The National Anathema - As Performed by Artists Who Should Know Better

Aretha Franklin, Aaron Neville to sing national anthem at Super Bowl

I haven't seen a lot of press on this, so maybe I'm alone in my assessment. The Star Spangled Banner, as performed by Dr. John, Aaron Neville and Aretha Franklin was awful. There, I said it. And I feel glad that I did.

Personally, I blame Dr. John, who I think in all other respects, is a great artist who is probably underappreciated (unlike Aaron Neville who isn't that great an artist and is overappreciated or Aretha who is a great artist and gets all the pub she needs). I mean, can you not like a guy who used to dress up like this:Hell, I think old Night Tripper is great. But he played the Anathema like it was a funeral march. And it caused Aaron Neville's nasal, castrato song to sound like some kind of weird dirge. It felt oddly inappropriate for the occasion, even if we had just come out the SuperBowl equivalent of Casey Kasem's Death Dedication.

So Neville dirged it up, then Aretha cut loose on the loud part of the song and you couldn't even tell that Aaron Neville was there, except that the camera kept looking at him. Hampered by the slow pace of the playing, Aretha had to fill and riff, which is probably okay if you're doing Freeway of Love, but doesn't really belong in the National Anthem. But Aretha is big enough (in career terms) that this won't stick to her. She's too good to suck that bad.

Last note here: Every time I see Aaron Neville, I think of the late Joe C, Kid Rock's rapping little person. It's his fault, for once rapping:

Highest voice, like Aaron Neville
and I'm down with the Devil

So, I guess he's not all bad. RIP Joe C.