Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Sam Spence Duo

Song 1 - Up She Rises (a.k.a. "Up as She Rises" or "A Golden Boy Again")
Artist(s) - Sam Spence
Released - No later than 1971
Primetime Usage - 2000
Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as other NFL Films compilations like Autumn Thunder)
Featured Highlight - Raiders @ Steelers, 2000

Song 2 - The Raiders
Artist(s) - Sam Spence
Released - 1974
Primetime Usage - 2000
Contained on - Classic NFL Orchestral (as well as other NFL Films compilations like Autumn Thunder)
Featured Highlight -
(same as above)



For the December 2000 matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium (the penultimate game at TRS), NFL Primetime decided to give it the 1970s NFL Films throwback treatment.  One feature was Chris Berman constantly referring to then-current players as 1970s stars (e.g., referring to Rich Gannon as Ken Stabler).  The more memorable feature, however, was the back-and-forth use of two classic NFL Films songs by Sam Spence.  The first, mostly used when Pittsburgh had the ball, is "Up She Rises."  This song is also referred to as "Up as She Rises" or "A Golden Boy Again."  The second, mostly used when Oakland is doing stuff, is appropriately titled "The Raiders."  The Raiders debuted on NFL Films in 1974 to accompany the poem, "The Autumn Wind."  I don't know exactly when Spence wrote Up She Rises, but it's used on the 1970 Colts highlight video so it couldn't be any later than the first half of 1971.

Special thanks to Godzfire for pointing this highlight out to me, and to SW561 for putting the original clip on YouTube.





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