Classic Pop Icons

President Obama and the First Lady hosted a “Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” at the White House on Tuesday night. The concert was the fifth in a series that is dedicated to what President Obama calls “Music that tells the story of America.”

The first performance was by Yolanda Adams who sang the Sam Cooke classic “A Change is Gonna Come.” This was followed by performances from Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Smokey Robinson, John Mellencamp, Natalie Cole, John Legend, Seal, The Blind Boys of Alabama, the Howard University Choir, The Freedom Singers, and Dr Bernice Johnson Reagon. Everyone, including President Obama, finished off the concert with a sing-along of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Here’s some highlights from the show.

President Obama’s introduction

Bob Dylan - “The Times, They are a Changin”

Joan Baez - “We Shall Overcome”

Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson - “People Get Ready”

The complete show can be viewed at:
http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthewhitehouse/

The Observor has produced a great series on some of some of the living legends of American music, as recalled by the stars they influenced.

In addition, photographer Jamie-James Medina spent a year taking portraits of these legends for Observor Music Monthly. The results are impressive and are presented with the articles.

The following articles are included in the series:

Jerry Lee Lewis: the hellfire pianist by Ray Davies

Chuck Berry: hail, hail, rock ‘n’ roll by Bobby Gillespie

Little Richard: the outrageous pianist by Richard Hawley

Pete Seeger: pioneer of protest by Billy Brag

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: folk pioneer by Roger McGuinn

Etta James: blues powerhouse by Adele

Smokey Robinson: the soul of Motown by Corinne Bailey Rae

Little Anthony: the original teen dreamer by Pete Waterman

Ornette Coleman: jazz revolutionary by Seb Rochford

Sonny Rollins: sax colossus by Charlie Watts

Dave Brubeck: piano’s gentle giant by Jamie Cullum

Jimmy Scott: a voice from another world by Sufjan Stevens

Wanda Jackson: rockabilly queen by Imelda May

Kris Kristofferson: the thinking man’s outlaw by Steve Earle

Charlie Louvin: the singer of God-fearing country by Emmylou Harris

Ralph Stanley: preaching the gospel of bluegrass by Martin Carthy

T-Model Ford: boss of the blues by Dan Auerbach

Honeyboy Edwards: Delta bluesman by Paul Jones

Pinetop Perkins: the oldest living bluesman by Seasick Steve

Buddy Guy: guitar visionary by John Mayer

Les Paul: the innovator by Slash

The Living Legend series was conceived before Les Paul’s death, but the portrait and tribute remained part of the series.

Smokey Robinson is to appear at the Roundhouse in London as part of the BBC’s Electric Proms week.

The soul legend will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the birth of Motown records by performing his greatest hits plus songs from his new album ‘Time Flies When You’re Having Fun’. Smokey Robinson and his band will be joined by the BBC Concert Orchestra. BBC Electric Proms has specially commissioned brand new arrangements of the classic Motown hits.

Robinson was integral to the success of the Motown label. As well as the series of classic hits with his band The Miracles, Smokey was also the primary songwriter for the Temptations from 1963-6, penning huge hits such as ‘My Girl’ and ‘Get Ready.’

The show will be broadcast live on Radio Two on Saturday 24 October from 20:00 - 21:00. Radio Two is available online at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/ so you should be able to listen in if you live outside the UK.

If you are in the UK, you can also watch the performance on Sunday night from 23:00 - 00:00 on both BBC Two and BBC HD. It will also be available to watch online after the BBC Two show at www.bbc.co.uk/electricproms/.

To get you in the mood, here’s Smokey Robinson and The Miracles singing the classic ‘Tears of a Clown’.

For more videos of the great Smokey Robinson, go to the Classic Pop Icons Motown video section.

Head over to the Motown section of the Classic Pop Icons Forum to share your views on the Motown legend.

If you haven’t been listening to the Motown 50 Podcast series, it’s well worth checking out. The series, which celebrates Motown’s 50th anniversary, features interviews with Motown producers, songwriters and singers, including Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, the Commodores and more.

You will hear fascinating stories and exclusive insights about the label and some of its finest songs and artists.

Those with iTunes can subscribe to the series by clicking here.

Head over to our Motown video section to watch some of the all time Motown greats perform, including The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.