We Five - LET'S GET TOGETHER ('Shindig!' December 2, 1965)

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED
The December 2, 1965 air date of ABC-TV's, 'Shindig!' featuring We Five performing, 'Let's Get Together'.
Original single issue: (A&M 784) - October 1965

[@richardleonard4281]

Bev is 19 years old here, what a powerful voice.

[@rw7039]

She reminds me of "99" on Get Smart......Barbara Feldon.

[@jamesbunck545]

Bev Bevins does not get the credit she deserves, for her role in making this such a popular music genre in the 1960s.

[@SuzanneU]

Bev Bivens: what a voice! what a presence!

[@emmabradford1740]

she looks like a cross between Barbara Feldon and Linda Ronstadt but I think she's cuter than either, and both put together

[@SoloPilot6]

We Five is largely forgotten -- if you hear them at all, it's an oldies station playing "You Were On My Mind" -- but they were a great group. Unfortunately, they were run over by the British Invasion, and the songs which should have been hits didn't get enough airplay.

[@RaxOldies]

I agree somewhat about the "British Invasion"...but I also think they had lousy handlers/management whatever you want to call them. (Frank Werber). Making them do material from West Side Story, and hits like You Were On My Mind shows a lack of direction. Even the band members were perplexed!! In 2002 Jerry Burgan attributed the band's collapse in part to the band's management, reflecting that "the dissolution was rooted in unfocused management that permitted a very young group to have too much autonomy. We factionalized into a blues contingent, a pop contingent, and an 'I'm out of here' contingent." Granted tho~~ Bev was the main attraction. She married young, and joined her husband in a jazz group...but i think with proper guidance, she would have been right there with Linda Ronstadt etc. Oh well...days gone by.

[@richardleonard4281]

And she's gorgeous to boot.

[@russellcampbell9198]

What a great vocal. Bev was really something.

[@wesleyshepherd8971]

Bev was beautiful. im 70 yrs. old and still love this music.

[@multicaruana]

Wow, never saw this one before. Yes, Ms Bivens had some voice, they were all so talented, a great group lead by Mr. Stewart. He knew what he was doing. All the men are gone, sad to say.

[@multicaruana]

Thanks!

[@marthamack6319]

Posting appreciated. This did get close to the top 30. They, also, had a regional hit with their version of "Beyond The Sea." Talented Michael Stewart arranged all their songs which is why the harmonies are so perfect. RIP Michael. PEACE TO ALL.

[@ronwhiteman8892]

I loved their versions of “Beyond the Sea” and “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.”

[@seed_drill7135]

Brother of John, who was in the Kingston Trio, which is where they got the song. I think Dino Valenti was still in jail when they did this.

[@fred1barb]

Driving across Nevada in a 62 VW with ny college best gal, listening to some station, somewhere, playing a set of We Five. The desert, the girl and the music, what a day!

[@18BIG78]

I used to mow when I was in the fourth grade PETE FULLERTON S YARD for guitar lessons. GOD I WILL MISS THEM REST IN PEACE MR PETE I LOVE YOU

[@June_Magoo]

In fucking credible. This band was so much more influential than most realize on the late 60s scene we all know and love

[@briseboy]

Isn't infucking, incest? Doesn't it cause increased defects? Or, is it just a difficult marstubatory technique?

[@jkline999]

This version. Pure 60's. Pure folk rock. Sadly, so much of it is lost.

[@fredlandes2279]

Actually, not that sad.

[@rosswalters9194]

Hard to believe this great version of the song was performed in 1965 on a Nationally televised program like Shindig (and went nowhere) yet the same song made a big hit for The Youngbloods four years later in 1969.

[@65motowngirl]

I remember the 1965 version. I loved it and never understood why it got so little airplay. I hate the version by the Young Bloods. It made me mad that they got so much air lay 2 years later and their version was crap.

[@brianruyack7632]

The chorus on this version like the Jefferson Airplane and Kingston Trio seems jumbled together. So many words. The Youngbloods' version adds some space and syncopation and more melodic variety. Youngbloods also added a lower harmony to the verses which I like. Their slower tempo allows the meaning to be absorbed. I do like her voice here on verses just not a fan of the HEY shouts on chorus.

[@silverstar4289]

@@brianruyack7632 I agree. Though I wasn’t as accurate in my thinking. All singing together (chorus). Diminished the lyrics. They would have had a hit, had the young lady sang solo. The Youngbloods version was haunting

[@johnyacoub69]

@@brianruyack7632 that’s a good explanation of the differences I was perceiving, but would’ve struggled to articulate. I mostly prefer the youngbloods version.

[@rationalthought9979]

It got to #31. Not terrible.

[@doofus0123]

I was today years old when I learned that they did a version of this. Outstanding!

[@LQOTW]

Same!

[@Torontotootwo]

It's always interesting how & why some performers shoot right to the top while others wither away. Bev had such a unique voice and style. She was top notch.

[@safffff1000]

She quit through self doubts with her looks

[@peterzang]

We called it talent

[@robomaster4882]

Kids listening to "music" today ask, "what's that"?

[@jeremyd1869]

Jerry wrote a book about the band, "Wounds to Bind," which is a good read for We Five fans.

[@ronmurphy5042]

Fantastic pioneers that were the foundation of such great music to come ❤

[@roybean7166]

First time hearing the band, except for their big hit. Am very impressed. Magnificent voice she had. Roy b, Cape Town, South Africa.

[@bobbybob3865]

Greeting from Seattle U.S.A. (Are you familiar with Trevor Noah? He was Born a Crime and describes his early years in South Africa in the book he wrote with that name.)

[@roybean7166]

​. Sure , I have heard of Trevor Noah. Everyone , except maybe those people living in the old, poor tribal areas, know Trevor Noah. Before he went to America he was big as a comedian here in South Africa. Incredible guy. Hilarious. Was always very popular here. I have not read the book, only extracts from it. He wrote it mainly for American audiences, and I think he " embellished " some stories ( if that is the correct word ). I remember something about going to the park with his mom and his dad who could not be with them, or the mother who had to make as if she was the domestic worker of the family, or something like that. Not sure if that would have been quite true, by thT time, late 80s, apartheid laws , or petty apartheid as we called it, was being repealed. I remember when the immorality act was thrown out, next day I walked from my home and saw my first young mixed race couple holding hands. They had probably been living together quietly , as was happening g in those days, the late 80s. In about early 70s, I was a young kid, I remember white farmers from a very conservative area commuting suicide. They had been caught having affairs with black women. Imagine that, killing yourself for having sex ?! I knew a woman , she and her sister came from a mixed race family. This is in Cape Town, which was always more enlightened than rest of country. When the National Party came to power, they broke up many of these families. Did what they called the Pencil Test. Stuck a pencil in the person's hair. If it fell out that person was classified white. Her brother had tight hair, pencil stuck in his hair, he was classified Coloured, had to go live in a Coloured area quite far from rest of family. He committed suicide. All crazy stories, but true. Trevor was born 1984, did not go through all that, as apartheid was by then slowly but surely being repealed. I was quite a good sprinter, in 1980s ran against all races. Previously this would not have been allowed. No wonder we were kicked out of Olympic movement in 1968. As for the country now, unfortunately we going through a tough time. The ANC government are disastrous. Massive corruption. Destroyed our electricity generation capacity, railways in shocking state, all government owned businesses stolen bankrupt. State owned hospitals are terrible. Huge unemployment. Officially about 38 %, probably much higher. Anyway, have a look on internet , photos about Cape Town, the city I live in. Almost the only city that works properly. Local government here is the opposition DA. Anyway greetings from Cape Town, also known as the Mother City. ! Roy b, CapeTown south africa 🇿🇦 @bobbybob3865

[@roybean7166]

​@@bobbybob3865 Not sure if you received my previous long reply about Noah, and everything here. Let me know if you could find it, just above this reply. Am going to read Trevor's book soon. Roy b, Cape ,town ,, South Africa 🇿🇦

[@bobbybob3865]

I figured you HAD heard of Trevor Noah but not to the extent that you've indicated here. (I WAS going to change the wording of my previous comment but didn't, but I DID certainly think you would have HEARD of Trevor Noah.) I used to see him a lot on the Internet and miss him now that he's gone--but I certainly think he was right in leaving while was on top and then moving on to something else. (From Trevor Noah's book, I learned about the pencil test and about a lot of other things that were common during the years of apartheid in South Africa.) I imagine that the difficult and deprived childhood that he had and the remarkable strength shown by his mother as together they faced the many obstacles to normal life that apartheid put in their way helped to bring about the humor that Trevor Noah sees in his upbringing and in the world of today. (Where I live now, I often fall quickly out of the Internet, so I will send this part to you now and, in maybe a half hour from now, type in the rest of my comment.)@@roybean7166

[@bobbybob3865]

Whatever it's worth, I was born and raised in a factory town near Chicago U.S.A. and went to the public schools there. Although our city was more than 50% black at that time, I never saw a black kid in school. (I am white, almost entirely of German descent with a little bit of Irish blood from my father's side of the family.) I have read a book about the politics and schools in my hometown. The public school system in the city worked to serve the needs of the people in the city and tried as much as possible to stay away from politics. The school system educated the children in each of its school's "catchment areas" and let the city government decide where the people of the various races and nationalities could live. When the city finally got a black mayor, the city began to become integrated and is now nearly 90% black or of Spanish descent. The mill is still producing steel--but often it's not high quality steel. Mills from other parts of the United States and from Germany, Japan, Indonesia and other countries can produce better steel. The mill in my hometown is over 100 years old and has been modernized very little in recent years. The result is that quality steel can often be obtained from other sources at less cost than the steel from the mill in my hometown regardless of the additional cost involved in shipping it to local users. Also, some of the other factories that used the steel made in my hometown and many of the businesses that sold their products or services to families of the millworkers have moved elsewhere. @@roybean7166

[@leemason4024]

What a voice!

[@harryseibert457]

Wow two years before the Youngbloods made this a hit!

[@18BIG78]

Still listening to my old neighbors. Sept 2022. Miss them. LIVE AN LOVE FOREVER

[@LQOTW]

Wow, they were your neighbors? Do tell! What was that time in your life like?

[@18BIG78]

@@LQOTW it was totally awesome 😎

[@18BIG78]

@@LQOTW you can shout at me anytime I'll tell you

[@18BIG78]

@@LQOTW it was awesome

[@maninthebuff]

Thanks for posting. I don't think I've seen this one before. Bev was the best.

[@emmabradford1740]

right?

[@jerryp.4459]

What a great rendition of this song and should have been a big hit for them. The Youngbloods had a hit with the song and did a great job of it, too, releasing their version a few years later when the country was in turmoil and the lyrics became a sort of mantra for the times.

[@waynekaminski5438]

The Youngblood's version was first released in 1967 as part of an album and went no higher than #62 on the Hot 100 chart. It got re-released in 1969, reaching #5 on the Hot 100 chart.

[@waynekaminski5438]

Wow, the song "Let's Get Together" sure got around, from Chet Powers to the Kingston Trio to We Five and then The Youngbloods (and after that by many other groups up to 2021 by Belinda Carlisle). The woman, Bev Bivins, is the only living member of the original group, and she only stayed in the group for under two years. I think she left in 1966. She was replaced by Debbie Graf Burgan (wife of acoustic guitarist Jerry Burgan). We Five went from a Grammy nomination in 1965 to disbanding by 1970.

[@MrMuncieman]

One of the most beautiful women ever period! Bev Bivens!

[@bobbybob3865]

People that angry would certainly make me want to love others. (A great group with songs having meaningful lyrics. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" is my favorite.)

[@iowa61]

MAN can she sing!

[@brockjohnson4116]

1st time hearing this version on the day that I had turned 5 on

[@MA_808]

Three weeks later I was in the Mekong Delta knee deep in the muck trying to stay alive and keep my buddies alive no thanks to President Lyndon Johnson. Please dont let people forget.

[@jimtownsend7899]

There was another group that did this song a few years later and had some success. A couple of those guys in the other group might have continued to go on in the music business, though nobody ever really remembered them.

[@thomasshoener2154]

The Youngbloods. They modified the words slightly, had a monster arrangement, and had a hit, 1967 and 1967.

[@jimtownsend7899]

@@thomasshoener2154 Thank You, Captain!

[@65motowngirl]

The Youngbloods. Ugh! How I hated their cover and resented the fact that it got so much airplay. The We Five was the first version of this song I heard in late 1965 and loved it. Hardly ever heard it played on the radio. Then two years later the Youngbloods come out with their slowed down crappy version and that’s all you heard.

[@rjmcallister1888]

Beverly Bivens. Sweet! The song would be retooled for the Youngbloods' 1968 hit.

[@robertmichalscheck3072]

Never heard this early version of this song before.

[@Flowmotion1000]

It just occurred to me that this is probably where Jefferson Airplane got their vocal sound from.

[@paxtonmusic9864]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing a few weeks ago. I like Grace Slick and The Airplane, but she could be a bit harsh sometimes. I told my wife that Bev Bivens is who Grace Slick wished she was.

[@Krose333]

These lyrics were about two years early in 1965.

[@russellcampbell9198]

Nice observation. Yep, resonated with the hippie philosophy.

[@michaelhughes432]

There was another good version of this song by Youngblood!

[@LQOTW]

I loved that song.

[@johnparker8588]

I’m crazy about that song but I’m crazy about her.

[@marcomartell8634]

This version is from 1965 and of course has not yet the influence of the Youngbloods

[@rosswalters9194]

Bev Bivens...fantastic. This song sung in an upbeat manner. The Youngbloods...drippy and slow. But then listeners are suckers for drippy.

[@65motowngirl]

How I LOVED this version from the first time I heard it in late 1965. I recorded it from a Detroit radio station ( as I did all the songs I loved in those days) on my Webcor tape recorder, which is long gone. When the Youngbloods came out with their crappy version I HATED it. Years later in the current age of KZbin and social media , every time this song came up it was the crap Youngbloods song that was played. I searched and searched and FINALLY found the We Five. The one I liked so many years ago.

[@kvernon1]

The consensus seems to be if you heard this version first, you tended to like it better -- and vice versa. But I don't think it's a crime to like the version by The Youngbloods. The advantage of singing it more slowly is that it allows the lyrics to register with the listener a little more. In the We Five version, they sing & play with conviction, but seem to be rushing at times -- especially the first part of the chorus (if I didn't already know the lyrics I wouldn't understand what they were saying). The Youngbloods also gave us three verses instead of two, giving us more music to enjoy.

[@ShunyamNiketana]

I like both versions, but then, I've tended to like any cover by We Five--Cast Your Fate to the Wind, Tonight, Favorite Things, You Were on My Mind, Somewhere, High Flying Bird, etc.

[@Torontotootwo]

Bev was a natural.

[@trinidadapodaca7027]

same group that just sang 'u were on my mind'

[@trinidadapodaca7027]

we five they played to church stuff in inglewwod

[@trinidadapodaca7027]

inglewood

[@amcken9316]

They played "You Were On My Mind". ;)

[@misterpeppercorn3078]

She was a babe! So cute!

[@saphy45-uu8rd]

I don't remember this. I remember a later version by The Youngbloods.

[@georgekrpan3181]

Hamilton Camp did a great cover of this too.

[@krisdunwoody7037]

With a Drummer, sometimes seen in other Videos, won't they have been called "The We Six", not "The We Five"?

[@photonotavailable7936]

❤👍🙂👏

[@jkline999]

Who plays the drums?

[@terrykrall]

Hahaha… it was the 60s…. Look into the reason…. The drummer was not one of the “five”.

[@AnthonyReichardt]

The backing tracks for the live music segments on Shindig! were recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood utilizing various ensembles of the Wrecking Crew. Drummers in the mix were: Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Frank Capp, Jim Gordon and Jesse Sailes.

[@bh5606]

Too bad Bev quit.

[@tomrogerlilleby2890]

The Hippie Movement wanted to swap The Youngblood's version of this song with "The Star Sprangled Banner" - and make it the new National Anthem of Amerika !

[@Kohntarkosz]

Are they lip synching? Where's the drummer?

[@EconAdviser]

Beverly Bivens is the only surviving member of the group.

[@doughartley3513]

Who is the bass player?

[@AnthonyReichardt]

Pete Fullerton

[@WilliamMurray-lr1bb]

she should have been bigger than Linda Ronstadt ..... much more talent and just as cute ! Was it bad promotion or Bev just didn't like the celebrity ?

[@jimtownsend7899]

Maybe if only she had a second pair of boots.

[@billgrey]

The band broke up just before the issue of their second album. She drifted to a couple of other bands for a bit and then quit the business..... I think mainly to attend to her new marriage.

[@ChrisM-zm4li]

Neither of those things are true

[@Glathgrundel]

She’s not a patch on Linda Ronstadt … and OK singer, but just not in the same league.

[@WilliamMurray-lr1bb]

Ronstadt once dated Gov. Jerry Brown and said he gave her crabs , no kidding . She's now 60lbs overweight and can't sing a note .... ha, ha,@@Glathgrundel

[@jamessuriet]

Love the song. Do you have clips of sandie shaw on shindig? Can you upload it?

[@Pimp-Master]

No amount of prodding could get this weird song to ever chart. Of course, finally it happened.

[@amcken9316]

#5 in Canada.

[@Clark-ml2ht]

What a shame should of went Solo

[@kkarllwt]

Some good lip syncing.

[@Local1Laborer]

It's live sugarlips

[@williardbillmore5713]

They are singing the wrong melody to a song we all know. Not good.

[@spankynater4242]

You were on my mind was better.

[@richarda996]

Sorry but this is terrible. At my age I still remember clear voices and instruments.

[@kvernon1]

I would categorize this as "raw", which is not the same as "terrible"; it's more just a matter of taste. Some love it, some don't.

[@Local1Laborer]

Incredible rendition!

[@Local1Laborer]

Someone needs to interview Bev Bivens before it's too late. She's amazing!

[@theothertroll]

They really butchered that classic 🤪