In late March, American singer and songwriter Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter, the second in a planned trilogy of albums. Also known as Act II: Cowboy Carter, the album was conceived as a journey through a reinvention of Americana, spotlighting the overlooked contributions of Black pioneers to American musical and cultural history.

I recently reviewed Alice Randall’s Black Country, which is another piece in reclaiming the Black influence in country music. In a 2021 interview with Harper’s Bizarre, Beyoncé explained the important influence of country music and the Black cowboy on her life and music.

I grew up going to the Houston rodeo every year. It was this amazing diverse and multicultural experience where there was something for every member of the family, including great performances, Houston-style fried Snickers, and fried turkey legs. One of my inspirations came from the overlooked history of the American Black cowboy. Many of them were originally called cowhands, who experienced great discrimination and were often forced to work with the worst, most temperamental horses. They took their talents and formed the Soul Circuit. Through time, these Black rodeos showcased incredible performers and helped us reclaim our place in western history and culture.

The second song on Cowboy Carter is a cover of the Beatles’ tune Blackbird, which she renames Blackbiird in homage to Act II. Her cover features additional harmony and/or lead vocals from four Black country singers: Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy. She also “used the master recording of the original guitar-and-foot-tapping backing part McCartney recorded for the Beatles’ White Album as the backing track for her new version.” It is a fabulous interpretation of a wonderful song, bringing the tune and its backstory to a whole new audience.

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Places are important in telling our stories as a people. One of the important places that the National Trust for Historic Preservation has worked to save through the years is Little Rock Central High School. The Little Rock Central High School first made headlines when it opened in 1927 as the largest high school in the country, and then again thirty years later as the focal point of America’s school desegregation controversy. In 2017, Trust’s President and CEO Stephanie Meeks spoke to that history when the organization celebrated the saving of what was once an endangered place.

“In 1957, the school was the scene of forced school desegregation that gained international attention. Nine African American students—“the Little Rock Nine”— were denied entrance to the school by one thousand angry protestors in defiance of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering integration of public schools. The first test of the federal government’s public school integration policy, the events at the Little Rock Central High School had lasting implications on civil rights and education in our country.“

By 1996, however, the school was suffering severe deterioration—peeling paint, crumbling plaster, leaking plumbing, broken windows, termites, leaking roof and outer walls—requiring $6.5 million in repairs. The school district did not have the money for repairs and the Trust named the building to that year’s list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

“The listing helped to generate support and funding for extensive internal and external renovations,” noted Meeks. “On November 6, 1998, Congress established the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. The National Historic Site is administered in partnership with the National Park Service, Little Rock Public Schools, the City of Little Rock, and others.“

The place is important to the story because it was there that those nine young students stood up to bigotry and hate. And the repercussions were widespread, affecting life and people in so many different ways and places.

Paul McCartney wrote Blackbird to honor members of the Little Rock Nine. At a 2016 concert in Little Rock, McCartney introduced the song by telling the audience,

“Way back in the Sixties, there was a lot of trouble going on over civil rights, particularly in Little Rock. We would notice this on the news back in England, so it’s a really important place for us, because to me, this is where civil rights started. We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people going through those troubles, and it made me want to write a song that, if it ever got back to the people going through those troubles, it might just help them a little bit, and that’s this next one.”

Blackbird is a song that has had many famous (and not-so-famous) covers over the years. Beyond the recent Beyoncé offering, here are a few additional personal favorite versions of the classic.

Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman recorded the song in 1989 for The Long Island Sound—a 6 CD box set from the Jerry Garcia Band and Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman, released in 2013.

Joan Baez celebrated her 75th birthday in 2016 with a who’s who at the Beacon Theatre. “This delicate and heartwarming rendition of Blackbird was one of many classics Joan sang with friends,” this time in a duo with David Crosby.

Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan sang a simple yet beautiful version in I Am Sam. The soundtrack to the 2001 film is made up entirely of cover versions of songs by the Beatles, although it was originally intended to consist of the group’s original recordings.

Jazz great Sarah Vaughan released her cover on 1981’s Songs of The Beatles, with “interesting” (he puts in quotes) ’80s jazz interludes interspersed throughout the verses.

And singing alone, with just her guitar, Joy Oladokun does—in my estimation—one of the most beautiful and heartfelt covers of the tune.

We’ll end with the man himself, singing his song live in concert—in spite of the bad rhythmic clapping of the crowd—as only he can.

“You were only waiting for this moment to arise | You were only waiting for this moment to be free” remains a message for our time.

More to come . . .

DJB

Image of Little Rock Central High School by National Park Service.