As Real As It Gets: Stand By Me In Central Park

rredick December 5, 2023

Photo credit: YouTube

No studio, no mixers, no lights, no amplifiers: when Cover Story Doo-Wop sings “Stand By Me” under the Bethesda Terrace arches in New York’s Central Park, it’s their talent and deep feeling that carry us away.

“I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no I won’t shed a tear,
Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”

It’s little wonder that Ben E. King’s 1961 classic touches a nerve: there’s something pure about the vulnerability and faith expressed by the song. If my Loved One is here, it declares, no calamity is too overwhelming to face. It’s both a recognition of a blessing bestowed and a plea for it to be sustained. It’s deeply optimistic, but it also recognizes how fragile good fortune really is.

Maybe it’s that emotional honesty that makes “Stand By Me” a part of so many singers’ repertoires, and allows each performance to feel unique. Cover Story Doo-Wop, a New York City group founded in 2012, certainly makes the song their own. Singers Herman Leath, Charles Owens, Jerome Cohen, Billy Chavis, Lamont Baker, and upright bass player Todd Grunder put so much heart into their rendition that one could almost imagine that King had such an ensemble in mind 60 years ago.

Hope this makes you smile as much as it does us.

P.S. If you want a little more of Cover Story DooWop, check out their fancy-footwork version of the song in St. Luke’s church, or their serene rendition of “Stone In Love With You” by The Stylistics.

rredick

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IFS: Embracing and Listening to Our Multiple Selves

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rredick February 6, 2024

“Hi Ren” Brings the Inner Demons out in the Open

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rredick January 23, 2024

Loneliness Is an Epidemic. Love Is the Closest Thing We Have to a Cure.

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rredick December 19, 2023

Top Secret Drum Corps: The Pursuit of Perfection, and Fun

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rredick December 12, 2023

“Ave Maria” Acapella: The Sublime In a Stairwell

A work of A work of artistic genius can feel immune to the passage of years. But for works meant to be performed, “timeless” does not Mean “static.” This stairwell recording of Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” by four gifted young Texans, imbues new life and grace into a song loved round the world.

rredick November 28, 2023

Dr. Gabor Maté: The Power of Addiction, the Addiction to Power

Across four decades of work on issues of trauma, addiction, childhood development, stress, and illness, Dr. Gabor Maté has become an internationally recognized thinker, author, and public speaker. But his brilliance is only one side of the coin. The other side, evident in all his remarks, is profound compassion. In this TED talk, both qualities are on full display.

rredick November 7, 2023

Dopamine, Addiction, and the Brain: Understanding the Science Can Help Us Change

The research has taken three quarters of a century (and counting). But the findings are truly remarkable: pain and pleasure are naturally balanced in a healthy brain. Substances can drastically disrupt that balance, however. In the effort to restore it, our brains go into overdrive. Fortunately, we can help it along—and help ourselves at the same time.

rredick October 31, 2023

Photo credit: YouTube

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