[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
[September 22, 1994]
[Pages 1595-1596]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Rhythm and Blues Concert
September 22, 1994

    Thank you. Please be seated. Well, we're a little late and a little 
wet, but I hope that you're as glad to be here as Hillary and I are glad 
to have you here, even though a little late. I want to thank Marilyn 
Bergman and Frances Preston for their leadership in promoting American 
music and for their help in making this evening possible.
    In this tent tonight, there are representatives of many creative 
disciplines: lyricists, composers, authors, photographers, film makers, 
dramatists, and others. All of you have heightened the way the rest of 
us experience beauty, pleasure, pain. I can't even begin to contemplate 
a world without the gifts that you have given. I'm also glad you've 
brought some great performers with you. The theme of tonight's program 
is ``Soul Tree,''

[[Page 1596]]

a celebration of the roots and reach of American music, soul music, in 
all of its forms: blues, gospel, jazz, country, pop, rhythm and blues, 
and rock and roll. It was all born and bred in America, from Memphis to 
Motown, from New Orleans to New York.
    In Ken Burns' new PBS series on baseball, Gerald Early, a professor 
at Washington University, says that 2,000 years from now when people 
study our civilization, there are only three things America will be 
remembered for: the Constitution, baseball, and jazz. [Laughter] Now, he 
says they're the three most beautifully designed things our culture has 
produced and the three greatest tributes to American improvisation.
    Well, wonderful as it is, and even though I used to teach it, you 
probably don't want to hear my lectures on the Constitution tonight, and 
sadly there is no baseball. So we're left with music: jazz, rhythm and 
blues, all the sounds of America's soul.
    Let's get on with the show. Thank you, and welcome to the White 
House.

Note: The President spoke at 10:36 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Marilyn Bergman, president, 
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, and Frances 
Preston, president and chief executive officer, Broadway Music, Inc.