User:Joyce Carol Hall-and-Oates/Presidents of the United States of America
| Presidents of the United States of America | |
|---|---|
| [[Image:|center|270px]] | |
| Background information | |
| From | 1809 to Still Active, on Hiatus |
| Hometown | Washington DC, USA |
| Genre(s) | All |
| Awards | Leaders of Free World, Multiple Grammys |
The Presidents of the United States of America are an American musical band. Formed during the early 19th Century, during the formative years of the United States of America, they have been in operation (with some notable gaps) for nearly 200 years, thus being one of the world's longest-lived musical endeavors.
The band is doubly notable for its rather selective membership criteria. When originally formed, it was open only to men who were either currently serving as or formerly occupied the office of the Presidency of the USA. This made it a very exclusive club, with currently over forty current and emeritus members spanning those 200 years. Moreover, the variety of men who have formed the band and the eras in which they lived means that the Presidents have encompassed, directly and indirectly, every musical genre that the USA has ever experienced, making them the definitive "band that fits no classification".
Formation of the Band[edit | edit source]
The Presidents of the United States of America were formed in the latter half of the year 1809 by the Father of our Country, the first President, George Washington, as a chamber music group. The first lineup consisted of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison, who met on weekend evenings to occasionally imbibe absinthe and jam, or, as they termed it in letters to each other, "Jamme". Evenutally word spread about the quartet and they were asked to play in the parlors of friends and associates. These impromptu "consertettes" became well known and demand rose: eventually they group began to tour, and the legend that was the Presidents of the United States of America began to suggest itself.
The critical acclaim was all but unanimous. As Robert Christgau, self-appointed Dean of American Rock Critics wrote after viewing the group's September, 1809 Special Request performance at Independence Hall, in the Philadelphia Colonial Permanent Press:
- ... the performance of thee erstwhile Presidentes of our Great Republick was nothing if not short of Masterfull ... full, riche tonef, beauteious Melodies, they brought the Classicale mode to heights not hearde in Thee New Worlde, yea, indeede, they kickede it to a whole Nuther Levelle. First Clasf!
Changing times through the 19th Century[edit | edit source]
When a band stays together as long as this one does, change is not just inevitable, but required. As History has shown us, almost every last one of America's chief executives has almost preternatural, innate talent, and, being uniquely in tune with the zeitgeist as only America's chief executive can be, responded to the changes in ways that were sometimes predictable and sometimes not.
While the trends of the Presidents during the 18th and 19th Century – ragtime, ballads, swing, gospel, big bands (causing an increase in sidemen to the degree that whole cabinet Departments emeriti were being recruited) were represented in earnest during those days, occasional surprises did obtain. For example, George Clinton, Vice under Presidents Jefferson and Madison tried to introduce a level of funk that the sensitivities of the times around fin de sicele Colonial just wasn't quite ready to handle. He did, however introduced the concept of the band in generosity to friends and critics alike, best stated as thoust can givest up the Funkke, in as much as thou will Always get bakke what They gave. Odd as those words were, they set the undertone for the music the Presidents were to produce from there on out.
George M. Dallas, Vice President under Polk, was responsible for expanding the horn section and providing the Presidents' music with a wide sense of dimension and majesty that was best associated with Manifest Destiny and the westward expansion. Music lovers can sense this mode today whenever they hear the opening to the famous American TV sitcom "Dallas", who's expansive horns pay homage to this Vice President, as does the name of its setting (and at least half the population)