RSS
Help
CartEwan McGregor, Carly Simon, Marianne Faithfull + More Record Song for Amnesty Int'l
Wed, 02 May 2012 15:20:08
The likes of Ewan McGregor, Carly Simon and Marianne Faithfull have recorded a song for Amnesty International, as the human rights organization is celebrating its 50th birthday.
"Toast to Freedom" also features Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Jane Birkin. It was initially composed in sessions at late rocker Levon Helm's converted barn studios in Woodstock, New York. Helm died last month.
The song is named after the incident which lead to the founding of the group, when two Portuguese students were imprisoned for engaging in a drunken toast to liberty.
The single will raise funds for Amnesty International.
Proceeds from the charity track, which was co-written by Carl Carlton, will go to Amnesty. Bill Shipsey, founder of the Art for Amnesty campaign, told The Observer, "We came up with the idea one day in November 2010. Carl Carlton came to visit me and said he wanted to do something to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International and we came up with the idea of doing a song."
He continued, "Carl was good friends with Levon Helm so he asked Levon if we could use his studio to record the song and he kindly agreed. Most of the song was recorded in Levon's studio, then the various artists recorded their vocals in studios around the world."
Will you check out "Toast to Freedom?"
—Maggie Pannacione
05.02.12
