Get Together Now Concert
- May 23
- 2 min read
As a subscriber to Rock Cellar Magazine, I would get emails in Maine about the cool fundraising and tribute concerts that Kevin Wachs organizes in Los Angeles. I never dreamed I would be invited to perform at one of them! Dan was a big fan of Jesse Colin Young (he covered "Sunlight" and "Songbird") so I know he would have wanted to join in the fun on May 30th. https://rockcellarmagazine.com/get-together-now-charity.../
I drove down to L.A. on May 13th for my first rehearsal with The Tribe. After living on Deer Isle for 20 years, the freeways of California really intimidate me. But it was a beautiful day for driving along the coast and my fellow drivers seemed as entranced and mellow as I was. In the studio, I watched the two performers ahead of me, and they both have beautiful voices. Then it was my turn - they plugged in my ukulele and I pulled up my chord/lyrics chart (I don't read music like these seasoned pros - it all looks like lines and squiggles to me) and we were off, playing Jesse Colin Young's "Darkness, Darkness".
When Kevin Wachs first invited me to perform at the concert, we discussed the two songs Dan covered ("Songbird" and "Sunlight") and I adore both of those songs, but I thought I'd dive into Jesse's catalogue a bit deeper before choosing. The minute I heard "Darkness, Darkness", it struck a chord deep in my heart. I thought of the years Dan endured, living with cancer and fighting the daily battles against uncertainty, pain and fear. I immediately wrote to Kevin and Laurence Juber to ask if the song had already been chosen. My heart was beating so fast while I waited for our emails to connect, but I was the first to ask, and they gave it to me!
I learned the version on "The Very Best of Jesse Colin Young", rehearsing it for weeks. Then I found out that the version The Tribe would be playing was from The Youngbloods "Elephant Mountain" album, so I'll be combining my favorite vocal bits from both songs within the slightly different Youngbloods arrangement. We played it once, discussed a few changes, then played it again, and it felt like we'd been playing it together for ages. Then I packed up my uke and drove back home. We'll have one more rehearsal (with the Rockestration strings) a couple of days before the concert. In the meantime, I'll be studying the harmony parts for Jesse's/The Youngbloods' "Get Together". "Come on, people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now." Such an enduring and timely message.
While researching the various (many!) different recordings out there, I learned that Jesse Colin Young wrote "Darkness Darkness" in 1968 for the young men, some of them friends, fighting in Viet Nam. I think it speaks to the power of this song, that despite lyrics about pillows and blankets, it evokes the feelings of night terrors and imminent death that I connected with when I heard it for the first time a few months ago.
Music! I still can't believe how lucky I am, to be performing with "my tribe", the Sage City Band, and now, with the extraordinary musicians of The Tribe.
