THE STORY OF A SONG: The Rascals - People Got to Be Free (1968)

(Written by Felix Cavaliere & Eddie Brigati)

The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy in the spring of 1968 left Felix Cavaliere, lead singer of the Rascals, just as devastated as all other Americans. Cavaliere and groupmate Eddie Brigati, rather than wallowing in the sorrow they felt, poured their feelings into a jubilant celebration of the ideals that the slain leaders had embodied. Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records was concerned that a record deemed as political might damage the group’s career, but he needn’t have worried.

People Got to Be Free (released about five weeks after Kennedy’s death) is a soaring testament to shared values, but also a thrilling, danceable slice of blue-eyed soul with gospel-fired backing vocals; it explodes right off the starting blocks, entering directly into the uplifting chorus. Atlantic’s #1 sax man King Curtis leads the powerful brass section.

The song also embodied the idealistic values of the group itself. From their founding in New York in 1964, the Rascals had melded musical genres; Cavaliere’s thoroughly soulful lead vocals drove powerfully above his Hammond organ. In addition to drawing deeply from black music, the group— unlike many other acts of the time—refused to tour on bills that weren’t racially integrated. 

Ironically or not, the record was the country’s #1 hit (having soared to the top spot in just its fifth charted week) at the time of the tumultuous Democratic National Convention and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s police assault against Vietnam war protestors. After People Got to Be Free became the group’s third and biggest #1 hit, the Rascals followed it with the somber, touching ballad A Ray of Hope, written for Senator Ted Kennedy, who sent the group a thank-you letter.

Chart debut July 20, 1968 (#1 for 5 weeks pop chart, #14 R&B); #2 in Canada)