"An American Trilogy" is a 1972 song medley arranged by country composer

Mickey Newbury Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. (May 19, 1940 – September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter, recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early life and career Newbury was born in Houston, Texas, on May 19, ...

and popularized by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, who included it as a showstopper in his concert routines. The medley uses three 19th-century songs: *"

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

" — a popular folk song about the southern United States. *"

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

" — a marching hymn of the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

; and *"

All My Trials "All My Trials" is a folk song which became popular during the social protest movements of the late 1950s and 1960s. Alternative titles it has been recorded under include "Bahamian Lullaby" and "All My Sorrows." The origins of the song are unclea ...

" — a Bahamian lullaby related to

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the e ...

and widely used by

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

revivalists

First performances

Newbury first recorded "An American Trilogy" for his 1971 album ''

Frisco Mabel Joy Frisco Mabel Joy'' is a 1971 studio album by singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury. This was the second of three albums Newbury recorded at Cinderella Sound. The album includes the original version of "An American Trilogy", which Elvis Presley later p ...

'', and the medley featured prominently on his first concert album, ''

Live at Montezuma Hall ''Live at Montezuma Hall'' is the first live album from singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury, recorded at Montezuma Hall at San Diego State University in 1973. Featuring Newbury performing solo with an acoustic guitar, the album is notable for touchi ...

'', released in 1973. The studio recording reached No. 26 on the charts in 1972, and No. 9 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. Newbury's version was used for nightly TV sign offs for

KTBS KTBS-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the locally based KTBS, LLC (owned by the Wray Properties Trust, which is managed by Betty Wray Anderson, John D. ...

, KLFY &

WRBT WRBT (94.9 FM broadcasting, FM, "Bob 94.9") is a country music radio station broadcasting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts with a Effective radiated power, power of 25 kW, kilowatts from a tran ...

in the mid to late 1970s. Presley began singing "An American Trilogy" in concert in January 1972; a live recording made the following month was released as a single by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. Presley modifies Newbury's sequence by reprising after "All My Trials" both "Dixie" (in the solo flute) and with a bigger ending on "Battle Hymn". He performs the medley in the 1972 filmed documentary ''

Elvis on Tour ''Elvis on Tour'' is a 1972 American concert film starring Elvis Presley during his fifteen-city spring tour earlier that year. It is written, produced, directed by Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Follow ...

''. Elvis's version didn't equal the US chart success of Newbury's single, reaching No. 66 late in 1972 and peaking at No. 31 on the Easy Listening chart. However, it was included in both versions of the widely-seen 1973 satellite telecast ''

Aloha from Hawaii ''Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite'' is a concert starring Elvis Presley that took place at the Honolulu International Center and was broadcast live via satellite to audiences in Asia and Oceania on January 14, 1973. The show was presented ...

''. Elvis's recording was more successful in the UK, where it reached No. 8.

Recent versions

In 2002 the medley was covered by heavy metal band

Manowar Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...

, appearing as the sixth track on the album ''

Warriors of the World ''Warriors of the World'' is the ninth album by heavy metal band Manowar, released on June 4, 2002. The song Nessun Dorma was dedicated to Adams's mother who had died earlier that year. Amongst its varied tracks are tributes to Wagner, Pavarotti ...

''. It was also featured on country singer

Billy "Crash" Craddock Billy Wayne "Crash" Craddock (born June 16, 1939) is an American country and rockabilly singer. He first gained popularity in Australia in the 1950s with a string of rockabilly hits, including the Australian number one hits " Boom Boom Baby" an ...

's live album '' Live -N- Kickin''' in 2009. Alwyn Humphreys' arrangement for male choir is popular and features on albums by the

Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir is a Welsh Male choir based at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. History On 1 September 1966, following Cardiff RFC's 35–0 defeat of Cardiff & District, a group of supporters came up with idea ...

and

Morriston Orpheus Choir The Morriston Orpheus Choir ( cy, Côr Orpheus Treforys, link=no), based in Morriston, near Swansea, Wales, is a male voice choir, one of the best-known in the UK. History The Choir was formed on April 23, 1935, by Ivor E. Sims and in its early ...

. "An American Trilogy" is referenced and partially sung in the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

' "Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier" on the '' Everything Must Go'' album. It was also arranged for the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

for the 2015 compilation album, ''

If I Can Dream "If I Can Dream" is a song made famous by Elvis Presley, written by Walter Earl Brown for the singer and notable for its similarities with Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. The song was published by Elvis Presley's music pu ...

First performances

Recent versions

Charts

Certifications

References

Further reading