Vietnam... a war with a rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack. But there’s so much more to that soundtrack than most of us realize.
Time to Lay It Down ~ The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War is a two-part audio documentary that explores the music that expressed the deep divisions about the war in American society, and provided a life line for GIs in Vietnam, as well as a source of healing when they came home.
Part 1: The Battle of the Airwaves
Explores the complex soundtrack of the Vietnam war as it played out at home, and takes listeners on a musical journey that begins when few Americans had even heard of Vietnam, to a time further down the road when music exposed the fractures that divided the country.
Part 2: The Soundtrack in Vietnam
Presents the soundtrack of the Vietnam War as it was heard in Vietnam, a discordant mix of radio broadcasts, bootleg music, and songs created and sung by Americans and Vietnamese, all against a backdrop of terrifying combat sounds, clashing with voices from the American government promising victory.
Interview on The 11th Hour, WRTA Altoona
Credits & Support
Artist Voices
- William Bell
- Chip Dockery
- John Fogerty
- Marvin Gaye
- Hershel Gober
- Merle Haggard
- Kris Kristofferson
- Country Joe McDonald
- Graham Nash
- Tom Paxton
- Noel Paul Stookey
- Peter Yarrow
Soldier Voices
- Doug Bradley
- Ron Curtis
- Art Flowers
- Lou Frank
- Roger Steffens
Production
- Frank Christopher, Producer/Writer/Sound Designer/Editor
- Jerry Zolten, Producer/Writer/Host
- Dante DiAndrea, Editor
- Kennedey Bell, Assistant Editor, Researcher
- Mickey Klein, Audio Mixer
- Jen Bortz, Audio Recordist
- Shirley Irvin, Transcription
Advisers
- Lydia Fish, folklorist at Buffalo State College, and director of the Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project
- Hugo Keesing, University of Maryland professor, and creator of Next Stop is Vietnam ~ The War on Record: 1961-2008
- Doug Bradley, University of Wisconsin professor, and co-author of We Gotta Get Out of this Place, The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War
- Gary Lee, audio engineer
Support
- Thomas F. Songer, the Second and Sara Hine Songer
- American Legion Post #245
- Linda Koch
