with the Republican Senator. Kennedy often brought him to his family compound at Hyannis Port as a weekend house guest in the late 1940s. McCarthy at one point dated Patricia Kennedy. When McCarthy became a dominant voice of anti-Communism starting in 1950, Kennedy contributed thousands of dollars to McCarthy, and became one of his major supporters. In the Senate race of 1952, Kennedy apparently worked a deal so that McCarthy, a Republican, would not make campaign speeches for the GOP ticket in Massachusetts. In return, Congressman John F. Kennedy, running for the Senate seat, would not give any anti-McCarthy speeches that his liberal supporters wanted to hear. At Kennedy's urging in 1953, McCarthy hired Robert Kennedy (age 27) as a senior staff member of the Senate's investigations subcommittee, which McCarthy chaired. In 1954, when the Senate was threatening to condemn McCarthy, Senator John Kennedy faced a dilemma. "How could I demand that Joe McCarthy be censured for things he did when my own brother was on his staff?" asked JFK. By 1954 Robert F. Kennedy and McCarthy's chief aide Roy Cohn had had a falling out, and Robert no longer worked for McCarthy. John Kennedy had a speech drafted calling for the censure of McCarthy but he never delivered it. When the Senate voted to censure McCarthy on December 2, 1954, Senator Kennedy was in the hospital and never indicated how he would cast his vote. Joe Kennedy strongly supported McCarthy to the end.
How else did McCarthy and Kennedy help each other?
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Some context: Shenandoah is an American country music group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984 by Marty Raybon (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Ralph Ezell (bass guitar, backing vocals), Stan Thorn (keyboards, backing vocals), Jim Seales (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Mike McGuire (drums, background vocals). Thorn and Ezell left the band in the mid-1990s, with Rocky Thacker taking over on bass guitar; Keyboardist Stan Munsey joined the line up in 1995. The band split up in 1997 after Raybon left. Seales, Munsey, Thacker and McGuire reformed the band in 2000 with lead singer Brent Lamb, who was in turn replaced by Curtis Wright and then by Jimmy Yeary.
Columbia's parent company Sony Music Entertainment released ten of the band's Columbia songs in a Super Hits compilation in May 1994, which was certified gold in 2002. Shenandoah also collaborated with country and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs on the 1994 Keith Whitley tribute Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album, recording a cover version of Whitley's "All I Ever Loved Was You". Later in 1994, the band left RCA for Liberty Records, then the name for the Nashville division of Capitol Records. RCA gave Liberty the master recordings for a nearly-completed album, to which Liberty added "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", a song featuring guest vocals from bluegrass musician Alison Krauss. Liberty released the album in November 1994 as In the Vicinity of the Heart, with the number seven-peaking title track also serving as the first single release. This song was also Krauss' first top 40 country hit, and its success helped boost sales of her album Now That I've Found You: A Collection. Vicinity became the band's fastest-selling album, and the first 175,000 copies were distributed with prepaid telephone cards which included an 800 number that could be called to receive a greeting from the band members. The album also produced the band's last Top Ten hit in "Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do)." Originally the B-side to "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart," this song was co-written by Ronnie Dunn (of Brooks & Dunn) and songwriter Dean Dillon, best known for co-writing several of George Strait's singles. "Heaven Bound (I'm Ready)" (another Dennis Linde song) and "Always Have, Always Will," peaking at numbers 24 and 40, were the last two releases from the album. Jim Ridley gave the album a two-and-a-half star rating in New Country magazine, citing the vocal performances on the title track and "I Wouldn't Know" as standouts, but saying that the rest of the album did not take any risks. Raybon released a solo gospel music album for Sparrow Records in July 1995, and in October of the same year, that label released a multi-artist country-gospel album entitled Amazing Grace -- A Country Salute to Gospel, to which the band contributed a rendition of "Beulah Land." Shenandoah also covered The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" on the mid-1995 album Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles. "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" won Shenandoah and Krauss won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration and the Country Music Association award for Vocal Event, and "Darned If I Don't" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal by a Duo or Group the same year.
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
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a nearly-completed album, to which Liberty added "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart", a song featuring guest vocals from bluegrass musician Alison Krauss.