The Glorious Fourth of July

Oh, say can you see...yes, it is the glorious Fourth of July, a holiday celebrated throughout the United States, although with less enthusiasm in the Lone Star State, where Texans are still not sure how they feel about Union.

Three notable musicians were born (or said they were born) on this date. One who really was born on July 4 was Stephen Foster, composer of almost 200 songs in a very short life, among them "O! Susanna":

"It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry;
Sun so hot, I froze to death--Susanna, don't you cry."

And "Camptown Races":

"Bet my money on a bobtail nag,
Somebody bet on de bay."

Louis Armstrong didn't exactly know what day he was born, but thought July 4 was as good as any, and took that. Louis, rightly called Pops, may not have been the father of jazz, but he was certainly one of the music's major antecedents. Wynton Marsalis said no trumpeter played anything Louis hadn't played first, which may have been an exaggeration, but showed the proper homage.

The composer most often thought of today is George M. Cohan, who was born July 3, thought that was close enough for jazz, and wrote this rousing number:

"I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
Yankee Doodle do or die.
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam,
Born on the Fourth of July.
I've a Yankee Doodle sweetheart,
She's my Yankee Doodle joy.
Yankee Doodle went to London
Riding on a pony--
I am that Yankee Doodle boy!"

Start the fireworks! (With a special wave of the flag for all residents of and from Bad Axe, Michigan.)