This came out today on CBS Sport.com ranking the Top 10 National Anthems. A pretty good list but two things for historical perspective and posterity need to be mentioned.
Whitney Houston may have done the best version ever. Luther Vandross may be in the Top 10. Jennifer Hudson may be No. 2 behind Whitney.
But these soulful renditions would not have been possible, IMHO, without the pioneering sporting event National Anthems done by two men.
Way back in 1968, a blind Puerto Rican, Jose Feliciano, took heat following his ever so slightly Latin-tinged rendition and Spanish guitar flourishes at baseball’s World Series, Game. Some sources say the backlash nearly derailed Feliciano’s career: This is the man who made a pop standard out of the Doors’ ‘Light My Fire.’
And at the 1983 NBA All Star game Marvin Gaye blew the lid off the structure of the song and made it a soul song of incredible depth– still my favorite version. When has there ever been a National Anthem performance that had the crowd clapping and swaying in time near the end of the song.
I remember watching it live on TV and being riveted, hanging on to every verse to see what Gaye would do next with it. Check it out.
For more see My Vinyl Countdown posts on Feliciano and Gaye.
I eagerly look forward to Gladys Knight’s version today. She is a veteran and can really sing soul music. I have her at No. 2https://myvinylcountdown.com/2018/04/30/top-10-train-songs-dedicated-to-railroad-park/ on my Top 30 all time train songs.