Abraham, Martin & John
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| “Abraham, Martin and John” | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Dion | ||
| B-side | "Daddy Rollin' (In Your Arms)" | |
| Released | Late 1968 | |
| Format | 7-inch | |
| Recorded | Allegro Sound Studios Engineer Bruce Staple | |
| Genre | Folk rock | |
| Length | 3:15 | |
| Label | Laurie Records | |
| Writer(s) | Dick Holler | |
| Producer | Phil Gernhard | |
"Abraham, Martin & John" is a 1968 song written by Dick Holler and first recorded by Dion. It is a tribute to the memories of icons of social change, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written as a response to the assassinations of King and the younger Kennedy in April and June 1968.
Each of the first three verses features one of the men named in the song's title, for example:
- Has anybody here, seen my old friend John -
- Can you tell me where he's gone?
- He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good die young
- But I just looked around and he's gone.
After a bridge, the fourth and final verse mentions Bobby Kennedy, and ends with a verbal image of him walking over a hill with the other three men.
The original version, recorded by Dion, featured a gentle folk rock production from Phil Gernhard and arrangement from John Abbott, most audibly featuring harp flourishes at multiple points. Quite unlike the ethnic rock sound that Dion had become famous for in the early 1960s, and even more unlike Holler and Gernhard's previous collaboration, the 1966 novelty smash "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron", "Abraham, Martin and John" nonetheless was a major American hit single in late 1968, reaching #4 on the U.S. pop singles chart and being awarded an RIAA gold record for selling a million copies. In 2001 this recording would be ranked number 248 on the RIAA's Songs of the Century list.
Other famous late-1960s versions were recorded in short order by Motown's Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (whose cover also became an American Top 40 single in 1969, reaching #33) and Marvin Gaye (whose cover became a top-ten hit (#9) in England in 1970). Gaye's version was never released in the U.S. as a single but was featured on his 1970 album, That's the Way Love Is, and was one of his first experiments with social messages in his music which would culminate in his legendary 1971 album, What's Going On. In addition, comedian Moms Mabley performed a version that hit the U.S. Top 40, reaching #35 in 1969. This version was featured on the soundtrack of Brazilian soap opera Beto Rockfeller (1968-1969).
The song is also featured on Tom Clay's 1971 "What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin, and John", a medley combining Dion's recording with Jackie DeShannon's recording of Burt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now Is Love", along with vocals by The Blackberries. Clay's recording features narration, sound bytes from speeches given by President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., along with sound bytes from the live press coverage of Robert Kennedy's assassination. It reached number eight on the U.S. pop singles chart in August 1971.
During a 1981 tour, Bob Dylan sang the song in concert: the implicit "John" in Dylan's rendition was John Lennon, who had been killed the year before.
Subsequently, various artists have performed or recorded their rendition of the song, including the likes of Emmylou Harris, who also typically made it part of medley, such as on her 1992 At the Ryman concert recording. British rockers Marillion have played the song in acoustic and electric versions; one such hybrid performance can be heard on their 1999 Unplugged at the Walls album.
