When I worked as an intern on Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary I had the occasion to drive to New Hampshire one day with him. Just the two of us. I played him a few songs I wanted him to hear–from the Pharcyde, I think it was–and then he said, “I want to play you something special.”

He put a cassette in the tape deck and turned me on to Marvin Gaye’s version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” performed thirty years ago at the NBA All-Star game.

Over at Grantland, Pete Croatto explains why it stands alone.

Here is a track I produced with a friend. It was on a mix cd for my wife around the time we got married. The Marvin Gaye cut was looped by Lord Finesse and appeared on a rare white label record. A friend of mine played me the loop, sampled in an SP-1200, in the late 1990s and was kind enough to burn it to a CD.

The dude I made this track with put the loop into his Pro Tools and cleaned it up some. The dialogue that runs over the music here is from one of my wife’s favorite movies: Little Miss Sunshine.

Enjoy.

Are You Listening? (Bonus Beat)

[Photo Via: Holy Friend]

Via Ego Trip, download these two Marvin Gaye mixes by Spinna.