America, Why I Love Her – John Wayne

America, Why I Love Her – John Wayne

America, Why I Love Her is an album of poetry recited by John Wayne. It consists of patriotic poems written by actor John Mitchum, the brother of Robert Mitchum. The idea for the album came about when actor Forrest Tucker heard John Mitchum recite his poem “Why Are You Marching, Son?” Tucker and Mitchum were on location with Wayne, shooting the 1970 Western film Chisum. Tucker asked him to read it for Wayne, and halfway through the reading, Wayne had tears in his eyes. Wayne reportedly told Mitchum, “I’ve never recorded anything in my life, but I’m going to record an album of your poetry”

On the album, Wayne reads Mitchum’s poetry with backing from an orchestra and choir. Billy Liebert arranged and conducted the orchestra and also produced the album. In an interview upon the album’s release, Wayne explained his attraction to the material: “John Mitchum thinks like I think and writes like I wish I could.” Wayne added that he hoped that the album would cause “a little bit of rapport between everybody in our country.”

The ten songs on the CD are:

1. “Why I Love Her” [2:56]
2. “The Hyphen” [2:29]
3. “Mis Raices Estan Aqui (My Roots Are Buried Here)” [2:41]
4. “The People” [3:46]
5. “An American Boy Grows Up” [4:29]
6. “Face the Flag” [3:52]
7. “The Good Things” [2:40]
8. “The Pledge of Allegiance” [4:19]
9. “Why Are You Marching, Son?” [3:58]
10. “Taps” [3:01]

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