Picture copied with permission
from Steve Bassett
Article copied from "The Richmond Times Dispatch Newspaper"
Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2015
By BILL LOHMANN
When Steve Bassett showed up early for a band rehearsal at Robbin Thompson’s home on Floyd Avenue in 1978, he found Thompson sitting on his front porch, strumming his guitar — and singing a line that included the words “sweet Virginia breeze.”
“I think I’ve got a hook here,” Thompson told Bassett.
“So we stepped into his house and over the next 30 minutes we wrote the song,” Bassett recalled in an interview Wednesday.
They taught it to their bandmates when they showed up, and the band played it the next day at a concert at Virginia Commonwealth University. “Sweet Virginia Breeze”received a warm reception, substantial radio airplay after that, and gave Bassett and Thompson a signature song for the rest of their careers.
“One of those magic moments,” Bassett said of how the song came about.
And now it’s joining the ever-growing field of songs being championed to become Virginia’s official state song, though a lot of people of a certain age have long considered “Sweet Virginia Breeze” the state’s unofficial official song.
State Sen. Walter A. Stosch, R-Henrico, has introduced a bill to make “Sweet Virginia Breeze” the official state song of Virginia. It joins two other songs that have been endorsed in previously introduced bills this session: “Our Great Virginia,” a song that pairs new lyrics with the melody of “Shenandoah,” and “Virginia, the Home of My Heart,” an original composition by Richmond singer-songwriter Susan Greenbaum.
This sudden flurry of activity aimed at adopting a state song comes as Virginia approaches two decades without one and after years of pretty much nothing going on on the state song front. “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia (Virginny)” was retired in 1997 because of lyrics deemed offensive. A committee tasked with coming up with a new state song in 1998 narrowed more than 300 candidates to eight before the effort fizzled and deteriorated into accusations, confusion and at least one lawsuit.
There have been occasional attempts in the ensuing years to promote songs to fill the role of state song, but they’ve never gotten far. Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, started the current wave of activity by taking up the cause of “Our Great Virginia,” a song supported by Dr. James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., a Civil War scholar and alumni distinguished professor emeritus of history at Virginia Tech. Howell introduced the “Our Great Virginia” bill, which was referred to the House Committee on Rules — of which he is chairman.
Del. John M. O’Bannon III, R-Henrico, countered with a bill endorsing Greenbaum’s song. On the senate side, Sen. Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, introduced a bill on behalf of “Our Great Virginia.” Now comes Stosch’s bill for “Sweet Virginia Breeze,” which should hearten fans of the song who’ve been asking 1) why it wasn’t a candidate, and 2) why it isn’t already the state song.
It almost was back when the song committee was doing its work. “Sweet Virginia Breeze” was one of the eight finalists. At the time, the committee contacted the finalists and wanted to make sure each would be willing to cede ownership of the song to the state, leaving the music as part of the public domain.
Bassett and Thompson balked. They wanted to retain ownership of the song, not to prevent the song from being used as the state song but to prevent other entertainers from recording it and making money off it. Bassett said he and Thompson explained they would grant the state “license to use it in perpetuity at no charge for whatever purpose they wanted to use it,” but they wanted to continue to own their work.
Bassett said the committee agreed and said that wouldn’t be a problem.
“That got resolved,” he said.
But for a variety of other reasons, the committee never completed its work.
And here we are.
Bassett said he and Thompson have never campaigned for “Sweet Virginia Breeze” to be the state song, but they have been gratified by fans over the years suggesting that should be the case. That said, if the song would be designated the state song, Bassett said, “It would certainly be an honor for me and my family … but especially thrilling for all of those through the years who felt that it should be.”
In a phone interview Wednesday from New York where he is recovering from surgery, Thompson said he and Bassett wrote “Sweet Virginia Breeze” as “a celebration of just writing a song about where we live. I feel like it’s been a great run. It’s the song that lives on.
“A lot of people know ‘Sweet Virginia Breeze’ because it’s been around for a long time. You can’t just write a state song and ask everybody to learn it. A state song kind of evolves into one.”
Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2015
By BILL LOHMANN
When Steve Bassett showed up early for a band rehearsal at Robbin Thompson’s home on Floyd Avenue in 1978, he found Thompson sitting on his front porch, strumming his guitar — and singing a line that included the words “sweet Virginia breeze.”
“I think I’ve got a hook here,” Thompson told Bassett.
“So we stepped into his house and over the next 30 minutes we wrote the song,” Bassett recalled in an interview Wednesday.
They taught it to their bandmates when they showed up, and the band played it the next day at a concert at Virginia Commonwealth University. “Sweet Virginia Breeze”received a warm reception, substantial radio airplay after that, and gave Bassett and Thompson a signature song for the rest of their careers.
“One of those magic moments,” Bassett said of how the song came about.
And now it’s joining the ever-growing field of songs being championed to become Virginia’s official state song, though a lot of people of a certain age have long considered “Sweet Virginia Breeze” the state’s unofficial official song.
State Sen. Walter A. Stosch, R-Henrico, has introduced a bill to make “Sweet Virginia Breeze” the official state song of Virginia. It joins two other songs that have been endorsed in previously introduced bills this session: “Our Great Virginia,” a song that pairs new lyrics with the melody of “Shenandoah,” and “Virginia, the Home of My Heart,” an original composition by Richmond singer-songwriter Susan Greenbaum.
This sudden flurry of activity aimed at adopting a state song comes as Virginia approaches two decades without one and after years of pretty much nothing going on on the state song front. “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia (Virginny)” was retired in 1997 because of lyrics deemed offensive. A committee tasked with coming up with a new state song in 1998 narrowed more than 300 candidates to eight before the effort fizzled and deteriorated into accusations, confusion and at least one lawsuit.
There have been occasional attempts in the ensuing years to promote songs to fill the role of state song, but they’ve never gotten far. Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, started the current wave of activity by taking up the cause of “Our Great Virginia,” a song supported by Dr. James I. “Bud” Robertson Jr., a Civil War scholar and alumni distinguished professor emeritus of history at Virginia Tech. Howell introduced the “Our Great Virginia” bill, which was referred to the House Committee on Rules — of which he is chairman.
Del. John M. O’Bannon III, R-Henrico, countered with a bill endorsing Greenbaum’s song. On the senate side, Sen. Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, introduced a bill on behalf of “Our Great Virginia.” Now comes Stosch’s bill for “Sweet Virginia Breeze,” which should hearten fans of the song who’ve been asking 1) why it wasn’t a candidate, and 2) why it isn’t already the state song.
It almost was back when the song committee was doing its work. “Sweet Virginia Breeze” was one of the eight finalists. At the time, the committee contacted the finalists and wanted to make sure each would be willing to cede ownership of the song to the state, leaving the music as part of the public domain.
Bassett and Thompson balked. They wanted to retain ownership of the song, not to prevent the song from being used as the state song but to prevent other entertainers from recording it and making money off it. Bassett said he and Thompson explained they would grant the state “license to use it in perpetuity at no charge for whatever purpose they wanted to use it,” but they wanted to continue to own their work.
Bassett said the committee agreed and said that wouldn’t be a problem.
“That got resolved,” he said.
But for a variety of other reasons, the committee never completed its work.
And here we are.
Bassett said he and Thompson have never campaigned for “Sweet Virginia Breeze” to be the state song, but they have been gratified by fans over the years suggesting that should be the case. That said, if the song would be designated the state song, Bassett said, “It would certainly be an honor for me and my family … but especially thrilling for all of those through the years who felt that it should be.”
In a phone interview Wednesday from New York where he is recovering from surgery, Thompson said he and Bassett wrote “Sweet Virginia Breeze” as “a celebration of just writing a song about where we live. I feel like it’s been a great run. It’s the song that lives on.
“A lot of people know ‘Sweet Virginia Breeze’ because it’s been around for a long time. You can’t just write a state song and ask everybody to learn it. A state song kind of evolves into one.”