Postmarked Viet Nam
1965 · Chart 1285 · USA
- Artist
- June Black
- Title
- Postmarked Viet Nam
- Release
- Postmarked Viet Nam / The Other Woman Is Your Wife
- Year
- 1965
- Label
- Chart # 1285
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Country · Country
- Primary theme
- US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs
Annotation
The country track "Postmarked Viet Nam" (Chart Records # 1285) contained patriotic elements. The label, founded in Atlanta Georgia by Slim Williamson, was based in Nashville for the recording of this single, and presumably June Black based her career there, around 1965-66. (1) It is possible that she may have been a "pay as you go" artist, i.e. she payed for the recording session, and received no promotion from the label. (2) However, Chart Records did in fact take out a half-page advert promoting this single, claiming "Terrific sales! Big air play! A hit record! by June Black", in Record World on 15 January 1966. (3) Black introduced and ended the narrative from the position of a soldier's wife, who received a letter from her husband in Vietnam. She declared that "I'll wait until you come home". In the middle of the track June Black switched the narration to being the soldier in Vietnam, addressing his wife. He expressed patriotic sentiments, defending the US position in Vietnam on the grounds of freedom for the future generations: "we want our little ones to be free". The soldier also "wanted people back home...to understand" that the soldiers in Vietnam had "made so many…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer