(Pat Reeder is a writer for “Huckabee” and our resident pop culture historian. Read more at http://www.facebook.com/hollywoodhifibook )

Typically for KISS, the lyrics aren’t very profound, but they make the indisputable though grammatically-questionable point that there’s nowhere else you’d rather stay than rockin’ in the US. If you’re surprised that these shock rockers would do something so unabashedly patriotic, then you probably didn’t know that Gene Simmons is an immigrant, the son of a concentration camp survivor, and very grateful to America for his success as a music entrepreneur. 

https://youtu.be/j7vdL6MLOis

By Pat Reeder,

Since these are both patriotic recitations by beloved 20^th century showbiz giants, and since it’s the 4^th of July, I thought I’d give you a two-fer.

The iconic 1973 album “America, Why I Love Her” by John Wayne has its own chapter in my book about celebrity records, “Hollywood Hi-Fi.” What many people don’t know is that there are other celebrity connections as well: the words were written by John Mitchum, the actor/writer brother of Robert Mitchum, and the idea of Wayne recording it came thanks to Forrest Tucker ("F Troop.") 

Mitchum had a role in Wayne’s 1970 movie “Chisum,” and during a break, he read his co-stars his tribute to the US military, “Why Are You Marching, Son?”  Wayne was moved to manly tears, and Tucker said if he liked it that much, why didn’t he do something about it?  So on a handshake deal (more binding than a contract when it’s the Duke’s handshake), they agreed to make an album. 

It took Wayne three years to finish the recording (he’d lost a lung due to his six-pack-a-day cigarette habit), but the results were worth it.  The LP of patriotic recitations sold 100,000 copies in its first two weeks, scored a Grammy nomination, inspired a companion book, and became a hit all over again when it was reissued after Wayne’s death in 1979.  It finally fell out of print, but a revival of interest after 9/11 helped Mitchum’s daughter finally get it rereleased on CD.  The entire album is now available 24/7 on YouTube, Amazon and other digital platforms.

I particularly wanted to share this on the 4^th of July because of the recent whining from the snowflake brigade about some non-PC things Wayne said in the early 1970s.  John Wayne is the only deceased star to rank in the Harris Poll of America's Top 10 most popular movie stars every year, even 40 years after his death. The crybullies think they can erase him from history. That’ll be the day!   

https://youtu.be/j5ZGz7h0epU

On January 14, 1969, Red Skelton performed a recitation that he wrote himself on his CBS variety show, “The Red Skelton Hour,” which you can now stream on Amazon Prime when the current TV offerings seem as funny as a root canal.  It relates how a beloved teacher once explained the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Trivia: The backing music is titled “Red’s White and Blue March” and is one of Red’s many compositions.

After it aired, CBS was flooded with 200,000 requests for copies, and a month later, it was released on a Columbia 45.  Red performed it for the rest of his life, including at the White House for the newly-inaugurated President Nixon. It has become an American classic and been used as a teaching tool for many years by schools that aren’t afraid of being sued for exposing students to the words “Under God” in class.     

https://youtu.be/hJNL_rhGDq4