Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 22, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Concord Records
• ASIN: B000BVD46A
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,707 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? (5:04) - Louis Armstrong

2. Let Your Light Shine (4:26) - R. Kelly

3. Precious Lord, Take My Hand (3:26) - Faith Hill

4. Heart So Heavy (4:58) – John Mayer/Aaron Neville

5. City Beneath The Sea (5:58) - Harry Connick, Jr.

6. Ay-TeTe Fee (1:53) - Clifton Chenier

7. Moon Over Bourbon Street (live) (4:56) – Sting with special guest Chris Botti

8. Heart of America (4:14) - Eric Benét, Michael McDonald, Wynonna Judd and Terry Dexter

9. By Faith (4:39) - Diddy featuring Fred Hammond

10. Early In The Morning (80th Session Alternate Version) (3:58) – B.B. King

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Any Other Day (4:14) – Norah Jones & Wyclef Jean

2. I Will Not Be Broken (3:29) – Bonnie Raitt

3. People Get Ready (2:38) - Rod Stewart with Jerry Lawson and Talk Of The Town

4. We Can Make It Better (3:48) – Kanye West featuring Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Common and Rhymefest

5. Try Me (live) (2:35) – James Brown

6. Louisiana Bayou (live) (8:18) - Dave Matthews Band featuring Robert Randolph

7. Goin’ Back To New Orleans (4:09) - Dr. John

8. I'm Still Standing (live, New Orleans April 2001) (3:17) – Elton John

9. What Would Jesus Do (4:05) – Chris Thomas King

10. Alla Luce Del Sole (live) (5:47) - Josh Groban with Bela Fleck

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

A magnificent 2-CD multi-artist benefit album to aid the Gulf Coast victims devastated by recent hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

This special compilation contains new, previously unreleased material by some of the most popular artists from all genres of music as well as classic recordings from New Orleans natives Louis Armstrong and Dr. John. Coldplay, Norah Jones, Wyclef Jean, John Mayer, James Brown, Aaron Neville, Bonnie Raitt, R. Kelly, Barbra Streisand and Elton John are just a few of the many remarkable artists appearing on this release.

RIAA will donate 100% of its net proceeds from the sale of this CD – at least $15 – in equal parts to the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and MusiCares Hurricane Relief 2005, for their hurricane relief efforts. For more information, please call/email: American Red Cross at 1-800-797-8022/[e-mail]; Habitat for Humanity at 1-800-HABITAT/[e-mail]; MusiCares at 1-877-626-2748/[e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag, November 26, 2005

By 

William Merrill "eclecticist" (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now (Audio CD)

(3 & 1/2 stars) With 2 CDs and 35 songs, it was inevitable that there would be some good and bad aspects of a benefit collection such as Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now. Overall, it's a decent enough effort and one that certainly goes toward a worthy cause.

Among the many good songs on this collection, I especially like Coldplay's live version of "Fix You," with thousands of Dutch people singing along with every word. (The song is only slightly marred by the farewell words sung by Chris Martin at the end, as the song was apparently the last number in the show.) I also enjoyed the songs by BB King and Bonnie Raitt. Then there are agreeable songs by people I would not ordinarily expect to get into given my tastes, including the songs by "Diddy" and Barbara Streisand. A great orchestral arrangement on the latter tune. I also like the fact that there is a New Orleans music theme to the collection, including many real N.O. musicians spread throughout the whole thing.

Unfortunately there is one huge glaring problem that does detract from this album being quite as good as it could have been. It's the three sickly-sweet all-star songs, "Heart of America," "Tears In Heaven," and the title track. These slick, schmaltzy productions carry on the very unfortunate tradition of songs like "We Are The World" and primarily the awful "That's What Friends Are For." Basically they succeed at "Hollywood-izing" the songs, removing any genuine emotion and replacing it with extreme blandness & artificiality. [There is one other all-star track that I did not include in the above list of shame because it IS authentic, Dr. John's "Goin Back to New Orleans," made with a big group of N.O. names.]

Here are a couple of other aspects of Come Together Now that are worth noting. With such a wide and diverse roster of artists contributing songs, it should be no surprise that there are some very JARRING and abrupt transitions between songs, such as switching from Coldplay to Clint Black! Sometimes these artist combos produced some interesting mixtures of names, with an Elton John song right after DOCTOR John (both "Johns" are stage names of course) and the unrelated Angie Stone and Joss Stone singing on the same cut. (The family Stone, I guess...)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing CD and a LOT of bang for the dollar..., December 21, 2005

By 

R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now (Audio CD)

This CD is mistakenly listed as a single CD. It is, in fact, a 2 CD set. The second CD track list includes such venerables as Bonnie Raitt, James Brown, Barbara Streisand, the Winans, etc. There's a lot of truly inspiring music on this CD. Start with Raitt's "I will not be broken" and end with B. Kelly's "Let your light shine." This is a truly generous offering for music lovers and one I think would make a valuable addition to any collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous and Eclectic Mix of Music & Artists, July 27, 2010

By 

Tobucus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now (Audio CD)

This two disc set is one of my all time favorites!! I have had it since very late 2005/early 2006 when it was released and it continues to be one of my most listened to. That says something about its staying power. I absolute love the variety and depth to the CDs. There is such soul and feeling to the performances and all are top-rate and few will be found in any other location. I also cherish the collaboration of artists some of which are so unexpected (John Mayer & Aaron Neville, Norah Jones & Wyclef Jean etc) I was suprised at the performances of some of the artists and how much I appreciated all the variety and there is first rate variety in this two disc set. There is no better blend of jazz and blues, spirituals, modern mainstream etc than this set. I am just glad that you cannot wear out CDs! Granted like any album there will be songs that will become your personal favorites for whatever reason and there are ones on this 2-disc set that are more my favorites but NONE are bad. I CANNOT think of a better value!!