The Hot Spring County Historical Society invited noted Arkansas historian, educator, author, songwriter and musician, Charley Sandage, to their March meeting for an evening of “Arkansas History in Song”.
The meeting was held in the lecture hall at ASU Three Rivers to accommodate a larger crowd than normally attends at the HSCHS building on West 2nd Street.
Everyone who came enjoyed hearing Sandage share anecdotes about fascinating people, places and events plucked from the annals of Arkansas history—from the early Caddo Indian settlements of the 1700s to the 1950s rockabilly scene around the state—interspersed with his own musical creations celebrating each topic.
Sandage has written dozens of songs over the years related to Arkansas history and released two volumes of those songs he recorded with the folk trio group, Harmony.
With the support of Archeological Assessments, Inc., a cultural resources management firm, Sandage and Harmony recorded the first volume of “Arkansas Stories” in 1999. As is true of the second volume, Sandage sprinkles a few historical tidbits as an introduction to each of the 12 songs on the first volume.
“Cahinnio” tells about the forgotten Caddo tribes of southwest Arkansas and their sacred places lost in time. One emotional song recalls the tragic sinking of the federal steamboat Sultana near Marion in 1865, and “The Walk” chronicles the journey of a Civil War veteran returning home to Arkansas. “The Great Earthquakes of 1811” is a catchy tune about the weird events reported after the New Madrid earthquake.
Other songs include “They Sang On,” a tribute to Arkansas’ legendary female folksingers, and “I Don’t Believe the Levee’s Gonna Hold,” a spirit-filled melody about the Great Flood of 1927 that inundated about one-fourth of the state.
Harmony was not in attendance at the Monday night meeting, but Sandage still kept the audience captive while performing as a solo act. Toward the end of the meeting, HSCAHS President, Kinney Black presented Sandage with a copy of the book, “Presenting The Past,” by Wendy Richter in appreciation. “Presenting the Past” is a collection of some of the best historically-based articles Ritcher has penned for the Malvern Daily Record within the last decade.
