After he heard the Eddie Higgins solo on “America The Beautiful†(one exhibit below), Rifftides reader Terence Smith wrote to suggest:
Sometime on the 4th let’s all listen to the Ray Charles version.
That’s a fine idea. There are several versions of the song by Charles, some more musically successful than others, none more touching than this performance at the 2001 World Series, less than three years before he died.
To all Americans at home and abroad, and to all friends of America, Happy 4th of July.