It’s time to reconsider what we know about America’s Revolutionary War. The history many of us learn presents a patriotic list of “greatest hits,” but the reality was a brutal civil war with global stakes. Ahead of Ken Burns’ PBS series, Us & Them hosts leading historians at Shepherd University to revisit 1776 with fresh eyes — and ask what it means as America nears its 250th.
Pops Staples on Mountain Stage in the early 1990s.Mountain Stage Archive
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Our Song of the Week is the title song for this week’s special episode of Mountain Stage. Larry has curated a show in four parts, turning an ear to songs about the oppressed, the overlooked, and the experiences of those who are misunderstood.
Roebuck “Pops” Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000) was the patriarch of the gospel-soul family band The Staples Singers. Pops performed twice on Mountain Stage, in 1992 and 1994, and both times he performed his song “Why Am I Treated So Bad?”
Staples performed the song while traveling with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and he tells in his introduction, that King called it “My song.”
This episode is called “Why Am I Treated So Bad” and highlights songs about experiences of people of color, Native Americans, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, women, and those living on the economic edge.
Credit Mountain Stage Archive
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Mavis Staples, acclaimed singer and daughter of Pops, also appears on this week’s broadcast, singing one of her father’s songs.
We also hear from Mavis Staples, Arlo Guthrie, John Trudell, Odetta, Amy Ray, Rhiannon Giddens and others.
It’s time to reconsider what we know about America’s Revolutionary War. The history many of us learn presents a patriotic list of “greatest hits,” but the reality was a brutal civil war with global stakes. Ahead of Ken Burns’ PBS series, Us & Them hosts leading historians at Shepherd University to revisit 1776 with fresh eyes — and ask what it means as America nears its 250th.
The fall broadcast season of Mountain Stage continues this week when guest host David Mayfield welcomes Vanessa Collier, Margaret Glaspy, Matt Andersen, Amythyst Kiah, and Ron Sowell.
Our Song ...
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