Monday, February 15, 2010

A White House Concert Honoring Civil Rights

On Tuesday night, celebrated singers including Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, Joan Baez, Smokey Robinson and the Blind Boys of Alabama serenaded President Obama and the First Family in a special concert "In Performance at the White House: Songs of the Civil Rights Movement".

The concert which was shown on PBS was the fifth in a series dedicated to "Music that tells the story of America", which President Obama refered to in his opening remarks. The evening told the story of the people born in the early days of slavery all the way to the new songs that emerged to sustain the marches and protests of the 1960s. Obama gave credit to Rep. John Lewis as "a man whose sacrifices made it possible for me to be here tonight".

To me this was one of the better PBS concert series I have ever seen (and I must admit, I usually I love them all!) The performances that night were moving, passionate and sung sometimes by the people who lived the times. For example, seeing Bob Dylan come out for his first White House performance and sing "Times they are a Changin'" was absolutely incredible. Think of when he wrote that song, the late 1960s in his early 20s to think that 40 years later you can still sing it and it still hits as true as the day he wrote it. Thats incredible.

The following are a few of the top performances from the evening. I suggest you all catch the concert series on PBS this week!

Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson "People Get Ready"

Bob Dylan "Times They Are a Changin'"

Yolanda Adams "A Change is Gonna Come" (one of my all time fav songs)

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