Happy Birthday to the man who sang the national anthem like no other

Was it a tribute to Bob Dylan singing the National Anthem?

 

More like a tribute to future drunks at the Final Four.

 

Missed it last night, and was geared up for something god-awful, reading the reaction. Wasn't the trainwreck I expected. Was it great? No, but not a trainwreck.

 

It was horrific.

 

Yeah, I can come up with a handful of adjectives to describe The Fray, but "hipster" sure as hell isn't among them.

Could be worse, I guess, Could be a Skrillex anthem.

Oh say can you WAIT FOR THE DROP ... *three minutes of toilet sounds*

 

I'm proud to say I've never knowingly heard one second of a Skrillex song.

 

My affinity for The Fray based on their periodic appearances in the "Scrubs" sountrack is losing out to my disgust at last night.

 

Trying to do some deviation of the Anthem ... and why do we need a group like this in the midst of one of the greatest places for jazz? Not implying that a jazzy version of the Anthem is necessary, but am saying there should be plenty of competent, if not excellent musicians, without importing whatever that was who mutilated the Anthem.

 

There used to be a time when performers auditioned to do the anthem. I guess that doesn't happen any more.

 

Of the contemporary performers I've heard do the anthem at a game, Beyonce was the best. That was before Super Bowl 38 in Houston.
The worst? Easy: 1978 NL playoffs in Philadelphia. James Earl Jones was starring in a play about Paul Robeson that was trying out in Philly before it got to Broadway, which it didn't. Jones of course had no shot of hitting the high notes. So he RECITED the National Anthem.

 

If he'd done it dressed as Darth Vader, it'd have blown Whitney Houston's version out of the water.

 

The thing I remember the most about that Super Bowl, besides Janet Janet's wardrobe malfunction was the guy running out on the field promoting a Vegas gambling house while wearing a thong. I'm sure he was a big hit in the Harris County Jail.