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Viral success of 'Stand' video fuels CD success

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer

Published: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 10:10 AM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) -- When European street performer Clarence Bekker was asked to participate in an album of mashed-up performances by anonymous musicians from around the world, he didn't think much of its prospects for success.

But Grammy-winning music producer Mark Johnson's grand vision for the global, street-level tapestry of seminal songs became clear to Bekker the first time he saw footage of "Stand by Me."

"I was blown away," said Bekker, who was born in the African-nation of Suriname, but spent much of his life in Amsterdam, and now lives in Barcelona, Spain. "From then on, I started to believe in the project totally."

His belief was vindicated: Over the past few months, more than 11 million people have watched the YouTube video of the first single, which features singers and performers from New Orleans to Africa interspersed seamlessly in one song.

And the Playing for Change CD/DVD project titled, "Songs Around the World," which debuted in April, landed among Billboard's top 10 albums in May. That put its hodgepodge of performers among top-sellers like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, even though the album was only being sold in nontraditional outlets like Starbucks, whose Hear Music label put out the record.

So far, the CD has sold about 80,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and the album has led to high-profile performances for some of its singers. Bekker will play the renowned Glastonbury Festival in Great Britain with the Playing for Change band on June 27. A documentary will air on PBS this summer and a DVD is to follow in the fall.

"People are recognizing me on the street, I'm able to go on big stages," he said. "I'm getting to a professional level."

Every artist who appears on the record has been or will be compensated, said Joel Amsterdam, a publicist for its parent label, Concord Music Group. Featured artists like Bekker also share in a royalty pool based on sales revenue.

Johnson, who won a Grammy with singer Keb' Mo', got the idea for the Playing for Change project one day when he happened upon a New York City subway performance.

"Some of the best music I ever heard in my life was on the way to the studio," he said. "It just hit me that great music is just moments in time, and they exist all over the world."

So over several years, Johnson traveled the world to capture those moments. They included street musicians from India, performers from South Africa and a children's choir from Ireland.

The album's lead single, a remake of a Ben E. King classic, starts out with the soulful, raspy voice of singer Roger Ridley, playing his acoustic guitar in the streets Santa Monica, Calif., then segues into the voice another street performer, Grandpa Elliott, in New Orleans. It then blends their voices and instruments while folding in musicians and vocalists from France, Brazil, South Africa and elsewhere.

The album also includes versions of Bob Marley's "One Love" and Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," as well as big-name cameos from Bono and Keb' Mo', who said the project has a "big purpose. It's found its way into the consciousness of the public."

"Playing for Change makes a statement because its primarily people who were playing music on the streets," he added. "What it says is people are really moved by real people playing real music. It's real feelings and real situations."

It's also about more than music. Johnson has started a foundation to create music schools across the world, and more concert performances are planned, said legendary television producer Norman Lear, an owner of Hear Music through Concord Music Group.

"There's something transcendent about it and the whole idea," said Lear. "(There's) a global search for desire for connection, a spiritual surf ... this kind of music has caught that effort.

On the Net:

http://www.playingforchange.com


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