Album

Songs of the Soldier is one of those releases that repays close attention to the cover art—the general title and the subtitle "26 Time Honored Classics" might well suggest an album of patriotic songs, but it's actually quite something else again. There is indeed a segment of "Classic Army" songs at the end, including "Yankee Doodle" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," but even here there are surprises—"Auld Lang Syne," and the Korean folk song Arirang, which the expanded online booklet notes explain was taught to many American GIs during the Korean War. The rest of the music is for the most part much less well known; most of it is associated not just with a specific branch but with a specific subdivision (the Mechanized March, track 8, with mechanized brigades, for example). A few pieces, like Meredith Willson's Tropic Lightning, track 10, were written by professional composers, but most were the products of uniformed personnel themselves. The songs on this disc almost represent a kind of folk music, with unusual images, a fair proportion of interservice rivalry, and a good deal of humor in places (listen to Dogface Soldier, reputedly a favorite of Dwight D. Eisenhower). The atmosphere of the performance, too, is nonprofessional although in no way amateurish. The music is accompanied by one or two pianos, giving it a service-academy auditorium atmosphere—but the vocal blend of the all-male group is clean and warm. The only complaints, really, are documentary; on a disc with the stated intention of benefiting the Army Historical Foundation, it would have been nice to have more information about the origins of the individual songs. Even the online version of the notes is sparse. Nevertheless, this disc should find an audience well beyond collectors of military memorabilia.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
John Stafford Smith Composer The Star-Spangled Banner (National Anthem, USA) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
1	The Star-Spangled Banner (National Anthem, USA)	1:18			$0.99
Charles Koff Composer The All-American Soldier, for chorus & band (82nd Airborne Division) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
2	The All-American Soldier, for chorus & band (82nd Airborne Division)	1:28			$0.99
Samuel Loboda Composer The Screaming Eagles, for chorus & band (82nd Airborne Division) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
3	The Screaming Eagles, for chorus & band (82nd Airborne Division)	1:29			$0.99
Donald Kellet Composer The Big Red One, for chorus & band (1st Infantry Division) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
4	The Big Red One, for chorus & band (1st Infantry Division)	1:20			$0.99
Bert / Ken Gold / Hart Composer The Warrior March, for band (2nd Infantry Division) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
5	The Warrior March, for band (2nd Infantry Division)	1:21			$0.99
Bert / Ken Gold / Hart Composer Dogface Soldier, for chorus & band Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
6	Dogface Soldier, for chorus & band	1:07			$0.99
Carl Dillon Composer The Old Guard March, for band (3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
7	The Old Guard March, for band (3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment)	1:59			$0.99
Gerald Webb Composer Mechanized March, for band (4th Infantry Division) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
8	Mechanized March, for band (4th Infantry Division)	0:49			$0.99
John Fraser Composer Climb to Glory, march for band (10th Mountain Division) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
9	Climb to Glory, march for band (10th Mountain Division)	0:53			$0.99
Meredith Willson Composer Tropic Lightning, march for band Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
10	Tropic Lightning, march for band	1:20			$0.99
Kevin Deary Composer Iron Soldier March, for band (1st Armored Division) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
11	Iron Soldier March, for band (1st Armored Division)	0:50			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Garryowen, for chorus & band (1st Cavalry) (after a traditional Irish melody) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
12	Garryowen, for chorus & band (1st Cavalry) (after a traditional Irish melody)	2:07			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Allons! Allons!, march for band (11th Armored Cavalry) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
13	Allons! Allons!, march for band (11th Armored Cavalry)	1:21			$0.99
Meredith Willson Composer Hit the Leather, march for band (26th Cavalry) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
14	Hit the Leather, march for band (26th Cavalry)	2:20			$0.99
George Norton Composer Yellow Ribbon, march for band Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
15	Yellow Ribbon, march for band	1:16			$0.99
Gerald Griffin Composer Mountain Battery, march for band Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
16	Mountain Battery, march for band	1:55			$0.99
W. Franke Harling Composer The Corps Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
17	The Corps	2:51			$0.99
Lucius O'Brien Composer Benny Havens, Oh!, West Point army song Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Robert McDonald Performer, Jim Keene Conductor
18	Benny Havens, Oh!, West Point army song	3:45			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Yankee Doodle Work Mathew Bell Drums, US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, U.S. Army Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps Ensemble, Jim Keene Conductor, Michael White Fife
19	Yankee Doodle	1:37			$0.99
Korean Traditional Composer Arirang Work Myung Yoon Soloist, US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
20	Arirang	1:28			$0.99
Barry Sadler Composer Ballad of the Green Berets, song (Special Forces) Work John Deutsch Performer, US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
21	Ballad of the Green Berets, song (Special Forces)	3:16			$0.99
Samuel / Sidney Swann / Neiditch Composer Here Come the Engineers, song (U.S. Army Engineers) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
22	Here Come the Engineers, song (U.S. Army Engineers)	1:26			$0.99
Edmund L. Gruber Composer The Caissons Go Rolling Along, official song of the United States Army Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
23	The Caissons Go Rolling Along, official song of the United States Army	2:47			$0.99
Scottish Traditional Composer Auld Lang Syne Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
24	Auld Lang Syne	1:52			$0.99
William Steffe Composer The Battle Hymn of the Republic (Words by Julia Ward Howe; Music attributed to Steffe) Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
25	The Battle Hymn of the Republic (Words by Julia Ward Howe; Music attributed to Steffe)	5:08			$0.99
H. W. Arberg Composer The Army Goes Rolling Along Work US Army Chorus Chorus/Choir, Jim Keene Conductor
26	The Army Goes Rolling Along	0:44			$0.99