Whenever I see a documentary or movie about the sixties this song usually is playing somewhere in it. The Youngbloods charted with this song twice. #62 in 1967 and #5 in 1969.

Many artists including The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and The Dave Clark Five covered it. 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.

From Songfacts.

This song has a very convoluted origin story. It was written as “Let’s Get Together” by Chester Powers, who recorded as Dino Valenti. He died in 1994 at age 57, stricken with a brain mass that required surgery. Raised by carnival performers who did a vaudeville-style act in the off-season, he was constantly on the move. A stint in the Air Force didn’t take, so he tried his hand at music, making his way to Greenwich Village, New York, where the folk scene was taking shape. In the early ’60s, he moved to Los Angeles; he claimed he wrote the song in the summer of 1963 at the estate of the actress Edie Sedgwick, where he was staying. In the florid version of his tale, he was thinking about the power of music, and how he could use it to convey a powerful message: Relax. Smile at each other.

Valenti may have had more pragmatic aspirations, as he was working on songs he could sell or record to get his career going, and “Let’s Get Together” fit the mood of the times.

In 1964, The Kingston Trio became the first to record the song, including it on their album Back In Town (as “Let’s Get Together”). Later that year, the actor Hamilton Camp, who was taking a turn as a folk singer, included it on his album Paths of Victory (as “Get Together”).

In 1965, the California group We Five were the first to release the song as a single, taking it to #31 in the US (as “Let’s Get Together”). This same year, Powers was arrested three times: the first two busts for marijuana possession, the third for speed. In 1966, Jefferson Airplane included the song (as “Let’s Get Together”) on their debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. The song became a fixture on the San Francisco music scene, with Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins sometimes performing it. This is around the time Powers began serving his one-to-ten-year sentence at Folsom Prison. He got out early in 1967 though a series of legal maneuvers that included a deal with Epic Records as a solo act – with his song making the rounds, the label was hot to have him on the roster. Signing him signified that he was worthy of parole, as he was less of a threat to society. This deal required a lawyer, which Powers paid for by selling the rights to “Get Together” to SFO Music.

Jesse Colin Young, who had been performing the song as a solo artist, released it with his band The Youngbloods in 1967. This release had little impact, peaking at #62 in America in October, somehow missing the Summer Of Love. Powers released his debut solo album (as Dino Valente) in 1968, but didn’t include “Get Together” on the track list (SFO would have earned the royalties).

“Get Together” stayed in the zeitgeist, with covers by Linda Ronstadt, The Sunshine Company, and The Staple Singers in 1968. But it didn’t break through as a hit until 1969, when The National Conference of Christians and Jews distributed it to radio and TV stations to support Brotherhood Week. At the time broadcasters were required to run public service announcements for the public good. Non-profit organizations vied for this airtime with messages that were often preachy (Don’t do drugs!) or unappealing (Have a rash? It could be a sign of something worse.). Brotherhood Week was a fun one, with this catchy tune in the background. These PSAs were very popular, and listeners started calling radio stations to ask about the song. This prompted The Youngbloods record company, RCA, to re-release it, and this time it was an undeniable hit, reaching #5 in September 1969.

When Rolling Stone asked Powers if he regretted selling the song, he answered, “A lot of people say I was stupid for selling all my rights to the song, but for ten years of my life, man, I can write another song.”

Here are the charting versions of the song in America:

1965: We Five (#31)
1967: The Youngbloods (#62)
1968: The Sunshine Company (#112)
1969: The Youngbloods (#5)
1996: Big Mountain (#44)

Other acts to cover the song include Anne Murray, Skeeter Davis, Indigo Girls and Wilson Phillips.

This song was the last of The Dave Clark Five‘s eight Top Ten UK hits, reaching #8 when they recorded it as “Everybody Get Together” in 1970. The backing vocals on their version were done by the students of the Central London School of Speech and Drama. Included amongst the backing vocalists was one Peter Davison who went on to star in the BBC TV series All Creatures Great And Small, 1977-79, and as the fifth Dr. Who, 1982-84. This was the only version of the song to have much impact in the UK.

Early versions of this song were done in a folk style at a medium tempo. The Yardbirds version was slower, with a memorable acoustic guitar intro.

This song has been used in a number of TV shows and movies, notably Forrest Gump, where it was part of a soundtrack that sold over 12 million copies. Other films to use the song include:

Pump Up the Volume (1990)
Radio Flyer (1992)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Riding the Bullet (2004)
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

TV shows include:

Baywatch (“Lost and Found” – 1996)
3rd Rock from the Sun (“Dick on a Roll” – 1998)
Cold Case (“Volunteers” – 2004)
The Simpsons (“Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?” – 2009)

In 2017, this was used in commercials for Blue Diamond almonds. It also featured in Walmart’s “Many Chairs, One Table” ad showing people of many ethnicities joining together for a meal.

The song’s writer, Dino Valenti (Chester Powers), was friends with the band Quicksilver Messenger Service and wrote “Dino’s Song,” made it onto their debut album. Valenti joined the group in 1969.

Get Together

Love is but a song to sing
Fear’s the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Some may come and some may go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment’s sunlight
Fading in the grass

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
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

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Right now
Right now

Drums… one of the loudest widest drum sound I have ever heard. The song just rolls through you. The song was off of the classic Led Zeppelin IV album. John Bonham’s drums were recorded in a stairwell at Headley Grange with the microphones planted 3 stories up. The drum sound echoed skyward and was captured on the mics, creating a very innovative and distinctive sound

The song was an old blues song (big surprise) written by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas) but Zeppelin did credit them on this one.

From Songfacts.

The lyrics to this song (written by Memphis Minnie in 1927) are based on The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. African-American plantation workers were forced to work on the levee at gunpoint, piling sandbags to save the neighboring towns. Hence the lyrics, “I works on the levee, mama both night and day, I works so hard, to keep the water away.” After the levee breached, blacks were not allowed to leave the area, and were forced to work in the relief and cleanup effort, living in camps with limited access to the supplies which were coming in. Many left at the first chance since there was no work in the Delta after the destruction of all of the plantations; hence the lyrics, “Oh cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do no good” and “I’s a mean old levee, cause me to weep and moan, gonna leave my baby, and my happy home” >>

Memphis Minnie McCoy (born Lizzie Douglas), was a Blues artist who recorded this in 1929. Robert Plant had the record in his collection. >>

Heavily produced in the studio, this was difficult to perform live, which Led Zeppelin did only twice: once in a “warm up” gig in Denmark before their 1975 US tour, and again on their second night in Chicago.

The vocals were processed differently on each verse, sometimes with phasing added.

Jimmy Page’s backward echo technique, where he would put the echo ahead of the sound, was used on the harmonica.

Was very difficult to mix, and due to extensive processing, is best appreciated with headphones.

Many rap songs have sampled the drums on this. For sampling purposes, this is great because of the clean, uninterrupted drum break at the beginning. The Beastie Boys used it on “Rymin’ And Stealin'” which opened their first album License To Ill. Other songs to use it include “Lyrical Gangbang” by Dr. Dre and “Beats And Pieces” by Coldcut.

The song was recorded at a different tempo, then slowed it down. Plant then sang in the sort of in between key the song was now in, which explains its sort of flat and sludgy sound, particularly on the harmonica and guitar solos. This also made it very difficult to accurately reproduce live.

This song was the only one on the album that was not remixed after a supposedly disastrous mixing job in the US (the rest of the tracks were mixed again in England). The original mixing done on this song seemed to suit it very well, so it was kept in its original form.

A Perfect Circle covered this on their third album Emotive. The album is made up of covers that changed normal upbeat songs into very dark political songs. >>

Since 75 years have passed since Memphis Minnie’s version was recorded in 1929, the song is now in the public domain, meaning anyone can record it without paying royalties. >>

Page and Plant played an acoustic version on their 1995 No Quarter tour, swapping it with “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” at times. >>

Jason Bonham said to Q magazine of his father’s contribution to this song: “It’s the drum intro of the Gods. You could play it anywhere and people would know it’s John Bonham. I never had the chance to tell dad how amazing he was – he was just dad.”

Page used his Danelectro guitar for the slide guitar part.

When the Levee Breaks

If it keeps on rainin’ levee’s goin’ to break
If it keeps on rainin’ levee’s goin’ to break
When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
Lord mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home
Oh well oh well oh well.
Don’t it make you feel bad
When you’re tryin’ to find your way home
You don’t know which way to go?
If you’re goin’ down South
They go no work to do,
If you don’t know about Chicago.
Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin’ ’bout me baby and my happy home.
Going, go’n’ to Chicago,
Go’n’ to Chicago,
Sorry but I can’t take you.
Going down, going down now, going down
going down now, going down, going down, going down, going down
Going down, going down now, going down
going down now, going down
going down now, going down
Going d-d-d-d-down
Woo woo

This is a great Christmas song that was released in 1973 and ever since it re-enters the charts every December in the UK. The song never hit in America but it went to #1 in the UK Charts. I first heard it on a Doctor Who episode in the mid-2000s and have liked it ever since.

This went straight in at #1 in the UK, selling over 300,000 copies on the day of its release, making it at the time the fastest ever selling record in Britain. It eventually became Slade’s best-ever selling single in the UK, selling over a million copies.

From Songfacts.

This was based on a psychedelic song, “My Rocking Chair,” which Noddy Holder wrote in 1967. In 1973 the Slade vocalist decided to convert it into a Christmas song after a night out drinking at a local pub. He and the band’s bass player and co-writer Jimmy Lea camped out at Noddy’s mother’s house and got down to changing the lyrics to make them more Christmassy. Jimmy Lea incorporated into the verse parts of another song which he was then writing and Noddy re-wrote the words incorporating different aspects of the Christmas holiday season as they came to mind.

When Noddy Holder wrote the line “Look to the future now, it’s only just begun,” he had in mind the strikes that were blighting Britain at the time. He told the Daily Mail On Sunday November 10, 2007: “We’d decided to write a Christmas song and I wanted to make it reflect a British family Christmas. Economically, the country was up the creek. The miners had been on strike, along with the gravediggers, the bakers and almost everybody else. I think people wanted something to cheer them up – and so did I. That’s why I came up with the line.”

The harmonium used on this is the same one that John Lennon used on his Mind Games album, which was being recorded at the studio next door.

This was recorded at the Record Plant studios in New York while the band were on a tour of the States in the summer of 1973. When they recorded the vocals, they sang the chorus on the stairs in order to achieve the echo that they required. Guitarist Jimmy Lea recalled to Uncut magazine in 2012: “All these Americans were walking past in their suits thinking we were off our rockers singing about Christmas in the summer.”

Producer Chas Chandler opened the song with a howl recorded during some of Noddy Holder’s vocal exercises.

In the UK this has become a standard, and it is usually reissued in its original form each Christmas. On several occasions, the song has re-entered the Top 40.

A few months before Slade recorded this song, drummer Don Powell was badly injured in a car crash. Though his physical recovery was quick, the mental scars took longer to heal. Noddy Holder explained to The Daily Mail December 18, 2009: “The doctors told us to get him playing drums again as soon as possible to boost his confidence. But he was suffering from short-term memory loss – he could remember our old songs, but not the new ones. So, instead of recording live, we built up Merry Xmas Everybody layer by layer. That gave it a more poignant, restrained sound. It was something new for us. But the fates were with us and it became our biggest hit.”

Noddy Holder explained to Q magazine January 2013 how the song was originally inspired by The Beatles: “I wrote the original verse with the lyrics, ‘Buy me a rocking chair, I’ll watch the world go by. Bring me a mirror, I’ll look you in the eye,’ in 1967 in the aftermath of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper,” he said. I was being psychedelic. Dave (Hill) wrote another part to the song but it didn’t work so we put it away. Then in 1973 he remembered my verse one day when we were trying to write a Christmas single. We changed the words to, ‘Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall?’ and the rest fell into place.”

UK copyright collection society and performance rights organization PRS For Music estimated in 2009 that 42 percent of the earth’s population has heard this tune.

Noddy Holder’s earliest childhood memory served as inspiration for one of the song’s lines. He recalled to the Mail On Sunday’s Live magazine: “As a lad we used to knock sleds with old orange boxes and go tobogganing down this big old quarry in the snow at Christmas. It was the inspiration for the line ‘are you hoping that the snow will start to fall.'”

I want that hat he starts off with… in this video…very subtle.

Merry Christmas Everybody

Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?
It’s the time that every Santa has a ball
Does he ride a red nosed reindeer?
Does a ‘ton up’ on his sleigh
Do the fairies keep him sober for a day?

Chorus:
So here it is merry Christmas
Everybody’s having fun
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun

Are you waiting for the family to arrive?
Are you sure you got the room to spare inside?
Does your granny always tell ya that the old are the best?
Then she’s up and rock ‘n’ rollin’ with the rest

Chorus:
So here it is merry Christmas
Everybody’s having fun
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun

What will your daddy do
When he sees your Mama kissin’ Santa Claus?
Ah ah

Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?
Are you hoping that the snow will start to fall?
Do you ride on down the hillside in a buggy you have made?
When you land upon your head then you’ve been slayed

Chorus (4x)
So here it is merry Christmas
Everybody’s having fun
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun