Sing a song of U.S. history

“Schoolhouse Rock” for a new generation? That’s kind of the idea behind “Song of America,” a three-CD collection coming in September that tells about U.S. history in song, an idea germinated by former U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno.

Participants include John Mellencamp, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Black Crowes and Martha Wainwright. They tell the country’s story with songs from Native American history through the arrival of European immigrants and the American Revolution, the Civil War, two world wars, the civil rights movement and Sept. 11, 2001.