And that's about all I have to say about that.
This morning I watched a segment on Sunday Morning about the musicians of our era who created and performed "We are The World" to raise funds for those dying in Africa due to famine and diseases.
Stevie Wonder
Bruce Springsteen
Bob Dylan
Willie Nelson
Ray Charles
Smokey Robinson
Paul Simon
Kenny Rogers
Tina Turner.....and others
It was Harry Belafonte's idea. He enlisted Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson--(and also Stevie Wonder, who was late returning the phone call) to get it off the ground. It was hard. Musicians' schedules are booked long in advance. But they decided to do it after the American Music Awards, since most of the musicians would be there.
The Netflix documentary (The Greatest Night of Pop Music) is about the process of getting the artists, sound engineers and camera people all in one place to produce the unforgettable song, "We Are The World."
Packing practice and performance into one all-nighter, in a hot studio, after an awards ceremony, hosted by Richie, led to the song known all around the world.
It was poignant watching everyone interact with each other. When Ray Charles arrived, someone said, "It's like seeing the Statue of Liberty walking in."
Bob Dylan had a deer in the headlights expression on his face throughout the hours of practice. (He wasn't a group singing kind of guy.) When Stevie Wonder (known to be an incredible mimic) began to imitate Dylan's singing while playing the song on the piano, it was the first time Bob Dylan actually smiled! He got it.
After hosting the awards and winning many himself, it was "We Are The World" that meant the most to Lionel Richie. Thirty years later, he returns to that room for the documentary. He points out where the singers had stood: "Michael there, Bruce there, Cyndi over there..."
He compared returning to the place where they co-created the song to going back home after the people who made it home are no longer there.
"This room," he said, "is my house, my home."
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