LAY DOWN (Candles In The Rain) FULL RECORDING Melanie & The Edwin Hawkins Singers ('70)

In tribute to Peter Schekeryk (the Record Man), creator of this 8-minute record. Peter made the call to Edwin Hawkins, leader of the gospel group. They had just come off their hit &quot;Oh Happy Day.&quot; Peter was in high gear talking Edwin Hawkins’s ear off. Then out of nowhere he said, “Here....Melanie wants to talk to you.” I looked at him in horror as I put the phone to my ear. <br> <br>Earlier I had said, “Peter, wouldn't it be great if the Edwin Hawkins Singers sang on Candles In The Rain?&quot; He was off and running. He orchestrated the whole thing. We flew out to Oakland, California where they were rehearsing in a high school gym. They only do nonsecular music, I thought…couldn’t believe he got me into this! <br> <br>When we walked in they were in the middle of a song. They trailed off and all looked at me. A white girl with a guitar and a wildly gesticulating man standing next to her. <br> <br>Peter ran up to Edwin Hawkins who was playing the piano. <br>What I'm certain of is that he wasn't apologizing for barging in on their rehearsal. I thought Peter had prearranged this meeting. Apparently it was a surprise visit! <br> <br>So in this spirit of (&quot;I wish I could crawl under a seat and hide&quot;) I sang my heart out on a solo version of “Lay Down.” When I got to the second chorus, the Edwin Hawkins Singers joined in. <br> <br>The rest is, as they say, history. <br>https://www.patreon.com/MelanieSafka