"Get Together", also known as "Let's Get Together" and "Everybody Get Together", is a song by American rock band

the Youngbloods The Youngbloods were an American rock band consisting of Jesse Colin Young (vocals, bass, guitar), Jerry Corbitt (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Lowell "Banana" Levinger (guitar and electric piano), and Joe Bauer (drums). Despite recei ...

, originally included in their 1967 debut album ''

The Youngbloods The Youngbloods were an American rock band consisting of Jesse Colin Young (vocals, bass, guitar), Jerry Corbitt (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Lowell "Banana" Levinger (guitar and electric piano), and Joe Bauer (drums). Despite recei ...

''. It was written in the mid-1960s by American singer-songwriter Chet Powers (stage name Dino Valenti), from psychedelic rock band

Quicksilver Messenger Service Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band achieved wide popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe, ...

. The single was The Youngbloods' only

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

on ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

''peaking at number five in 1969.

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.

Original recording history

The song was originally recorded as "Let's Get Together" by

the Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

in a live performance in March 1964 that was released on June 1, 1964, on their album '' Back in Town''. 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.

Cover versions

*A version of the song first broke into the top forty in 1965, when

We Five We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian & Sylvia's " You Were on My Mind", which reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and ...

, 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 number 31 and number 5 in Canada. It would be their last hit record. This was included on their second album, ''Make Someone Happy''. * Jefferson Airplane included a version on its 1966 debut album, ''Jefferson Airplane Takes Off''. *The most notable recording came in 1967, when

released their version of the song under the title "Get Together". It became a minor Hot 100 hit for them, peaking at number 62 and reaching 37 on the US adult contemporary chart. However, renewed interest in the Youngbloods' version came when it was used in a radio

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

as a call for brotherhood by the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

. The Youngbloods' version, the most-remembered today, was re-released in 1969, peaking at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. *In 1968, The Sunshine Company recorded a version of the song, under the title "Let's Get Together". *Also in 1968, the Canadian group 3's a Crowd released their version of the song as a single, titled "Let's Get Together". It peaked at number 70 on Canada's national singles chart. *In 1970, Gwen and Jerry Collins released a version of the song as a single that reached number 34 on the US country chart. *In March 1970,

the Dave Clark Five The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark served as the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten sin ...

reached number 8 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

with their version retitled "Everybody Get Together".The Dave Clark Five, "Everybody Get Together" chart position
Retrieved May 18, 2015 *In 1995, Big Mountain released a version of the song as a single that reached number 28 on the US adult contemporary chart and number 44 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also reached number 32 on ''Cash Box''. *In 1991,

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

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 ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, '' ...

''. "Sung" in a garbled manner by

Krist Novoselic Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician and activist. He was the bassist and co-founder of the rock band Nirvana. Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the band Nirvana in 1987 along with drummer Aaron Burckhard, wh ...

, Kurt Cobain explained their inclusion to Brazilian publication ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Irineu Marinho, owner of '' A Noite'', it was ori ...

'': "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." *In 2021,

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

released a version of the song to be included on a

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

-exclusive EP titled ''Nobody Owns Me''.

Chart history

Weekly charts

;The Youngbloods ;The Dave Clark Five

Year-end charts

Legacy

*Following the

September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, 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. ''Slate'' published what it claimed was a copy of the list.

References

External links

Get Together
at Songfacts.com
1963 release by The FolkswingersBeyond the Summer of Love, 'Get Together' Is An Anthem For Every Season, NPR, April 10, 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Get Together (The Youngbloods song) Peace songs 1963 songs 1965 singles 1967 singles 1968 singles 1969 singles 1970 singles 1995 singles The Kingston Trio songs We Five songs The Youngbloods songs The Dave Clark Five songs Jefferson Airplane songs Judy Collins songs Joni Mitchell songs The Staple Singers songs The Carpenters songs Andy Williams songs Ray Stevens songs Louis Armstrong songs Indigo Girls songs Wilson Phillips songs Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi Anti-war songs A&M Records singles RCA Victor singles Imperial Records singles Songs written by Chet Powers