We Shall Overcome is an album by American politician Bernie Sanders, recorded and released in 1987. The album combined folk music and spoken word, narrated by Sanders. He was the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, at the time of the album's release. The album was remastered and re-released in 2014 and gained wide exposure during Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.
Background In 1987, Burlington-based music producer Todd Lockwood was sipping coffee at Leunig's Bistro when he came up with the idea to approach the city's mayor, Bernie Sanders, to record a musical project at his studio, White Crow Audio. Lockwood wrote a letter to Mayor Sanders and a meeting was arranged at the mayor's office. Lockwood originally imagined the album as an audio portrait of Bernie Sanders, but Sanders saw it as an opportunity to tell a much larger story.
Sanders made a list of ten songs he would be willing to record, five of which made the cut for the album.
Because producer Lockwood found Sanders' musical skills inadequate to sing the folk songs on his own, he instead arranged for Sanders to speak the lyrics accompanied by a chorus of backup singers.
Commercial performance It is estimated that the 1987 cassette tape sold about 600 to 800 copies, out of 1,000 that were produced. The 2014 reissue has sold about 3,000 copies as of March 2016. The album reportedly landed Sanders at No. 116 on Billboard Top New Artist chart in February 2016.
Sanders signed a record contract in 1987 that would guarantee him royalties for any profits made, but did not receive any at the time due to the album's high production costs. In 2016, Sanders earned $2,521 in royalties for his participation in the recording.
Track listing
Personnel Credits are taken from liner notes of We Shall Overcome.
Band Andy Shapiro – piano Tom Berd – organ Don Sidney – electric guitar Mark Ransom – electric bass Jeff Salisbury – drums
Guest musicians Howard Mitchell – background vocals, chorus Ginny Peck – background vocals, chorus Emily Wadhams – background vocals, chorus David Weaver – background vocals, chorus Steve Rainville – background vocals Chris Bailey – chorus Nancy Beaven – chorus Marcia Brewster – chorus Dexter Brown – chorus Kathy Carbone – chorus Danny Coane – chorus Joanne "Little Joyce" Cooper – chorus David Daignault – chorus Frank Egan – chorus Dana Lavigne – chorus Tom Lyon – chorus Joe Moore – chorus Rick Norcross – chorus Michael Oakland – chorus Debbie Patton – chorus Pamela Polston – chorus KK Wilder – chorus
Narrative Bernie Sanders
Arrangements Don Sidney – musical Douglas Jaffe – harmony vocals
Technical personnel Chuck Eller – engineering Todd Lockwood – engineering, production Douglas Jaffe – production Adam Ayan – digital mastering Gateway Mastering – digital mastering
Artistic personnel Glenn Russell – photograph
Release history Region Date Format Label United States December 12, 1987 Cassette BurlingTown December 1, 2014 CD Todd R. Lockwood Works Worldwide Digital download
See also American folk music Mayoralty of Bernie Sanders
References