Get Together (The Youngbloods song)

"Get Together"
Single by The Youngbloods
from the album The Youngbloods
B-side "All My Dreams Blue" (original)
"Beautiful" (re-issue)
Released July 1967 (original)
June 1969 (re-issue)
Format 7"
Recorded 1966
Genre Folk rock, psychedelic rock[1]
Length 4:37
Label RCA Victor
Songwriter(s) Chet Powers
Producer(s) Felix Pappalardi
The Youngbloods singles chronology
"Darkness, Darkness"
(1969)		 "Get Together"
(1967)		 "Sunlight"
(1969)

"Darkness, Darkness"
(1969)		 "Get Together"
(1969)		 "Sunlight"
(1969)

"Get Together", also known as "Let's Get Together", is a song written in the mid-1960s by American singer-songwriter Chet Powers, also known as Dino Valenti.

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.

Recording history

The song was originally recorded as "Let's Get Together" by the Kingston Trio in a live performance in March 1964 that was released on June 1, 1964, on their album Back in Town.[2] 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 pre-Byrds David Crosby recorded "Get Together" around the same time as the Trio, but possibly a few weeks later, since the band arrangement includes the riff from the Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout", released earlier in Britain but not in the United States until April. Crosby's version, possibly the first studio recording and pre-dating release of the Trio's version, appeared many years later on the Preflyte album.

A version of the song first broke into the top forty in 1965, when We Five, produced by Kingston Trio manager Frank 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 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when it peaked at number 31.[3] It would be their last hit record.

"Let's Get Together" was the third song on side 2 of the Jefferson Airplane's first album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, released in August 1966. As Tim Jurgens said in his review of the album in the January 1967 issue of Crawdaddy,[4] "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off is the most important album of American rock issued this year (1966); it is the first LP to come out of the new San Francisco music scene..". He called "Let's Get Together" a "most sensitive, hopeful and contemporary ballad", and wondered why it isn't sung in church. However, the song wasn't released as a single, although the album did make the top 100 of 1966, as number 97.

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 62 and reaching 37 on the US adult contemporary chart.[5] However, renewed interest in the Youngbloods' version came when it was used in a radio 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 number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

Another version was released in 1967 by the Chicago psychedelic group H. P. Lovecraft on their debut album.

In 1968, the Sunshine Company released a version of the song titled "Let's Get Together" as a single that reached number 112 on the Billboard chart.[7]

Also in 1968, the Canadian group 3's a Crowd released their version of the song as a single, titled "Let's Get Together". It peaked at number 70 on Canada's national singles chart.

Smith recorded a version on their 1969 debut album, sung by Gayle McCormick while, in the same year, it was recorded by the Carpenters and was the fourth track on their debut album "Offering" (later re-released as "Ticket to Ride").

In 1970, Gwen & Jerry Collins released a version of the song as a single that reached number 34 on the US country chart.[8]

In March 1970, the Dave Clark Five reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart with their version retitled "Everybody Get Together".[9]

In 1995, Big Mountain released a version of the song titled as a single that reached number 28 on the US adult contemporary chart and number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.[10] It also reached number 32 on Cash Box.[11]

Controversy

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 1,200 radio stations in the United States.

Chart history

References

  1. ↑ Fontenot, Robert (October 29, 2015). "What is Folk-Rock Music?". ThoughtCo. About.com. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  2. ↑ The Kingston Trio, Back in Town Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ We Five charting singles Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ Tim, Jurgens. "Crawdaddy archives". Crawdaddy Magazine 1966-1968. Vista Services. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  5. ↑ The Youngbloods, "Get Together" 1967 chart positions Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ The Youngbloods, "Get Together" chart position Retrieved May 18, 2015
  7. ↑ The Sunshine Company, "Let's Get Together" chart position Retrieved May 18, 2015
  8. ↑ Gwen & Jerry Collins, "Get Together" chart position Retrieved May 18, 2015
  9. ↑ The Dave Clark Five, "Everybody Get Together" chart position Retrieved May 18, 2015
  10. ↑ Big Mountain, "Get Together" chart positions Retrieved May 18, 2015
  11. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 10, 1996
  12. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  13. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 7, 1967
  14. ↑ Go-Set National Top 40, 6 December 1969
  15. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1969-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  16. ↑ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  17. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  18. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 13, 1969
  19. ↑ "RPM Top Singles of 1969". Library and Archives Canada. RPM. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  20. ↑ Musicoutfitters.com
  21. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1969
  22. ↑ heavyharmonies.com http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/glamcd.cgi?BandNum=677&CDName=Giant+Hits. Retrieved 17 October 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ Mike Wass (January 20, 2017). "Bahari Drops A Timely Cover Of "Get Together"". Idolator.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.