Get Together

Today, I've got a nice rarity for you as a holiday treat! From the glory days of unique promotional CD's, here's a 1989 radio station disc that combined a holiday greeting with a cover tune by Indigo Girls from their very first album, "Strange Fire".

The single, which is a fairly rare item these days but is also both findable and affordable, has 3 tracks on it. A spoken holiday greeting, which is often used by radio stations during the Christmas season, is followed by a very nice acoustic version of "Get Together". Track 3 is a combination of the first 2 tracks with the song being faded in following the greeting. It is that track that I present to you here.

"Get Together" was written in the early 1960's by American singer-songwriter Chet Powers (aka Dino Valenti). The song was originally recorded as "Let's Get Together" by The Kingston Trio and released in June of 1964, on their album "Back in Town". While it was not released as a single, The Kingston Trio often performed it live. Another version of the song 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, "Let's Get Together" provided the group with a second top forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when it peaked at #31. It would be their last hit record.

The Youngbloods' 1969 single

In 1967, The Youngbloods released their version of the song under the title "Get Together." It became a minor Hot 100 hit for them, peaking at #62. 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. The Youngbloods' recording, the most-remembered today, was quickly re-released in 1969, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

So, if you are up for some last minute holiday shopping, the Indigo Girls' catalog is readily available at Amazon. There's an excellent, 21 song Youngbloods anthology there too.

Have a safe, warm, grateful and very happy Christmas!!