Ringo Starr, Canned Heat, LGBT discrimination

Ringo Starr has canceled a concert in North Carolina to protest state-sponsored discrimination against LGBT people. I am a bit thrilled to see that he has cited Canned Heat in doing so: “As Canned Heat sang, ‘Let’s work together.’” Starr also cited a group who sang that “All you need is love.”

The footnoter in me wants to give credit to Wilbert Harrison, who wrote “Let’s Work Together” and recorded it twice, in 1962 and again in 1969. The story goes that Canned Heat waited to give Harrison’s 1969 recording its chance on the charts before recording the song themselves. The Heat’s version appears on the 1970 album Future Blues (1970). Harrison also had a hit with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s “Kansas City.” LGBT people in Missouri, too, are up against state-sponsored discrimination.

Related reading
HRC Missouri : HRC North Carolina