Battle Cry of Freedom - EXCLUSIVE SONG - 2nd South Carolina Stringband!

Hear the American Civil War song “Battle Cry of Freedom" with paintings of the Civil War era! This is the world premiere, of a never before heard version of the song, performed by the legendary 2nd South Carolina Stringband, live in concert.

“The “Battle Cry of Freedom” was composed by professional song writer George F. Root for a July 1862 Chicago war rally. The rally was in support of President Abraham Lincoln‘s call for an additional 300,000 volunteers to fill the ranks of the shrinking Union Army. The song was published In 1862 by Root’s own firm Root & Cady of Chicago, and became one of the most popular Northern War songs. It was so popular that the production of 14 printing presses could not keep up with the demand. It has been estimated that approximately 500,000 copies were put in circulation.

Federal soldiers soldiers sang “Battle Cry of Freedom “ in camp, on the march and in the most desperate battlefield situations. At Vicksburg a battered Iowa regiment sang it as they struggled to regroup. During the 1864 Wilderness Battle the 45th Pennsylvania began singing it as their regiment was on the verge of defeat from Longstreet’s flank attack. “Soon the entire brigade was singing the defiant song,” wrote William Wiley of the 77th Illinois, and good order was restored.

The popularity of the tune extended into the South. “Southron’s Battle Cry of Freedom” was a parody of Root’s song. The lyricist of this version was William H. Barnes. He was the manager of an ensemble of musicians, the “Atlanta Amateurs,” who performed for the benefit of soldiers relief charities. J.C. Schreiner & Son of Macon and Savannah published this version in 1864.” - Tom DiGuiseppe, Researcher

Link to the Stringband’s fantastic live performance, and original audio...
https://youtu.be/SjP0Y-UeLsc

Below is a wonderful quote from Joe, my friend, the lead banjo and band manager about how this collaboration came to be...

“About five months ago, while scrolling thru my YouTube 'feed' one night before turning in, I noticed a posting by one "History Boy" - "10 Greatest Southern Songs of the Civil War." Intrigued, I decided to take a look to see if any of our recordings had been among those History Boy had chosen. It turned out we had 4 out of 10 - 40% ! Not bad, I thought, so I left a comment: "THANKS A LOT, HISTORY BOY !!! We appreciate the exposure and the credits. Good luck with your subscribers !" Shortly thereafter, we began a 'dialog' via FB Messenger, which soon turned into a genuine friendship (though we've not actually met), and led finally, to this collaboration on "The Battle Cry of Freedom."

In early August of 2020, History Boy asked permission to use our recording of the song for one of his excellent YouTube videos. Our only objection was that the track he wanted was made nearly 30 years ago on our very first audio-cassette release, "Tenting Tonight," which was recorded low-tech, in a basement on a borrowed 8-track tape recorder, and playing modern instruments. His disappointment quickly evaporated when I suggested we might be able to use the stereo soundtrack from a video we made two summers ago at the 155th Gettysburg battle reenactment, in July of 2018. Within a few days, I had stripped out the audio track for the song and sent it to History Boy, who was then able to create yet another entertaining video of Civil War music for his popular channel.

We had originally hoped to release his video version and ours at the same time, but as I believe John Lennon once quipped, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." We weren't quite able to get perfectly 'synced' (my bad - not his), but I am now happy to announce that the 2nd South Carolina String Band's HD video version of "The Battle Cry of Freedom" will be available for viewing October 2, at 5 o'clock pm. We sincerely hope you will enjoy it.”

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Once again, make sure to check out the Stringband’s version! - https://youtu.be/SjP0Y-UeLsc

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Видео Battle Cry of Freedom - EXCLUSIVE SONG - 2nd South Carolina Stringband! канала History Boy