Sunday 18 January 2009

It's been a long time coming...

Obama concert tonight. Apparently stars have been asked to sing songs which are "appropriate to the occasion" rather than their own hits, including Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come. I hope Mary J Blige or Beyonce aren't going to warble all the way through it. And please, please don't use it for the mass sing-a-long, everyone on stage finale, with them all trying to outdo each other. I can just visualise Bono and Bruce now.

We need a old timer... someone you might just about imagine being born by the river in a little tent. Stevie Wonder hasn't quite got the voice for it, and most of the soul legends are dead. Any suggestions? Smokey Robinson maybe, or is his voice a bit too light for it?

12 comments:

Kerry said...

And before anyone takes me to task. I think Stevie Wonder has a great voice - but not for something like this.

Kerry said...

This is becoming a one woman post. Have just had a thought - Aretha!

Anonymous said...

Mary J Blige. Warbling?

Mary rolling up with her band and running through 'No More Drama' might well fit your "appropriate to the occasion" demands.

(http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_J-4dXS77V0&feature=related)

Better than all the ageing has-beens you're suggesting anyway. Aretha? Stevie? Aren't they all a bit Clinton era ?

Kerry said...

I love Family Affair, but I remember JMB performing One with Bono at one of the big charity concerts (on TV, of course) and the histrionic wailing went on and on.

A Change is Gonna Come is about the 60s civil rights movement - so I reckon you need someone who was there. Can Aretha still sing? Yes she can!

Kerry said...

P.S. Not 'my' demands.

Katabasis said...

All hail the new emperor.

Complete with a fun packed and warmongering cabinet just like the last one.

Unknown said...

So how about some Clash numbers

I'm so bored with the USA
Charlie Don't Surf

Kerry said...

I don't get the second one. Am I being dense?

Kerry said...

PS Aretha is performing today!

Unknown said...

Charlie don't surf is an anti american military intervention track on Sandinista

Kerry said...

See when they started doing triple albums, I gave up.

Unknown said...

True about 1 albums worth is dross but it also contains some classic tracks