Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with over 270 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
Music lovers and appreciators have been speaking out forcefully against a bill to rename the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Orange Inhabitant, and another to rename the Opera House for Melania Trump, while much of the nation is revolted by the ludicrous and bogus “treason” attacks on former President Barack Obama, along with those on former Vice President Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey, Al Sharpton and Lawd have mercy on Beyoncé too. (The BeyHive will be on his butt.)
Given that Obama’s birthday is on Monday (he was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Hawaii), and since official “Obama Day” celebrations will take place in Illinois, I thought I’d take you on a trip down a musical memory lane with some of his favorite tunes and some memorable musical moments he hosted (and performed) throughout his two terms in office.
I don’t know about you, but I appreciated having a POTUS who publishes his playlists, went to the Apollo Theater, had great musical acts at the White House, and supported musical artists so many of us could relate to.
I have never forgotten the moment on Jan. 19, 2012, when during Obama’s campaign for reelection, he paid tribute to the Rev. Al Green by singing a line from “Let’s Stay Together”:
Just in case there is anyone reading who doesn’t know the song, here’s a link.
During his first campaign for the presidency, candidate Obama inspired a very special song.
Will.I.Am: A Song To Inspire A Nation
William James Adams, a.k.a. will.i.am, has recorded his share of hits as the frontman for Black Eyed Peas. But he’s arguably better known for putting a campaign speech to music last year and creating a hit.
The song, titled «Yes We Can,» was inspired by the words of Barack Obama during his presidential campaign. The video, a YouTube sensation, features celebrity appearances by will.i.am, Scarlett Johansson, Common, John Legend and Herbie Hancock, all singing Obama’s now-famous words. Interestingly, Obama didn’t deliver that particular speech in a moment of victory, but after his loss to Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
In 2010, for Black History Month, Obama celebrated music from the Civil Rights Movement.
A Freedom Singer Shares The Music Of The Movement
This week, the White House programmed a series of evenings celebrating the music that tells the story of America. «In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement», a concert celebrating Black History Month, captured the hardships and hopes of those fighting for equal rights in America during the 1960s.
The event brought together numerous guest speakers to showcase readings and songs from the civil rights movement, including legendary Motown singer Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan and one of the original Freedom Singers, Bernice Johnson Reagon.
When Bernice Johnson Reagon joined the ancestors last year, we paid tribute to her here: “Black Music Sunday: Bernice Johnson Reagon used music to mobilize.”
We had previously featured the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee freedom singers, of which she was a founding member: “The SNCC Freedom Singers: Songs of strength and courage that mobilized people to vote.”
In her White House performance, Reagon leads ”Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round” and then stops and admonishes the audience:
(singing stops) Oh, oh, oh, wait.
I know this is a show, but, uh —
— you have to actually sing this song.
One of my favorite sets of performers at the White House were the soul sisters gathered there on March 6, 2014.
Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin shine in ‘Women of Soul’
Some of music’s most profound voices came together at the White House Thursday night, honoring legends such as Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle and transforming the presidential estate into a melodious church brimming with soulful jubilation.
The 12th program in President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s In Performance at the White House series, Women of Soul brought together Franklin, LaBelle, Melissa Etheridge, Tessanne Chin, Jill Scott, Janelle Monáe and Ariana Grande, each dressed to the nines and delivering stirring performances.
The president kicked off the proceedings with a jovial introduction, telling the crowd about Franklin’s visit to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., in 1967 when, the legend goes, she literally shook the walls with her voice. «It was magic,» he said. «My advice to everyone here tonight is simple: Hold on.»
When a horrific, racist tragedy struck the nation, Obama rose to the occasion by not only delivering a powerful eulogy but also singing “Amazing Grace,” and the congregation sang along with him. On June 26, 2015, NPR reported:
Watch: President Obama Sings ‘Amazing Grace’ In Eulogy
President Obama gave a rousing speech Friday at the funeral of state Sen. and Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of nine people shot at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, S.C., earlier this month.
The president spoke for more than 35 minutes about the reverend’s legacy and teachings, and Obama said that he had spent much of the week reflecting on grace.
[…]
Obama called the Charleston shooting «an act that drew on a long history of bombs, arson, shots fired at churches. Not random, but as a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress.»
He ended his eulogy with a song — he led the attendees in part of «Amazing Grace,» at first alone and a cappella, then joined by the crowd
In October 2015, Obama honored two of our amazing agencies, which the current occupant is doing his best to desecrate.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded 63,000 grants over the last 50 years to preserve and sustain America’s cultural capital. On October 14, the PBS Emmy-nominated “In Performance at the White House” music series will celebrate the cultural resonance of art and literature in unique American musical forms. President and Mrs. Obama will host the October 14 all-star music tribute in the East Room of the White House.
“A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House,” will feature readings and musical performances that commemorate the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. Signed into law on September 29, 1965, the act called for the creation of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as separate, independent agencies, the culmination of a movement calling for the federal government to invest in culture.
Queen Latifah, Usher, Smokey Robinson, Carol Burnett, James Taylor and others will perform music and give readings that highlight the federally-supported contributions of art, literature, history and music to American culture and creativity. NEH show highlights include a reading of “Civil War Letters,” a poem featured in a landmark NEH-funded documentary film The Civil War by Ken Burns, and the work of E.L. Doctorow, a recipient of the 1998 National Humanities Medal.
On Feb. 24, 2016, Obama hosted the last of the “In Performance at the White House” series.
Here’s the transcript of what he had to say.
Remarks by the President at «In Performance at the White House: A Tribute to Ray Charles»
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Everybody, please have a seat. (Applause.) Well, good evening, everybody, and welcome to the White House.
Over the past seven years, Michelle and I have set aside nights like this to honor the music that shaped America -– classical and country, blues and Broadway, gospel and Motown, the women of soul and the sounds of the Civil Rights Movement. This has become one of our most cherished traditions, and I want to thank PBS for helping us to put on these wonderful events. (Applause.)
Tonight is a little bittersweet because this marks our final “In Performance at the White House.” I will not be singing. (Laughter.) But for our last one, it is fitting that we pay tribute to one of our favorites, and one of the most brilliant and influential musicians of our times: the late, great genius himself, Mr. Ray Charles. (Applause.)
I want to thank the Smithsonian for their support. And I want to thank the members of Ray Charles’s family who are here with us tonight. It is a great honor to have you here.
Ray Charles Robinson’s childhood in the segregated South was marked by poverty and tragedy. Early in his life, he watched his younger brother drown, lost his eyesight, and lost his father. But Ray had two things going for him. One was a strong mother, Aretha, who insisted that her son not wallow in self-pity, but master self-sufficiency. And two, he had music.
As Ray once put it, “I was born with music inside me.” A local café owner introduced him to the piano, and at the St. Augustine School of the Blind and Deaf, he studied the saxophone, the clarinet, and trumpet as well. He learned how to read, write, and arrange music in Braille. And he was exposed to a wide range of styles, all of which he loved -– from gospel to the blues, from Chopin to Art Tatum. At night, like so many others, he would turn his radio dial to the Grand Ole Opry.
When his mother passed, Ray left school. He took whatever gigs came along. But when he met another young man named Quincy Jones, everything changed. “Ray came to town, lit it up like a rocket,” Quincy said. “He had it. Whatever it is, Ray had it.” And everyone knew it.
Throughout the ‘50s, Ray fused jazz, gospel and blues into a new soul sound. As he put it, “Gospel and the blues are almost the same thing. It’s just a question of whether you’re talkin’ about a woman or God.” (Laughter and applause.) And with his touring band, including his iconic backup singers, the Raelettes, he recorded some of the biggest hits ever, including “What’d I Say” and “Hit the Road Jack.”
Now, in those days, black musicians were expected to play in the Jim Crow South. But in 1961 — the year I was born — Ray refused to play for a segregated audience in Augusta, Georgia. He was sued for breach of contract, but he continued boycotting segregated venues and became an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement.
On stage and in the studio, Ray did it all — jazz, R&B, rock and roll, pop. He even helped bring the country music he loved to a broader audience. But whatever genre of music he was playing, there was no mistaking his singular sound—that virtuoso piano playing that matched that one-of-a-kind voice. Even as a young man, he had the rich, raw honey tone of an old soul. No matter the feeling—whether it was love, longing, or loss—Ray Charles had the rare ability to collapse our weightiest emotions into a single note. And from the tiny clubs in which he started out to the arenas that he eventually filled, Ray was an electrifying performer. He couldn’t see us, but we couldn’t take our eyes off of him.
Chart-topping hits. Seventeen Grammy Awards. A spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Beating Willie Nelson at chess. (Laughter.) His accolades are too many to name. But perhaps his greatest achievement was in showing all of us that it is our incredible diversity of music, a chorus of cultures and of styles, that truly makes “America the Beautiful.”
Here are two of the performances at the tribute, the first from Usher, followed by Andra Day.
On June 9, 2016, Obama “Slow Jammed the News” on “The Tonight Show,” hosted by Jimmy Fallon, reported here by Jennifer Konerman at The Hollywood Reporter.
President Obama Slow Jams the News, Talks Trump on ‘The Tonight Show’
President Barack Obama joined Jimmy Fallon on late-night Thursday to talk about his soon-to-be-over term as commander-in-chief. But before they sat down for their interview, Fallon enlisted The Roots’ Tariq to “slow jam the news” with Obama on The Tonight Show, covering his achievements as president.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve as your president over the past eight years,” Obama began, explaining his accomplishments in the economic sector.
[…]
“He’s created lots of jobs for you and me, and he’s got one more left for Hillary,” Tariq sang. The episode aired after he officially endorsed Hillary Clinton on Thursday, saying in a video that “I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office.”
Obama then summed up progressive steps he’s taken over his term in the slow jam: “In short: Climate change is real, health care is affordable and love is love,” he said.
“Commander in Preach!” said Fallon. “You’ve got to listen to my man Bareezus, he’s accomplished a lot in eight years. Even when Congress tried to block him, he found a way through the back door,” to which both Fallon and Obama couldn’t help but laugh.
What I hadn’t realized was that Obama’s last White House special was broadcast on Black Entertainment Television, or BET, and not via PBS.
Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration’: Watch Highlights From BET’s Musical Tribute
Last month the White House hosted the musical tribute “BET Presents Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration.” The event was televised on Tuesday, November 15 on BET and served as a love letter to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
The celebration, which Dave Chappelle referenced in his “SNL” monologue and joked about Bradley Cooper being the only “white guy,” included performances from Jill Scott, Janelle Monaé, Common, Usher, Bell Biv DeVoe, The Roots, De La Soul, Yolanda Adams, Michelle Williams, Kierra Sheard, and “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom, Jr.
Today’s story is pretty video-heavy, and I’ve already cut out quite a few, which I’ll post in the comments section below. I hope this will remind readers and listeners of a time and place we have to fight to recapture.
Happy birthday tomorrow, President Obama. Thank you for being who you are and for being someone we can be proud of having graced the Oval Office for eight years.
