Let's Get Together (Chet Powers song)
{{short description|1967 single by The Youngbloods}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
"Let's Get Together", also known as "Get Together" and "Everybody Get Together", is a song written in the mid-1960s by the American singer-songwriter Chet Powers (stage name Dino Valenti), from the psychedelic rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service.{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Tom |title=Beyond The Summer Of Love, 'Get Together' Is An Anthem For Every Season |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/04/10/711545679/get-together-youngbloods-summer-of-love-american-anthem |website=American Anthem |publisher=NPR |access-date=July 14, 2019 |date=April 10, 2019}} A hit version by the Youngbloods, included on their 1967 debut album The Youngbloods, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/270 270]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/270
}}{{Cite magazine|title=Get Together by The Youngbloods {{!}} Billboard The Hot 100 Chart|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1969-08-30?rank=6|access-date=2021-10-06|magazine=Billboard|date = January 2, 2013}}
Background
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.
Original recording history
The song was originally written and recorded as "Let's Get Together" by Chet Powers under the stage name Dino Valenti as early as 1963, but this version was not officially released until 1996 on the compilation album Someone to Love: The Birth of the San Francisco Sound on UK label Big Beat Records;{{cite web | url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/4730 | title=Let's Get Together by Dino Valenti | website=SecondHandSongs }} Powers had died two years prior in 1994.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/18/obituaries/dino-valenti-dies-rock-singer-was-51.html|title=Dino Valenti Dies; Rock Singer Was 51|first=Associated|last=Press|publisher=New York Times|date=November 18, 1994|accessdate=March 18, 2025}} The very first release of the song was an instrumental by the Folkswingers on their 1963 album 12 String Guitar! Vol. 2. A live vocal performance by the Kingston Trio in March 1964 was released on June 1, 1964 on their album Back in Town.[http://www.allmusic.com/album/back-in-town-r96526 The Kingston Trio, Back in Town] Retrieved February 29, 2012. 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.
The Youngbloods version
{{Infobox song
| name = Get Together
| cover = Youngbloods Get Together.jpg
| caption = West German picture sleeve
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Youngbloods
| album = The Youngbloods
| B-side = All My Dreams Blue
| released = July 1967
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
- Folk rock{{cite book |last1=Barone |first1=Richard |title=Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s |date=2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1-4930-6302-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e991EAAAQBAJ |language=en |via=Google Books |page=253 |quote='Get Together'{{nbsp}}... [is] one of the {{em|purest}} examples of folk-rock.}}
- psychedelic rock{{cite web |url= https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-folk-rock-music-2521910|title= What is Folk-Rock Music?|last= Fontenot|first= Robert|date= October 29, 2015|website= ThoughtCo.|publisher= About.com|access-date= March 12, 2017}}
| length = {{Duration|m=4|s=37}}
| label = RCA Victor
| writer = Chet Powers
| producer = Felix Pappalardi
| prev_title = Darkness, Darkness
| prev_year = 1969
| next_title = Sunlight
| next_year = 1969
| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|7xGxQXmu7Os|"Get Together"}}}}
}}
The most notable recording of "Let's Get Together" came in 1967, when The Youngbloods released their version under the title "Get Together", from their debut album The Youngbloods. Initially released as a single in July 1967, it became a minor Hot 100 hit for them, peaking at No. 62 and reaching No. 37 on the US Adult Contemporary chart.[http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+The+Youngbloods&id=45799 The Youngbloods, "Get Together" 1967 chart positions] Retrieved May 18, 2015. 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. It was subsequently re-released in 1969, and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was their only top 40 hit on that chart.[http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+The+Youngbloods&id=45800 The Youngbloods, "Get Together" chart position] Retrieved May 18, 2015
The Dave Clark Five version
In March 1970, British rock band the Dave Clark Five reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart with their version, titled "Everybody Get Together",[http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Everybody+Get+Together+by+The+Dave+Clark+Five&id=42326 The Dave Clark Five, "Everybody Get Together" chart position] Retrieved May 18, 2015 which is from their fifth UK studio album, If Somebody Loves You.
Other versions
- A rendition 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 No. 31[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/we-five-p21349/charts-awards/billboard-singles We Five charting singles] Retrieved February 29, 2012. and No. 5 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5694.pdf| title=RPM Top 40 Singles - December 20, 1965}} It would be their last hit record. This was included on their second album, Make Someone Happy.
- In 1966, the American folk group The Back Porch Majority released a version of "Let's Get Together" on their 1966 Epic release album "That's the Way It's Gonna' Be" and performed it live on the national television show Hullabaloo (TV series) on March 28th 1966.
- In 1966, the American rock band Jefferson Airplane included a cover of "Let's Get Together" on their debut album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. This version is notable for its unique phrasing and melody in the chorus and in some of the verse lyrics.
- Also in 1968, the Canadian group 3's a Crowd released their version as a single, titled "Let's Get Together". It peaked at No. 70 on Canada's national singles chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5786.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles – May 11, 1968}}
- In 1969, Richie Havens played "Get Together" live at the Woodstock festival.{{cite web |title=Line Up {{!}} Woodstock |language=en-US |website=Woodstock.com |url=http://www.woodstock.com/lineup/ |access-date=2019-08-18}}
- In September 1969 Joni Mitchell sang "Get Together" at The Big Sur Folk Festival, accompanied by Stephen Stills, John Sebastian, Graham Nash, David Crosby and Dallas Taylor.
- In 1970, Gwen and Jerry Collins released the song as a single that reached No. 34 on the US Country chart.[http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+Gwen+%26+Jerry+Collins&id=121932 Gwen & Jerry Collins, "Get Together" chart position] Retrieved May 18, 2015
- In 1970, Carol Burnett and Nancy Wilson performed the song as a duet on Season 3, Episode 14 of The Carol Burnett Show.
- In 1974, Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah performed it on PBS station WTTW Channel 11, for the series Made in Chicago.{{cite book |title=WTTW Channel 11 - Made in Chicago - "Aliotta-Haynes-Jeremiah / Bill Quateman" (Part 1, 1974) |website=YouTube |publisher=The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV) |quote=YouTube video nMDAjaWm-gE begins at 6:13, runs to end of segment}}
- In 1995, Big Mountain released their version as a single that reached No. 28 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.[http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+Big+Mountain&id=4648 Big Mountain, "Get Together" chart positions] Retrieved May 18, 2015 It also reached No. 32 on Cash Box.{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996|publisher=Sheridan Books, Inc.|year=2014|isbn=978-0-89820-209-0}}
- In 1991, Nirvana included the chorus lyrics - "Come on people now, smile on your brother. Everybody get together, try to love one another right now" - in the introduction to "Territorial Pissings" on the album Nevermind. "Sung" in a garbled manner by Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain explained this inclusion to Brazilian publication O Globo: "The song speaks of people who join together to be cool and try something new, the ideal contrast to the macho men I'm portraying in 'Territorial Pissings.' We didn't mean to be offensive to the guy who wrote it. The idea of being positive and causing change in society and the world was appropriated by media, who turned it into something ridiculous, a caricature."[http://faroutmagazine.co.uk/nirvana-song-references-hippie-classic/?amp Far Out Magazine, "The Nirvana song that references a hippie classic"]
- In 2021, Belinda Carlisle released a version of the song to be included on a Record Store Day-exclusive EP titled Nobody Owns Me.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Christopher |date=October 22, 2021 |title=FRESH: 'Get Together' – Belinda Carlisle |url=https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2021/10/22/fresh-get-together-belinda-carlisle/ |access-date=December 29, 2022 |website=Talk About Pop Music}}
Chart history
=Weekly charts=
;The Youngbloods
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (1967)
!Peak |
|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}
| style="text-align:center;"|62 |
| US Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19671007.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 7, 1967 |access-date=September 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128200442/http://www.tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19671007.html |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |url-status=dead }}
|align="center"|80 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.100106.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles – October 21, 1967}}
|align="center"|40 |
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;The Dave Clark Five
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (1970)
!Peak |
|---|
| UK Singles (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|8 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
Legacy
- The song is referenced with the lyrics "Come on, people now, Smile on your brother, Everybody get together, Try to love one another right now" in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror II" (Season 3, Episode 7), when Lisa wishes for world peace and a scene plays out, showing the now united people of Earth singing the aforementioned lyrics.
- The chorus from this song is used in the Garth Brooks song "Right Now" on the album Garth Brooks in...the Life of Chris Gaines.
- 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.{{cite web|last=Truitt|first=Eliza|title=It's the End of the World as Clear Channel Knows It|work=Slate.com|date=September 17, 2001|url=http://slate.com/id/1008314/|access-date=September 14, 2007|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071015200337/http://slate.com/id/1008314/|archive-date=October 15, 2007|url-status=dead}} Slate published what it claimed was a copy of the list.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=800 Get Together] at Songfacts.com
- [https://www.discogs.com/release/8362148 1963 release by The Folkswingers]
- [https://www.npr.org/2019/04/10/711545679/get-together-youngbloods-summer-of-love-american-anthem Beyond the Summer of Love, 'Get Together' Is An Anthem For Every Season, NPR, April 10, 2019]
{{The Youngbloods}}
{{We Five}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Get Together (The Youngbloods song)}}
Category:The Kingston Trio songs
Category:The Youngbloods songs
Category:The Dave Clark Five songs
Category:Jefferson Airplane songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi