Benny Havens was the Sutter at West Point but was kicked off base in the 1820s for serving whiskey. He moved across the river and opened a tavern which the cadets frequented, including Edgar Allan Poe, George Armstrong Custer and many others. In the 1840s, the West Point Chorus composed and performed Benny Havens Oh in his honor. We have Hermes Nye’s rendition. There is still a Benny Havens Bar and Grill today.
From the Civil War we have the southern song (Eating) Goober Peas by the 97th Regimental String Band. Lead Belly sings Irving Berlin’s World War I lament Gee, But I Want to Go Home! Inspired by WWI is Eric Bogle’s classic And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda describing the first engagement of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at the Battle of Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 which led to ANZAC Day on that date every year.
After World War II, Oscar Brand recorded a series of albums of song that he learned from the servicemen themselves including Come and Join the Air Force and The Man Behind the Iron-Plated Desk. Jimmie F. Rodgers sings the Rod McKuen song Two-Ten, Six-Eighteen about soldiers returning from Vietnam and Wyatt Easterling follows with When a Soldier Comes Home.
I HEAR AMERICA SINGING - VETERANS DAY PLAYLIST
1. Benny Haven Oh by Hermes Nye
2. Goober Peas by 97th Regimental String Band
3. Gee, But I Want to Go Home by Leadbelly
4. Old King Cole by Harry Belafonte
5. Come and Join the Air Force by Oscar Brand
6. Home Boys Home by Oscar Brand
7. Man Behind the Armor-plated Desk by Oscar Brand
8. Any Bonds Today by The Four Sergeants
9. The Shore Navy – Destroyer Life by The Four Sergeants
10. There’s a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere by Elton Britt
11. And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Eric Bogle
12. Distant Drums by Jim Reeves
13. Galveston by Glen Campbell
14. Travelin’ Soldier by The Chicks
15. Universal Soldier by The Highwaymen
16. Two-Ten Six-Eighteen by Jimmie F. Rodgers
17. A Soldier Comes Home by Wyatt Easterling
