Let's Get Together (Chet Powers song) explained

"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 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] 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.^[5] 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
Cover:	Youngbloods Get Together.jpg
Caption:	West German picture sleeve
Type:	single
Artist:	the Youngbloods
Album:	The Youngbloods
B-Side:	All My Dreams Blue
Released:	July 1967
Genre:	Folk rock^[6] psychedelic rock^[7]
Label:	RCA Victor
Producer:	Felix Pappalardi
Prev Title:	Darkness, Darkness
Prev Year:	1969
Next Title:	Sunlight
Next Year:	1969

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 eponymous debut album. 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.^[8] 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. It was their only top 40 hit on that chart.^[9]

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",^[10] 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^[11] and No. 5 in Canada.^[12] It would be their last hit record. This was included on their second album, Make Someone Happy.
• 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.^[13]
• In 1969, Richie Havens played "Get Together" live at the Woodstock festival.^[14]
• In 1970, Gwen and Jerry Collins released the song as a single that reached No. 34 on the US Country chart.^[15]
• In 1974, Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah performed it on PBS station WTTW Channel 11, for the series Made in Chicago.^[16]
• 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.^[17] It also reached No. 32 on Cash Box.^[18]
• 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."^[19]
• In 2021, Belinda Carlisle released a version of the song to be included on a Record Store Day-exclusive EP titled Nobody Owns Me.^[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	5
US Billboard Easy Listening	37
US Cash Box Top 100^[27]	4

The Dave Clark Five

Year-end charts

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

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 season 3, episode 7 Treehouse of Horror II, when Lisa wishes for world peace and a scene plays out, showing the now united people of Earth singing the aforementioned lyrics.
• 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

External links

• Get Together at Songfacts.com
• 1963 release by The Folkswingers
• Beyond the Summer of Love, 'Get Together' Is An Anthem For Every Season, NPR, April 10, 2019

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cole . Tom . Beyond The Summer Of Love, 'Get Together' Is An Anthem For Every Season . American Anthem . NPR . July 14, 2019 . April 10, 2019.
2. Book: Murrells , Joseph . 1978. The Book of Golden Discs. 2nd. Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. London. 270. 0-214-20512-6. registration.
3. Get Together by The Youngbloods Billboard The Hot 100 Chart. 2021-10-06. Billboard. January 2, 2013.
4. Web site: Let's Get Together by Dino Valenti . SecondHandSongs .
5. http://www.allmusic.com/album/back-in-town-r96526 The Kingston Trio, Back in Town
6. Book: Barone . Richard . Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s . 2022 . Rowman & Littlefield . Lanham, Maryland . 978-1-4930-6302-4 . en . . 253 . 'Get Together'... [is] one of the examples of folk-rock..
7. Web site: What is Folk-Rock Music?. Fontenot. Robert. October 29, 2015. ThoughtCo.. About.com. March 12, 2017.
8. http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+The+Youngbloods&id=45799 The Youngbloods, "Get Together" 1967 chart positions
9. http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+The+Youngbloods&id=45800 The Youngbloods, "Get Together" chart position
10. 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
11. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/we-five-p21349/charts-awards/billboard-singles We Five charting singles
12. Web site: RPM Top 40 Singles - December 20, 1965.
13. Web site: RPM Top 100 Singles – May 11, 1968.
14. Web site: Line Up Woodstock . en-US . Woodstock.com . 2019-08-18.
15. http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+Gwen+%26+Jerry+Collins&id=121932 Gwen & Jerry Collins, "Get Together" chart position
16. Book: WTTW Channel 11 - Made in Chicago - "Aliotta-Haynes-Jeremiah / Bill Quateman" (Part 1, 1974) . YouTube . The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV) . YouTube video nMDAjaWm-gE begins at 6:13, runs to end of segment.
17. http://musicvf.com/song.php?title=Get+Together+by+Big+Mountain&id=4648 Big Mountain, "Get Together" chart positions
18. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996. Sheridan Books, Inc.. 2014. 978-0-89820-209-0.
19. http://faroutmagazine.co.uk/nirvana-song-references-hippie-classic/?amp Far Out Magazine, "The Nirvana song that references a hippie classic"
20. Web site: Smith . Christopher . October 22, 2021 . FRESH: 'Get Together' – Belinda Carlisle . December 29, 2022 . Talk About Pop Music.
21. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 –
22. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 7, 1967 . September 29, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181128200442/http://www.tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19671007.html . November 28, 2018 . dead .
23. Web site: RPM Top 100 Singles – October 21, 1967.
24. Web site: Go-Set National Top 40, 6 December 1969 . September 29, 2018 . October 27, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181027042900/http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1969/19691206.html . dead .
25. Web site: Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . September 20, 1969 . September 30, 2018.
26. Web site: SA Charts 1965 – March 1989. September 5, 2018.
27. http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19670913.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 13, 1969
28. Web site: RPM Top Singles of 1969. December 24, 2017. RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 17, 2013.
29. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1969.htm Musicoutfitters.com
30. Web site: Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1969 . September 29, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190125055422/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1969YESP.html . January 25, 2019 . dead .
31. Web site: Truitt. Eliza. It's the End of the World as Clear Channel Knows It. Slate.com. September 17, 2001. September 14, 2007. https://archive.today/20071015200337/http://slate.com/id/1008314/. October 15, 2007. dead. Slate published what it claimed was a copy of the list.