We Shall Overcome (Bernie Sanders album) explained
| We Shall Overcome |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Bernie Sanders |
| Cover: | We Shall Overcome (Bernie Sanders album) cassette front cover.jpg |
| Caption: | BurlingTown cassette cover |
| Released: | December 12, 1987 |
| Recorded: | November 1987 |
| Studio: | White Crow Audio
(Burlington, Vermont) |
| Length: | (Side A) |
| Label: | BurlingTown |
We Shall Overcome is an album by American politician Bernie Sanders, recorded and released in 1987. The album combined folk music and spoken word, narrated by Sanders. He was the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, at the time of the album's release. The album was remastered and rereleased in 2014 and gained wide exposure during Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.[1]
Background
In 1987, Burlington-based music producer Todd Lockwood was sipping coffee at Leunig's Bistro when he came up with the idea to approach the city's mayor, Bernie Sanders, to record a musical project at his studio, White Crow Audio.[2] Lockwood wrote a letter to Mayor Sanders and a meeting was arranged at the mayor's office. Lockwood originally imagined the album as an audio portrait of Bernie Sanders, but Sanders saw it as an opportunity to tell a much larger story.
Sanders made a list of ten songs he would be willing to record, five of which made the cut for the album.[3]
Because producer Lockwood found Sanders' musical skills inadequate to sing the folk songs on his own, he instead arranged for Sanders to speak the lyrics accompanied by a chorus of backup singers.[2]
Commercial performance
It is estimated that the 1987 cassette tape sold about 600 to 800 copies,[4] [5] out of 1,000 that were produced.[5] The 2014 reissue has sold about 3,000 copies as of March 2016.[6] The album reportedly landed Sanders at No. 116 on Billboards Top New Artist chart in February 2016.[7]
Sanders signed a record contract in 1987 that would guarantee him royalties for any profits made, but did not receive any at the time due to the album's high production costs.[4] [8] In 2016, Sanders earned $2,521 in royalties for his participation in the recording.[9]
Personnel
Credits are taken from liner notes of We Shall Overcome.[10]
Band
- Andy Shapiro – piano
- Tom Berd – organ
- Don Sidney – electric guitar
- Mark Ransom – electric bass
- Jeff Salisbury – drums
Guest musicians
- Howard Mitchell – background vocals, chorus
- Ginny Peck – background vocals, chorus
- Emily Wadhams – background vocals, chorus
- David Weaver – background vocals, chorus
- Steve Rainville – background vocals
- Chris Bailey – chorus
- Nancy Beaven – chorus
- Marcia Brewster – chorus
- Dexter Brown – chorus
- Kathy Carbone – chorus
- Danny Coane – chorus
- Joanne "Little Joyce" Cooper – chorus
- David Daignault – chorus
- Frank Egan – chorus
- Dana Lavigne – chorus
- Tom Lyon – chorus
- Joe Moore – chorus
- Rick Norcross – chorus
- Michael Oakland – chorus
- Debbie Patton – chorus
- Pamela Polston – chorus
- KK Wilder – chorus
Narrative
Arrangements
- Don Sidney – musical
- Douglas Jaffe – harmony vocals
Technical personnel
- Chuck Eller – engineering
- Todd Lockwood – engineering, production
- Douglas Jaffe – production
- Adam Ayan – digital mastering
- Gateway Mastering – digital mastering
Artistic personnel
- Glenn Russell – photograph
Release history
See also
Notes and References
- News: Bethea. Charles. What a Real Folk Singer Thinks About Bernie Sanders' Folk Album. Politico. October 27, 2015. November 16, 2015.
- News: Davis. Mark. Bernie Sanders Recorded a Folk Album. No Punchline Required. Seven Days. September 17, 2014. December 9, 2015.
- News: Ledbetter. Stewart. From The Archives: The Bernie Project. WPTZ. November 26, 2014. November 16, 2015.
- Web site: Kludt. Tom. Bernie Sanders' folk album enjoys a sales surge. CNNMoney. February 5, 2016. February 11, 2018.
- Web site: Napoli. James. We Shall Overcome. Atavist. February 11, 2018.
- Trust. Gary. Ask Billboard: Ariana Grande's Sales, Kelly Clarkson's Streak & … Bernie Sanders' Sales, Too. Billboard. March 27, 2016. February 11, 2018.
- News: Bolles. Dan. Bernie's Folk Album Is (Maybe) Tearing Up the Charts. Seven Days. February 8, 2016. February 11, 2018.
- Stuart. Tessa. The Untold Story of Bernie Sanders' 1987 Folk Album. Rolling Stone. December 2, 2015. February 11, 2018.
- News: Walters. John. Walters: Bernie Sanders Made More Than $1 Million in 2016. Seven Days. June 4, 2017. February 11, 2018.
- Bernie Sanders. We Shall Overcome. 2014. Todd R. Lockwood Works. TRLW-101.
- News: Album: "We Shall Overcome" by Bernie Sanders and 30 Vermont Artists. Seven Days. December 10, 1987. November 16, 2015.
- News: Ledbetter. Stewart. Sen. Bernie Sanders: Recording Artist. Burlington, VT. WPTZ. November 27, 2014. November 16, 2015.
