One of us is just done celebrating Chanukah and the other is about to head into Christmas festivities. In this week when we’ve felt a bit down about the state of the country and world, we’re offering you a familiar standby.
Here’s This Land is Your Land in a new rendition by Maxwell‘s AllStars, filmed by Boyd Matson, who captured both the recording session and a montage of newsreel films touching on civil rights, immigration, and the variety of people and places that constitute America. The direct YouTube link is here.
Here’s Matson’s description of the film and the list of participating artists.
There’s been so much heated rhetoric recently about who qualifies as a good American, what constitutes acceptable American values, and even whether or not our diversity is one of the strengths of America that I decided to record a video to highlight the concept that what makes America great is the promise that this is a land of equality & justice for all. I got some of my LA musician friends together to update that old Woody Guthrie song that says it in the most straightforward manner, this is a land for you, me, and everyone.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas on this Friday before the holiday!
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Video/Recording Credits
Vocals: Táta Vega, JD Hinton, Lisa Stone, Bili Redd, Charlean Carmon, Jon Peter Lewis. Guitars: Caleb Quaye, Hadley Hockensmith. Bass: Abraham Laboriel, Pee Wee Hill. Piano: Michiko Hill. Organ: Tim Carmon. Drums: Bill Maxwell. Recorded by James Salter at The Evergreen Stage. Mixed by Bill Schnee at Schnee Studio. Produced by Boyd Matson and Bill Maxwell.
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