Young Bill Calley

Annotation

The track "Young Bill Calley" (K.O. Records # PMI-102) argued that "Calley wasn't guilty all alone, he had help at hand" - this helping hand was the US government, yet to some extent that verse still recognised Calley's guilt over My Lai. The narrator said that Calley had been a "soldier by Uncle Sam", who took "him away from his home", putting a gun in his hand and sending him "down in Vietnam". His purpose there was to fight, not to question "why or what for". Therefore, the narrator suggested that the US government should bear some responsibility for the massacre. Composed by Lee Ofman, and accompanied by Wayne Chaney - who released his own version of the song: Young Bill Calley (K.O. Records # PMI-101). Lee Ofman later became famous for composing the Miami Dolphins No.1 football song in 1972. Ofman, currently a lawyer based in Franklin, Tennessee, studied at the University of Houston in 1968, the location of K.O. Records. (1) (2)

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs

The track "Young Bill Calley" (K.O. Records # PMI-102) argued that "Calley wasn't guilty all alone, he had help at hand" - this helping hand was the US government, yet to some extent that verse still recognised Calley's guilt over My Lai. The narrator said that Calley had been a "soldier by Uncle Sam", who took "him away from his home", putting a gun in his hand and sending him "down in Vietnam". His purpose there was to fight, not to question "why or what for". Therefore, the narrator suggested that the US government should bear some responsibility for the massacre. Composed by Lee Ofman, and accompanied by Wayne Chaney - who released his own version of the song: "Young Bill Calley" (K.O. Records # PMI-101). Lee Ofman later became famous for composing the "Miami Dolphins No.1" football song in 1972. Ofman, currently a lawyer based in Franklin, Tennessee, studied at the University of Houston in 1968, the location of K.O. Records. (1) (2)

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Lee Ofman was an American songwriter and musician who grew up in Galveston, Texas, graduating from Galveston Ball High School in 1964, played the Louisiana club circuit, and is best remembered for writing 'Miami' (1972), the Miami Dolphins fight song; he later qualified in law and established a practice in Franklin, Tennessee, among whose clients was the country singer Mindy McCready. His Vietnam-era record "Young Bill Calley", a response to the conviction of Lieutenant William Calley, could not be confirmed from any admissible source. [Source: Discogs (artist profile)]

Themes

My Lai · Patriotic · Pro-Calley · Anti-Government

In collections

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