A patriotic one from the outlaw. In 1984, the same year as the Los Angeles Olympics,
released his patriotic anthem, “America.” Like how the Summer Olympics affected Americans this year, Jennings was beyond moved to see the patriotism throughout our nation and wanted to tip his hat to how far the United States has come and how hosting the Olympics brought the country together. In a rare raw interview clip from the ’80s, Jennings talked about why he felt called to release the song written by Sammy Johns”
“I was watching the 1984 Olympics, and I got caught up in that. The patriotism that Americans had, you know, as well as the athletes and spectators. I thought about writing a song about it, and it didn’t quite get off the ground. But then I remembered this song that was written in 1973 by Sammy Johns from one of his albums, and I remembered I liked that song. But at that time, in ’73, it just didn’t have the effect. I think the whole country right now…there’s a whole feeling of patriotism.