The Epic Ride of John H. Glenn (mp3)

The Epic Ride of John H. Glenn (2:43)

Here’s one of America’s most talented character actors singing—well, talking—about one of America’s greatest heroes. Walter Brennan, who was riding high on The Real McCoys when this was recorded in 1962, tries to sum up a nation’s pride in an astronaut as The Johnny Mann Singers wail and play piano in the background.

In this age of Space Shuttles, satellite TV and radio, and billionaires booking adventure travel to the International Space Station, it’s hard to imagine how exciting it was for someone to simply orbit the planet three times and come home safe. You’ll get a sense of how deep that excitement ran when you realize that people bought this single, even though you can’t dance to it and it doesn’t sound quite like anything else that was available at the time.
Kris Earle’s mother bought this, and he was kind enough to share it with me.