Juneteenth is America’s newest federal holiday and we celebrated it for most of the show with songs of uplift struggle and empowerment, with a lot of contributions from the Staple Singers, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions and James Brown. American soul music provides such a wealth of great music.
We began and ended the show with Marvin Gaye, whose duets with Tammi Terrell and the entirety of his “What’s Going On” album both reflected the day’s commemoration and a tribute concert over the weekend at The Kennedy Center, where the native son performed the classic album exactly once more than half a century ago.
And in the memory of a friend who died suddenly, a set of his beloved Bruce Springsteen, and songs specifically mentioned or recited at his memorial.
Here’s the link to the entire show; the playlist follows.