President Barack Obama hosted yet another party at the White House on Tuesday evening, February 21, 2012. This get-together was for the blues special entitled ‘In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues.’
In coordination with Black History Month 2012, Obama said at the event:
And as we celebrate Black History Month, the blues reminds us that we’ve been through tougher times before. That’s why I’m proud to have these artists here. And not just as a fan, but also as the President. Because their music teaches us that when we find ourselves at a crossroads, we don’t shy away from our problems. We own them. We face up to them. We deal with them. We sing about them. We turn them into art. And even as we confront the challenges of today, we imagine a brighter tomorrow, saying, I can do it, just like Muddy Waters did all those years ago.
At the event, the legendary blues performers including Grammy-Award winner Buddy Guy and B.B. King, as well as Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Jagger has always credited the great Chicago blues artists such as Muddy Waters as being his inspiration and influence in music.
In synch with Obama’s highly-publicized singing of a line from Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ at an Apollo Theater fundraiser in the Harlem borough of New York City recently, Obama was coaxed by Guy into singing a few lines of the program’s finale, ‘Sweet Home Chicago.’
Buddy Guy told Obama:
We were trying to get you to help you sing that because I heard you sing with Al Green. So, you’ve started something. You’ve got to keep it up now… You can do it.
Obama shook his head, but then smiled and reluctantly took the microphone to play along with his native Chicagoan Guy. Before exiting the event with First Lady Michelle Obama, the president sang:
Come on, baby don’t you wanna go. Come on, baby don’t you wanna go… Sweet Home Chicago.
CLICK HERE to view the VIDEO of Obama singing ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ which is going viral via You Tube
Additional blues and contemporary major music artists were Jeff Beck, Keb Mo, Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews, Gary Clark, Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Warren Haynes, Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Truck. Booker T. Jones was the music director and band leader, and Taraji P. Henson hosted the program.
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Source: YouTube, Politico
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