Today in Music (1895): “America the Beautiful” published

America the Beautiful Katharine Lee Bates (lyrics), Samuel A. Ward (music)

Writer(s): Katharine Lee Bates (lyrics) and Samuel A. Ward (music) (see lyrics here) Published: July 4, 1895 First Charted: July 11, 1925 Peak (different versions): 8 PM, 42 AC, 58 CW, 98 RB, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 28.74 video, 4.49 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details. Awards (Louise Homer): Awards (Ray Charles):

About the Song: Music historian Steve Sullivan says, “Next to Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ perhaps no patriotic anthem is more powerful and moving than ‘America the Beautiful.’” SS In the 1920s, there was an effort to make it the national anthem before Congress decided on “The Star-Spangled Banner” instead. SS Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, WK was inspired to write the eventual song while on a train trip in 1893 to Colorado that included a stop in Chicago for the 400th anniversary of Columbus coming to America. The original title of her poem was “Pikes Peak” WK but, nearly two years later, when it was published on July 4, 1895 in a Boston church weekly called The Congregationalist, it was rechristened “America.” WK It wasn’t until 1904 that Samuel Augustus Ward, a church organist and choir director at Grace Church in Newark, New Jersey, put it to music. He based it on a melody he composed in 1882 to accompany lyrics for the hymn “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem,” later retitled “Materna.” WK It was finally given the title “America the Beautiful” in 1910. WK Bates continued revising it, publishing the final version in 1911. SS Sadly, Ward died in 1903 and never saw the fame the song gained. The song’s first chart appearance came in 1925 when Louise Homer took it to #8. Since then, the song has charted by Ray Charles (#98, 1972), Charlie Rich (#42 AC, 1976) and and an all-star country collective that included Vince Gill, Brenda Lee, Kenny Rogers, and others (#58, 2001). Sullivan says “the song received its definitive rendition in the magnificently souful performance of Ray Charles.” SS He “believed in the ideals it represented, and he sang it with passion and gospel-fired organ and piano, backed by a choir, and in so doing transformed, broadened, and elevated its meaning.” SS Critic Dave Marsh says Ray turns it “into a gorgeous, ironic, sweet-tempered sermon on the land he loves.” DM Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Katharine Lee Bates DMDB encyclopedia entry for Samuel A. Ward DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ray Charles DMDB encyclopedia entry for Louise Homer DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 627-8. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 565-6. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. WK Wikipedia First posted 6/24/2024.