James E. Akenson
NATO seems to be a bit shaky these days in the age of the second Trump administration. There are plenty of wars going on in places like Ukraine. I don’t want to be Biblical here…got to be inclusive… and I don’t know the equivalent statements in other world religions or philosophies…..but there will be wars and rumors of war. Europe doesn’t seem to appreciate official U.S. actions be it economic or casting a covetous eye toward Greenland.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could turn back the clock. In the good old days there were two major super powers and their allies. The Soviet Union and the United States. Most everything international could be traced back to the rivalry between the two major blocks. Like Communism? No problem. Hate Communism. No problem! Like Capitalism? No problem. Hate capitalism. That’s fine. The two squared off. We knew what was what.
The two Super Powers got in a bit of a stand-off. A war might mean destroying the world with nuclear weapons. Proxy wars were OK. Vietnam wasn’t a direct confrontation even if both sides were involved. The Cold War made a lot of sense. I remember Duck and Cover. Scrambling under our desks at Lake Harried Elementary School in Minneapolis, Minnesota was serious business. What good could have Duck and Cover done? We would have been vaporized by a nuclear attack.
I also remember being concerned that planes on the flight path over our 4126 Upton Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota home might be Soviet Bombers. Some high school friends were members of the Civil Air Patrol. They watched for Soviet aircraft. The Cold War was real. It was in the news everyday. Most important, in fifth grade the Army unveiled an Atomic Cannon. Big headlines. I got to tell about the Atomic Cannon during Current Events. I was almost shaking with excitement. The Russian and U.S. tanks facing each other at Check Point Charlie look menacing. My LP (Life Partner) Mickie went through Check Point Charlie leading a group of high school students. It made her nurrrr-vussss.
Well now, what does the Cold War have to do with Country Music. Good question. Turns out that Country Music and the Cold War are connected. Yes, Country Music artists and songs have commented on wars from Johnny Horton’s Battle of New Orleans to Hank Williams, Jr’s Eagle and the Bear about the Iraq War. World War 2, The Big One as Archie Bunker liked to call it, resulted in songs like There’s A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere by Elton Britt and the Grand Ole Opry Camel Caravan providing Country Music entertainment to troops.
The Cold War ramped up the involvement of Country Music. A recent book by Joseph M. Thompson deals with the connection of Country Music to the Cold War. The title Cold War Country: How Nashville’s Music row and the Pentagon Created the Sound of American Patriotism says it all. No doubt that Country Music connected to the Cold War. Read it and you can determine if other factors could have been involved. We mustn’t forget pop songs like Toni Fisher’s West of the Wall. Let’s focus on Country Music and the Cold War in terms of Europe and the earlier years of the 1950s and 60s. Let’s save the Korean War, the Vietnam War and other crises for another piece. Remember, this is a sample. Loads of other songs about the Cold War we shan’t discuss.
Who became the big bad symbol, the icon, of Soviet Communism and Russian aggression? Joseph Stalin, that’s who. He was a nasty piece of work no matter what system of government he represented. From one icon to another, we couldn’t pick better than to have Hank Williams warn Uncle Joe that he shouldn’t pick a fight with Uncle Sam. Hank says ‘No, no, Joe.’ Hank warns Uncle Joe not to throw his weight around with a flawed system ‘we know ain’t sound.’ Hank reminds Uncle Joe that the Kaiser, Hitler, and Mussolini tried to mess with Uncle Sam. They now sittin’ “around a fire” and they’re saving a place for Uncle Joe. Now Hank Williams had his own demons and had trouble seeing the light. But, he certainly saw the Cold War free world version of the light when it came to Uncle Joe.
In 1951 Grandpa Jones proclaimed I’m No Communist. He proclaimed that in the nation’s capitol ‘Communists and spies are making monkeys out of us.” The song includes other statements about government bureaucrats giving away secrets, increasing taxes, and a national debt which is a monster. Sounds like McCarthy era influenced lyrics. Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin lead the post-World War anti-communist hysteria.
The Cold War was MAD you say? Yes! MAD. Mutually Assured Destruction. Those nukes could have destroyed the world in minutes. That’s why it had to be a Cold War with lots of dirty tricks. The Louvin Brothers got into it with The Great Atomic Power. No surprise, but they combined nuclear power with Down Home Evangelical Protestant thinking. The Louvin’s told us that a regiment of Christians guided by the savior’s hand’ will save believers from ‘that awful fate’ of nuclear war. Just how believers would be saved in a nuclear attack isn’t clear.
Lest we ignore another icon of Country Music, we need to pay homage to Roy Acuff. Uncle Joe also received advice from Roy Acuff in 1951. Ole Roy said there is a Communist ambition. He mentions that we fought together against Hitler, that he now wants to dominate America, and Uncle Joe better have a place to hide when the atom bomb begins to fall.
Country Music often deals with love. Ya think love and the Cold War could be mixed. The Hag certainly did. Merle Haggard experienced bitter sweet romance in the Streets of Berlin. He ‘walked away and left her on the streets of Berlin.” The Hag also mentions that someday they will walk again by the river Rhine. No, the Rhine isn’t near Berlin, but give The Hag some artistic license. It’s still Cold War Europe. He does get back to mentioning the streets of Berlin. It makes sense doesn’t it. Berlin included a U.S. sector with Berlin Brigade troops housed in McNair Barracks. Falling in love with a German woman during the Cold War, having to leave, and yearning to be with her makes good sense and a good Country Music song.
My lifelong friend, and a couple of years my senior, Jim Stjernstrom served from 1956-58 in Berlin’s 279 Station Hospital. Sadly, he reports he only drank lots of beer, might have stayed in McNair Barracks for a short time, and didn’t have any flings with pretty Frauleins. Not only that, Jim Stjernstrom doesn’t remember any Country Music. I’m disappointed! He did, though, attend performances of Tosca and The Magic Flute in the Soviet sector.
Floyd Tillman figured out that he didn’t even need to be stationed overseas to use the Cold War. This Cold War With You uses terms of the Cold War to describe his failing relationship. Tillman says the Iron Curtain “falls on this Cold War with you.” That gives a unique 1949 contemporary touch to pretty ordinary theme of ‘love-gone-wrong.’ Then again, good songwriting takes ordinary and makes it interesting.
Poor Stonewall Jackson. Just like Toni Fisher’s 1963 pop hit West Of The Wall, he finds himself in love with a pretty Fraulein in East Berlin. All things considered this relationship doesn’t make as much sense as Toni Fisher’s. As a male most likely Stonewall Jackson is narrating from a 1963 U.S. soldier’s point of view. How could Stonewall possibly have met an East Berlin Fraulein since going through Check Point Charlie was restricted, you say? Easy. The song says they met, broke up, want to get back together, but since then the Soviets built the wall. Stonewall laments that the ‘won’t let her out and they won’t let me in.’ So sad that she’s out there ‘somewhere east of West Berlin.’
One last look at the Cold War and Country Music is more personal. There were lots of military bases in Europe designed to repel any Soviet invasion. Country Music went with it. My Rockabilly DJ friend Jerry Barthelemy gave me a Patsy Cline album as part of his downsizing in retirement. At first, I didn’t know what I’d do with it.
But, take a look at the album and the back cover. It says Reece Upchurch and in short hand indicates he was in H Battery, Maintenance Section of the 2nd Brigade of the 27 Battalion of the Field Artillery. That meant Reece Upchurch was stationed in Germany during the Cold War. Upchurch was a member of the 3rd Armored Division in Friedburg. He probably lived in the Ray Barracks on base. Patsy Cline’s album was released in 1957. Most likely Upchurch was in Germany in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Can’t prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt, but I hope to in time. It’s very possible that Reece Upchurch bought the Patsy Cline album in the PX, the Post Exchange, on the 3rd Armored Division base in Friedburg. It was common for Country Music records to be available for troops to purchase.
What else might be of interest related to Reece Upchurch and the Ray Barracks at Friedburg? Well. Let’s not forget that Elvis Aaron Presley began as a Country Music artist “The Hillbilly Cat.” His performances on Shreveport, Louisiana’s KDKA Louisiana Hayride are legend. The Grand Ole Opry appearance didn’t go quite so well. But, yes, Elvis did his duty for his country. Elvis was stationed with the 3rd Armored Division in Germany. In 1958, Elvis was assigned to Ray Barricks. He ultimately stayed in nicer housing. Wonder if Reece Upchurch was there at the same time as Elvis. Maybe I’ll finally find out for sure.
Well there you have it. A short tour of the Cold War in the 1950s and early 1960s featuring Europe. We only did a small sample of Country Music and the Cold War. There lots more songs. There’s Country Music concerts at European bases. We didn’t touch on Country Music in the U.S., outside of Europe, or into the 1970s and 80s. You do get the picture, though. Country Music artists and fans knew the Cold War. It was part of everyday life. It’s not surprising Country Music is linked to the Cold War. We can say just like Elton Britt’s World War 2 song There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere.
