* From a July 12, 2015 Capital Gazette story…

Of the hundreds of songs Charlie Richardson has recorded in his decades as a local audio technician, one still stands out for him as the best representation of Maryland.

“The (Naval Academy) Glee Club was singing it and they were singing around the state and I heard the thing at one of the concerts and it caught my attention and ear.”

The approximately two-minute “My Home, My Maryland” was composed and performed in 1976 for the glee club’s bicentennial concerts.

“There’s no finer place on Earth than my home sweet home, my Maryland,” the choir sang, the recording made in the Naval Academy Chapel resounding in Richardson’s living room Wednesday. The Annapolis resident, the founder of Richardson Records, has been recording local songs for about 50 years.

“It doesn’t have all that political stuff in it,” Richardson said.

The actual state song, “Maryland, My Maryland,” has come under fire for its strong pro-Confederate slant — it uses phrases like “Northern scum” and “sic semper.” There have been attempts to change it over the last five decades; all have failed.

It didn’t happen, but click here to listen to the song.

* Also…

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