Street Musicians Score Top 10 Hit

Uniting a blind new Orleans soul singer, an Irish children’s choir and Tibetan monks, Playing for Change is the unlikeliest hit album of the year. Debuting at Number 10 in early May, the CD features a mix of street performers and musicians from around the planet ”“ and Bono and Manu Chao ”“ playing 10 covers, including Sam Cooke’s ”˜A Change Is Gonna Come,’ Peter Gabriel’s ”˜Biko’ and Bob Marley’s ”˜One Love.’ “Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to ever have a Top 10 album,” says Clarence Bekker, a Dutch busker who has sung on the streets of Barcelona for eight years and plays on a cover of ”˜Stand by Me.’ “It’s a dream come true.”

The disc, which is featured prominently in Starbucks stores, is the brainchild of LA recording engineer Mark Johnson, who spent four years travelling the world filming and recording the artists. Inspiration came in 2005, when Johnson stumbled upon street performer Roger Ridley singing a rendition of ”˜Stand by Me’ near the Santa Monica Pier. “I told him I’d love to record his performance and take it around the world, with other people adding to his track,” Johnson recalls. “He looked at me like I was crazy.”

Travelling with lightweight digital gear, Johnson visited 12 countries seeking out local talent. Each track edits together disparate artists ”“ sometimes taped thousands of miles apart ”“ into cross-cultural mash-ups. ”˜Stand by Me’ combines 37 musicians, including Native American drummers, a Russian cellist and a South African choir, into a seamless track. A YouTube video of the recording process, posted in November, has already drawn more than 10 million views. “The focal point of most records is a single person or band,” Johnson says. “The focal point of these songs is the human race.” Playing for Change also features the Oneness Choir of Varadayapalem, Andhra Pradesh, who sing on ”˜Chanda Mama’ and the JJI Exile Brothers of Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.

TV producer Norman Lear heard about Playing for Change after a documentary about Johnson’s project screened at 2008’s Tribeca Film Festival. “It clicked with me instantly,” says Lear, who released the CD through his Concord Music Group. Lear also showed the film to Bono, who added vocals to a version of Marley’s ”˜War.’ The film will be released on DVD later this year.

A tour is in the works, as are future recordings by more street musicians. “We have to keep going,” says Johnson. “Watching people from the world sing together makes our differences seem so small and makes it feel like we’ll persevere as a human race.”