Please Settle In Viet Nam
1969 · Joliet 205 · USA
- Artist
- Lightnin' Hopkins
- Title
- Please Settle In Viet Nam
- Release
- Please Settle in Viet Nam / Once a Gambler
- Year
- 1969
- Label
- Joliet # 205
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- S. Hopkins
- Genre
- Blues · Blues
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
Lightnin' Hopkins, born Sam Hopkins on 15 March 1912, in Centreville, Texas, recorded extensively from the 1940s-1970s, typically playing blues in the style that came out of his native Texas, like Blind Lemon Jefferson (acoustic / electric Texas blues). Often singing about topical events, such as the Korean War and Great Depression, in the mid-late 1960s he turned his attention to Vietnam. He died in Houston Texas on 30 January 1982. (1) He recorded the song "Vietnam War" with his cousin Billy Bizor on the album Blowing My Blues Away in 1968. In the same year he released an alternative version, called "Vietnam War (Pts. 1 & 2)" on the album Talkin' Some Sense (Jewel Records # LPS 5001) - see Draft section. Hopkins recorded the song "Please Settle in Viet Nam" in Berkeley, California, under the direction of Chris Strachwitz (the founder of the Californian label Arhoolie Records), on 20 May 1969, for the session which produced the album Lightnin'! (Poppy # PYS-60,002). But the song did not appear on the album. Strachwitz released "Please Settle in Viet Nam" on this single (Joliet # 205) and then later on the album Lightning Hopkins in Berkeley (Arhoolie # 1063). (1) Hopkins wanted…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Blues songs
Lightnin' Hopkins, born Sam Hopkins on 15 March 1912, in Centreville, Texas, recorded extensively from the 1940s-1970s, typically playing blues in the style that came out of his native Texas, like Blind Lemon Jefferson (acoustic / electric Texas blues). Often singing about topical events, such as the Korean War and Great Depression, in the mid-late 1960s he turned his attention to Vietnam. He died in Houston Texas on 30 January 1982. (1) He recorded several Vietnam War-related songs, see the info box below. Hopkins recorded the song "Please Settle in Viet Nam" in Berkeley, California, under the direction of Chris Strachwitz (the founder of the Californian label Arhoolie Records), on 20 May 1969, for the session which produced the album Lightnin'! (Poppy # PYS-60,002). But the song did not appear on the album. Strachwitz released "Please Settle in Viet Nam" on this single (Joliet # 205) and then later on the album Lightning Hopkins in Berkeley (Arhoolie # 1063). (1) In the lyrics, Hopkins wanted to see "an ending to the war" and called on the government to settle the Vietnam issue. It also included a little twist. Hopkins said that his girlfriend actually had a man fighting in the…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Born 15 March 1912, in Centreville, Texas. Died 30 January 1982, Houston, Texas, USA