Battle Hymn Of Lt. Calley

Annotation

The track "Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley" (Plantation Records # PL-73), written by Julian Wilson and James M. Smith, defended the actions of Lt. William Calley. Set to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", it is certainly the most well known song on this subject, receiving large coverage in Billboard magazine. The single, awarded a gold record for selling over 1 million records, featured on the 1971 flag-waving album Wake Up America (Plantation Records # PLP-15). In October 1972 the two writers filed suit against Singleton Music, seeking $110,000 in unpaid royalties. (1) As noted above, on 17 April 1971, a Billboard headline claimed that the "Calley Disk Stirs Market; Supply Runs Behind Demand" and that this single had "become the nation's hottest single property". The article went on to say that "it takes a stroke of luck for dealers to get copies. Gwen Kesler, singles sales manager at Southland Distributors in Atlanta, has 100,000 copies of the single on order and said 'if I can get them, they're sold'. As of late last week 10,000 were delivered and she was expecting another 10,000...the Calley disk is selling 'like a goldmine...at least in orders".(2) However, the article…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Terry Nelson Skinner (1943-2014), disc jockey from Russellville, Alabama, with studio pick-up group C Company; recorded 'The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley' (1971) at FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals - a gold record. See Terry Nelson entry. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

My Lai · Pro-Calley · Patriotic · Calley-Order · Calley-Chaos · Calley-Danger · VC · Anti-Protest · Demonstration · Combat

In collections

My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs