Press releases
Forthcoming 76-song Bob Dylan tribute album streaming on Facebook for Human Rights Day
*Pre-orders begin today for four-CD collection
*Studio footage of Ke$ha, Pete Townshend and We Are Augustines posted at www.RollingStone.com
To mark International Human Rights Day (Saturday 10 December) Amnesty International is premiering Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International on Facebook (http://goo.gl/Uj6r8) for 24 hours only.
The four-disc collection - set for release on 24 January 2012 in North America, and on 30 January in the UK - contains 76 newly-recorded Bob Dylan songs by more than 80 artists. Chimes of Freedom can be pre-ordered from today at: www.amnestyusa.org/chimes.
Individuals who “Like” Amnesty International USA on Facebook will be able to stream the entire collection for a 24-hour period beginning today at 4pm (Saturday). In addition RollingStone.com is posting exclusive studio footage of Ke$ha, Pete Townshend and We Are Augustines, three of the artists from the collection.
Chimes of Freedom features songs by performers such as Adele, Bad Religion, Joan Baez, Dierks Bentley, Jackson Browne, Johnny Cash, Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli, Marianne Faithfull, Bryan Ferry, Neil Finn with Pajama Club, Michael Franti, Diana Krall, Kronos Quartet, My Morning Jacket, Pete Seeger, Sinéad O'Connor, Carly Simon, Patti Smith and Lucinda Williams (for the full track listing: http://goo.gl/CEKzl).
Helen Garrett, director of special projects for Amnesty International, said:
"Chimes of Freedom is an abundance of riches. It's fair to say that the collection shows how deeply musicians feel about the beauty of Dylan's music - across generations - and how passionate they are about supporting human rights.
“We hope all of their fans will be inspired, too, and engage with millions of activists around the globe to protect the rights of people everywhere."
Chimes of Freedom is dedicated to the thousands of people worldwide who are imprisoned or threatened for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. Amnesty encourages people who are inspired by Dylan’s music to join their three million activists worldwide who are taking action to protect human rights. The album premieres as Amnesty supporters globally mark Human Rights day by participating in a “Write for Rights” letter writing campaign (see: http://goo.gl/CKBJW), a back-to-basics mass-letter appeal on behalf of people or groups around the world suffering human rights violations. The campaign is supported in the UK by Stephen Fry and numerous other public figures.