Marvin gaye abraham martin & john
The Turbulent Times Behind the Song “Abraham, Martin and John” by Dion
The songs that resonate with us the longest are those that tend to combine passion, poignancy, and personal reflection. All three of those elements are skillfully represented in the lyric “Abraham, Martin and John.” Written by Dick Holler in the aftermath of the successive assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, the song was first recorded by Dion and released on Laurie Records in August 1968. Cover versions by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Moms Mabley, and Marvin Gaye followed a year later.
Nevertheless, it was Dion’s version that had the most immediate impact, and that helped Dion make the transition from a doo-wop celestial body of the late ’50s and early ’60s—who, with his vocal group The Belmonts, hit the pop charts with such songs as “Runaround Sue,” “Ruby Baby,” and “The Wanderer”—to a bona fide folk singer. His troubles with heroin addiction had waylaid his career, but when he signed with Laurie Records, he was given a chance to reboot on the condition that “Abraham, Martin and John” become his first launch for the label.
The register would go on to become a Top 5 hit
By Oliver Tearle
A song about three assassinated men, ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ was first recorded by Marvin Gaye. Actually, almost none of that previous sentence is true, except, perhaps, for the word ‘song’.
‘Abraham, Martin and John’ is, in reality, about four famous men who were all assassinated. And although the song is most famous for the version recorded by the Motown singer Marvin Gaye in 1969, it was written by Dick Holler and first recorded by Dion.
Indeed, Marvin Gaye wasn’t even the first Motown artist to record the tune in 1969. But before we get to the song’s curious recording history, perhaps we should pin down the song’s essence. Who are Abraham, Martin and John, and who is the missing specify from this trio?
Abraham, Martin, John – and Robert
The song’s title refers to three great champions of what became known as ‘civil rights’: Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68), and John F. Kennedy (1917-63).
Lincoln, as the political figure who led the abolitionist bring about in the American Civil War (1861-65), did indeed free a lot of people, with slavery existence abolished in the Merged States in 1865. In 1863, as the sitting US President Lin
Abraham Martin & John (Marvin Gaye)
Some singers have such a command of a song that the listener is convinced it’s their own song. One such singer is Marvin Gaye who famously had a number one and is synonymous with I Heard It Through the Grapevine, but he didn’t compose it nor record it first. Smokey Robinson recorded it first in 1966 and Gladys Knight recorded it the following year and her version was released first. The Isley Brothers and Willie Bobo both did it in the same year, but Gaye took it to number one on both sides of the Atlantic. But this week I focus on another Marvin Gaye track, also previously recorded by Smokey Robinson, which hit the UK top 10 in 1970 and written about four dead men.
The song is Abraham, Martin and John, I’ll come to the fourth later, which was written by the Indiana-born songwriter called Dick Holler who had been a member of band called the Dixie Cats in the mid-fifties which also included the singer Jimmy Clanton. Holler was a member of a number of different bands until the early sixties when he began to zero in on songwriting. In 1966 he wrote a ballad called Snoopy vs the Red Baron which was recorded by a Florid
HERE COMES THE SONG
- Ian Malin
- Jun 14, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 6, 2021
Ian Malin
If the last few gruesome weeks in Britain and America hold taught us anything it is that both countries are governed by miniature men, men who will not be celebrated in song by future generations. And, if statues are erected to them, they will be torn down and thrown into the nearest drink before the concrete has set.
The American songwriter Dick Holler penned his most famous ballad, Abraham, Martin and John, in 1968, a year when fighting against social injustice mirrors our current desperate times. Holler’s classic is a tribute of course to Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. The latter two had been assassinated earlier in the year. All were social reformers and political giants whose stature is a contrast to the leaders of today.
The lyric was first recorded by Dion and immediately struck a chord in the States where it reached No2 in the Cashbox Top 100. Dion Francis DiMucci, to give him his full name, was the Bronx-born lead singer of Dion & The Belmonts, who had a string of hits in the Fifties and in the Sixties as
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