Joss Stone, John Legend Do Katrina Benefit
In the latest all-star relief effort for Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims, Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now — an industry-wide double disc mixtape featuring new, live and collaborative tracks from some of the biggest names in music — will be released mid-November.
The album’s lead single, “Come Together Now,” became available for download Tuesday via iTunes and Rhapsody. The song, written and produced in part by actress Sharon Stone, features Patti LaBelle, Joss Stone, Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, the Game, Chingy, John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Gavin DeGraw and Mya, among others.
“It’s impossible to end all suffering, but that doesn’t mean everyone shouldn’t be as proactive as possible,” DeGraw says of his involvement in “Come Together Now.” “It’s your responsibility to do what you can when you’re able.”
Gwen Stefani, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, Steven Tyler, Mary J. Blige and more are featured on the album’s A-list cover of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,” initially produced by Sharon Osbourne to benefit victims of the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia earlier this year. Wynonna, Eric Benet and Michael McDonald lend their chops to the track “Heart of America,” which they are scheduled to perform before Game 3 of the World Series, while “Louisiana Bayou” is a mash-up of the Dave Matthews Band and Robert Randolph. The newly recorded Norah Jones and Wyclef Jean single “Any Other Day” also makes an appearance on the compilation.
Paying further tribute to the Big Easy and the wider Gulf Coast region through song are Sting’s “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” Harry Connick Jr.’s “City Beneath the Sea,” Clint Black’s “The Great Mississippi Flood” and John Fogerty’s live “Born on the Bayou.”
Other live recordings of hits include Coldplay’s “Fix You,” James Brown’s “Try Me” and Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.” Bonnie Raitt contributes “I Will Not Be Broken,” off her recent release Souls Alike, and Barbra Streisand’s unreleased “I Believe” makes its first public appearance on the album.
Other artists on Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now include New Orleans natives Fats Domino, the Neville Brothers and the late Louis Armstrong, as well as John Mayer, Lenny Kravitz, Brian Wilson and Gloria Estefan.
With all royalties from the industry-wide album being waived, fifteen dollars of its twenty-dollar price tag will go to the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and MusiCares relief charities.
Tentative track listing for Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now:
“Coming Out of the Dark/Always Tomorrow,” Gloria Estefan
“Try Me,” James Brown
“Any Other Day,” Norah Jones and Wyclef Jean
“I Believe,” Barbra Streisand
“The Great Mississippi Flood,” Clint Black
“Louisiana Bayou,” Dave Matthews Band and Robert Randolph
“Devotion,” Earth, Wind & Fire
“When the Saints Go Marching In,” Kirk Whalum and Coolio
“Heart So Heavy,” John Mayer and Aaron Neville
“City Beneath the Sea,” Harry Connick Jr.
“Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans,” Louis Armstrong
“Come Together Now,” Various Artists
“Walking to New Orleans,” Fats Domino
“Fix You,” Coldplay
“Believe,” Lenny Kravitz
“Brothers,” Neville Brothers
“I Will Not Be Broken,” Bonnie Raitt
“Tears in Heaven,” Various Artists
“Love and Mercy,” Brian Wilson
“Heart of America,” Wynonna, Michael McDonald and Eric Benet
“I’m Still Standing,” Elton John
“Moon Over Bourbon Street,” Sting