Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen
February 21, 2010Gallant Men: Stories Of The American Adventure Told By Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen
Capitol Records
Goofy, fun patrio-psychotic found LP from 1966 by the late Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen.
The first track is the weirdest and the rest is simply a flag-waving look back at U.S. history, that’s only amusing in its earnestness and for those of use born after Vietnam, etc. and for Everett’s deep voice and denture-rattling presentation.
It’s certainly not Schoolhouse Rock.
Tracklisting:
- Prologue
- Gallant Men
- The Story Of The Mayflower And The Mayflower Compact
- The Story Of The Battle For Independence
- The Story Of The Flag
- The Star-Spangled Banner
- The Story Of Gettysburg
- The Gettysburg Address
- The Story Of The Statue Of Liberty
- Epilogue
- Pledge Of Allegiance To The Flag
Some factoids about Everett:
- He was an ally (up to a point) of Joe McCarthy
- He tried to get school prayer put back in schools
- He was a key backer of the ’64 Civil Rights bill
- He had a cameo in the forgotten cult sci-fi flick The Monitors
- This LP made it to #29 on the Billboard charts and won a Grammy
I swear, I’ve seen at least three copies of this album at every thrift store I’ve been to in western North Carolina since I’ve lived here. It’s even more prevalent than “Whipped Cream and Other Delights”. I don’t understand why.