May 11, 2020 —– Chart #29
Hello Musical Friends,
Today’s song is from 1967 and I learned some interesting things researching for today’s chart. “Get Together“, also known as “Let’s Get Together”, is a song written in the mid-1960s by American singer-songwriter Chet Powers (stage name Dino Valenti). This song has been recorded by many artists although the top chart mover was by The Youngbloods, first in 1967 then re-released in 1969. 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 (“Come on people now/Smile on your brother/Everybody get together/Try to love one another right now”), which is repeated several times in succession to bring the song to its conclusion.
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. 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 was recorded at World Pacific Studios, Los Angeles. It was produced by Jim Dickson as a four-song demo that Crosby recorded before joining the Byrds.
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. It would be their last hit record. The Mitchell Trio released the album “That’s the Way It’s Going to Be” in 1965 which included the song, sung by John Denver who replaced Chad Mitchell.
“Let’s Get Together” was the third song on side 2 of 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, “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. 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. The Youngbloods was an American rock band consisting of Jesse Colin Young (vocals, bass), Jerry Corbitt (guitar), Lowell “Banana” Levinger, (guitar and electric piano), and Joe Bauer (drums). Despite receiving critical acclaim, they never achieved widespread popularity. Their only U.S. Top 40 entry was “Get Together”.
MORE RECORDINGS: Another version was released in 1967 by the Chicago psychedelic group H. P. Lovecraft on their debut album. Another Chicago band, The Cryan’ Shames, covered it on their third album, Synthesis. 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. 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. The group The Yankee Dollar released their version of the song for their self-titled album in 1968.
The group Smith recorded a version on their 1969 debut album, sung by Gayle McCormick while, in the same year, it was recorded by the Carpenters as 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. In March 1970, the Dave Clark Five reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart with their version retitled “Everybody Get Together”.
Keep Rockin’,
Stan