Remember the 60s?
Well, I do, and not just in flashbacks, either. It was all about — well, it was about a lot of things, most of which never did get finished. But that’s okay because some of those things are of an eternal nature: peace, love, and music come to mind. And these are brought to my mind again by the work of an outfit that I stumbled across quite a while ago now and at that time hurried past, the way one does on the internet. But as also happens on the internet, what goes around comes around (what on Earth is that cliché supposed to mean?!) and I found the organization again recently, just in time to pass it on to you while the summer kumbaya season is still upon us.
Playing for Change | Peace Through Music [1] organized and filmed a bunch of musicians around the world singing inspirational (but good) songs, each in their own locale and cut together seamlessly into coherent wholes. Many of these are available on video on the PFC site and YouTube [2], and the lot is available as CDs or DVDs on the website. The lead item — their big hit — is Stand by Me, embedded below. Gotta say that Grandpa Elliott is my fave on this one.
And there’s more, lots more. Some of my picks would be: Bob Marley’s One Love [3]; their very first effort, Pierre Minetti’s Don’t Worry (here Tula rocks), and a folk tune from Chennai, Chanda Mama [4]. But pick your own when you roam through the YouTube collection [2] and explore the filmed live concerts [5] on the PFC site.