Fellows in Vietnam

Annotation

Brother and sister soul duo Inez & Charlie Foxx, from Greensboro, North Carolina, covered the classic 1953 song Vaya con Dios (written by Larry Russell, Inez James, and Buddy Pepper) - meaning "go with god". They updated the track to deal with the war in Vietnam, in a medley called "Fellows in Vietnam" (Dynamo Records # D-119). The intro told the listener that "there is a war over in Vietnam" being fought by young boys, from the ages 16-21 years, "snatched from their mother's arms" - thus drawing attention to the Vietnam War age issue. The narrator pleaded with the listeners to join in singing "vaya con dios", in order to encourage the soldiers to get "out of their fox holes" and "kill their enemies", which would "keep us free". The narrator of the song therefore showed sympathy for the plight of young boys sent to Vietnam, and forced to kill. Yet, it also believed in the cause / or objective - to protect freedom.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Inez and Charlie Foxx were an American soul duo formed in Greensboro, North Carolina, consisting of Inez Foxx (born Inez Rebecca Fox, 9 September 1937 in Greensboro; died 25 August 2022 in Los Angeles, aged 84) and her elder brother Charlie Foxx (born Charlie James Fox, 23 October 1933 in Greensboro; died 18 September 1998 of leukaemia, aged 64); they began singing in church and broke through in 1963 with the million-selling 'Mockingbird' on Symbol, recording thereafter for Musicor, Dynamo and Stateside before Charlie withdrew into writing and production in the late 1960s and Inez continued…

Themes

Soldier's Perspective · Patriotic

In collections

US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs