From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article does not cite any references or sources.
"Get Together," also known as "Let's Get Together," is a song written in the early 1960s by American singer-songwriter Chet Powers (aka Dino Valenti).
You can listen to the song below:
The song is an appeal for peace and brotherhood, presenting the polarity of love versus fear, and the choice to be made between them. It is best remembered for the impassioned plea in the lines of its refrain, which is repeated several times in succession to bring the song to its conclusion.
LYRICS
Love is but the song we sing,
And fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Know the dove is on the wing
And you need not know why
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
Some will come and some will go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moments sunlight
Fading in the grass
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
If you hear the song I sing,
You must understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command
C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
Right now
Right now!
Recording history
The song was originally recorded as "Let's Get Together" by The Kingston Trio and released on June 1, 1964, on their album Back in Town. While it was not released as a single, this version was the first to bring the song to the attention of the general public. The Kingston Trio often performed it live.
A version of the song first broke into the top forty in 1965, when We Five, produced by Kingston Trio manager Fran Werber, released "Let's Get Together" as the follow-up to their top ten hit "You Were on My Mind." While it did not achieve the same level of success as the other, "Let's Get Together" provided the group with a second top forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when it peaked at number thirty-one. It would be their last.
Jefferson Airplane recorded a version which was released on August 15, 1966, on their debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. In 1966 Chet Powers, in an effort to raise money for his legal defense on drug charges, sold the rights to the song to Frank Werber.
Judy Collins performed the song live at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, and her version was included on a later album compiling highlights of various Newport Festivals.
In 1967, The Youngbloods released their version of the song under the title "Get Together". It became a minor Hot 100 hit for them, peaking at number sixty-two. However, renewed interest in the Youngbloods' version came when it was used in a television public service announcement as a call for brotherhood by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The Youngbloods' version, the most-remembered today, was re-released in 1969, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and has been featured in several films, including Purple Haze, Forrest Gump, Stephen Kings Riding the Bullet; and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Nirvana's bass player, Krist Novoselic, screeches out the chorus of "Get Together" at the beginning of "Territorial Pissings", from their 1991 album, Nevermind.
Garth Brooks, singing under the pseudonym Chris Gaines, incorporated the chorus into his 1999 song "Right Now". (The songwriting credit went to Powers and folk singer Cheryl Wheeler.)
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the media conglomerate company, Clear Channel Communications, included The Youngbloods' version of the song on a list of "lyrically questionable" songs that was sent to its 1200 radio stations in the United States.
Selective list of recorded versions
* 1964 Chet Powers recording of January, 1964 first collected in 1996 on the album Someone To Love: Birth of the San Francisco Sound and later in Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970
* 1964 The Kingston Trio on their album Back in Town
* 1964 David Crosby
* 1965 We Five, US #31 single
* 1966 Judy Collins
* 1966 Jefferson Airplane on their album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off
* 1967 The Youngbloods, US #62 single, re-released in 1969 US #5 single
* 1967 H. P. Lovecraft
* 1968 Stone Poneys, on their album Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III
* 1969 The Cryan' Shames on their album Synthesis
* 1969 The Carpenters' version of "Get Together" is featured on their first album Offering from 1969. The album was later repackaged as Ticket To Ride in 1970.
* The Association
* 1970 The Dave Clark Five reached No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1970 with their version retitled "Everybody Get Together".
* Anne Murray
* 1986 Randy Stonehill, a Dave Perkins Production
* 1988 Kate Wolf on "An Evening in Austin"
* 1989 The Indigo Girls on the Epic Records release of their album Strange Fire. Also appears on the soundtrack for The Wonder Years
* 1989 The Wonder Stuff on the B side of the single "Golden Green"
* 1991 Nirvana referenced this song on their song "Territorial Pissings"
* 1994 Big Mountain
* Deana Carter
* Wynonna Judd
* 1996 Jesse Colin Young of the The Youngbloods on the album "On the Mountain 2", a fund raiser compiled by the Seattle radio station KMTT
* 1999 Chris Gaines (Garth Brooks) under the title "Right Now" (verses removed, replaced by new rap breaks)
* 2003 Lizz Wright on her album Dreaming Wide Awake
* 2004 Wilson Phillips on their album California
* 2007 Ann Wilson on her album Hope & Glory
* David and the Giants
External Links
* Get Together at Songfacts.com
