“In Performance at the White House: Environment Man"

By Alan Smithee

Okay. I'm kidding with the title, but you never know. Hopefully, The White House will let our very own Environment Man & the Ecology Band perform one night. Eman is just itching to perform his green hit, "Global Warming, Climate Change," for the President and First Lady.

Performers made it to Washington on Tuesday night during the ongoing Blizzard of 2010 to perform at the “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” in the East Room of The White House. The show was the fifth in a series of programs at The White House and performances featured Bob Dylan, Yolanda Adams, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Hudson, John Mellencamp, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Smokey Robinson, Joan Baez, the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Howard University Choir.

First Lady Michelle Obama was the host and President Barack Obama delivered some opening remarks. He talked about how the civil rights movement was “a movement with a soundtrack.”

Actor Morgan Freeman served as MC, introducing Adams who performed a gospel-infused version of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Smokey Robinson “Abraham, Martin & John.” Dylan sang an arrangement of his song “The Times They Are A-Changin’” that featured piano, stand up bass, and acoustic guitar. The event ended with President Obama taking the stage and encouraging the crowd and the assembled singers to perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also sometimes called the “African-American National Anthem.” (WSJ, 2/10/10)