Let's Get Together (Chet Powers song)

"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.^[1] 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.^[2][1][3]

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.^[1]

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;^[4] Powers had died two years prior in 1994.^[5] 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.^[6] 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

"Get Together"
West German picture sleeve
Single by the Youngbloods
from the album The Youngbloods
B-side	"All My Dreams Blue"
Released	July 1967
Genre	Folk rock[7] psychedelic rock[8]
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)
Audio
"Get Together" on YouTube

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.^[9] 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.^[1] It was subsequently re-released in 1969, and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching No. 37 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. It was their only top 40 hit on the Hot 100.^[10]

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",^[11] which is from their fifth UK studio album, If Somebody Loves You.

Other versions

• We Five, produced by Kingston Trio manager Frank Werber, released the first version of the song to break into the top forty, in 1965 as the follow-up to their top ten hit "You Were on My Mind". "Let's Get Together" peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. ^[12] and reached No. 5 in Canada.^[13] It would be the group's last hit record. It was included on their second album, Make Someone Happy.
• In 1965, American folk group The Mitchell Trio, formerly known as the Chad Mitchell Trio, released a version on their Mercury Records album That's the Way It's Gonna' Be. This was the first release by the Mitchell Trio to feature Chad Mitchell's replacement, John Denver, who would go on to become an international folk and country music star in the 1970s.
• In 1966, American folk group The Back Porch Majority released a version on their Epic album That's the Way It's Gonna' Be and performed the song live on the national television show Hullabaloo on March 28, 1966.
• Jefferson Airplane included a cover of "Let's Get Together" on their 1966 debut album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. Their version features unique phrasing and melody in the chorus, and slightly different verse lyrics.
• In 1967, the psychedelic folk rock act H.P. Lovecraft included a cover of the song on its self-titled debut album.
• The Stone Poneys released a folk-rock cover of "Let's Get Together" in 1968 on their third and final album, Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III.
• Canadian group 3's a Crowd released their version as a single in 1968, titled "Let's Get Together". It peaked at No. 70 on Canada's national singles chart.^[14]
• In August 1969, Richie Havens played "Get Together" live at the Woodstock festival.^[15]
• 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.
• The Carpenters included the song on their 1969 debut album, Offering/Ticket To Ride, featuring Richard Carpenter on lead vocal. In 1970, the duo recorded a live version for radio with Karen Carpenter singing lead. That recording was included on their 1991 box set, From The Top.
• In 1970, Gwen and Jerry Collins released the song as a single that reached No. 34 on the US Country chart.^[16]
• Also 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 the song on PBS station WTTW Channel 11, for the series Made in Chicago.^[17]
• 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 its inclusion to the 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."^[18]
• 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.^[19] It also reached No. 32 on Cash Box.
• In 2021, Belinda Carlisle released her version of the song as a download and as a newly recorded featured track on Nobody Owns Me, a limited-edition, nine-song U.K. vinyl compilation.^[20]

Chart history

Weekly charts

The Youngbloods

Chart (1967)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[21]	62
US Cash Box Top 100[22]	80
Canada RPM Top Singles[23]	40

Chart (1969) Peak position Australia (Go-Set)[24] 13 Canada RPM Top Singles[25] 6 South Africa (Springbok)[26] 10 US Billboard Hot 100[21] 5 US Billboard Easy Listening 37 US Cash Box Top 100[27] 4 The Dave Clark Five Chart (1970) Peak position UK Singles (OCC)[11] 8

Year-end charts Chart (1969) Rank Canada[28] 50 US Billboard Hot 100[29] 16 US Cash Box[30] 42

Legacy

• 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.^[31]

See also

• List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States