Musical Wednesdays: The Times They Are A-Changin'

On February 9th, the White House held a concert, "A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Era," to celebrate Black History Month and the music, across lines of race and genre, that called for social justice and equality in the 1960s. I unfortunately missed the broadcast of the concert on PBS and NPR, but I have tracked down some clips and I wanted to share them. The concert featured a large number of artists singing the songs of the Civil Rights movement, from Smokey Robinson to Joan Baez, The Blind Boys of Alabama to Bob Dylan.

Obama opened the concert with a short speech about the power of song and its importance during the most difficult of times: “It’s hard to sing in times like that, but times like that are precisely when the power of song is most potent. Above the din of hatred; amidst the deafening silence of inaction; the hymns of the civil rights movement helped carry the cause of a people and advance the ideals of a nation.”

So here are a few clips. The first one is Bob Dylan singing "The Times They Are A-Changin'":



And the second is Smokey Robinson singing "People Get Ready" with Jennifer Hudson:



That's all I've got for today. If anyone has a link to a full video of the concert, please let me know.

Also, if you're interested, there's a really great essay over on The Root about why Bob Dylan is so important to the civil rights movement. It's a great read, whether you're a Bob Dylan fan or not.