(New York) – In honor of Human Rights Day on Saturday, December 10, Amnesty International will premiere Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/amnestyusa). The 4-disc collection – set for release on January 24, 2012, in North America and January 30 internationally – contains 76 newly recorded Bob Dylan songs by more than 80 artists. Chimes of Freedom can be pre-ordered starting December 10 at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/chimes.
A special two-disc version of Chimes of Freedom will be available at Starbucks beginning January 24, while supplies last. This special edition, curated by Starbucks, will feature a total of 31 tracks.
Individuals who “Like” Amnesty International USA on Facebook (www.facebook.com/amnestyusa) will be able to stream the entire collection for a 24-hour period beginning Saturday at 11 a.m. EST/8 a.m. PST. In addition, on Saturday RollingStone.com will post exclusive in-the-studio footage of Ke$ha, Pete Townshend and We Are Augustines.
The album premieres as Amnesty International’s annual Write for Rights event – the world’s largest human rights event – are underway with tens of thousands of people worldwide participating. Information: http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon.
Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International featuressongs by such artists 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 * Angelique Kidjo * Diana Krall * Kronos Quartet * Lenny Kravitz * Bettye LaVette * Taj Mahal * Mariachi El Bronx * My Morning Jacket * Joe Perry * Pete Seeger * Sinéad O’Connor * Rise Against * Carly Simon * Patti Smith * The Belle Brigade * Lucinda Williams * Evan Rachel Wood. For the full track listing, visit http://www.amnestyusa.org/chimes.
Music executives Jeff Ayeroff and Julie Yannatta are the executive producers of Chimes of Freedom, the same role they fulfilled on “Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur,” the successful 2007 collection of John Lennon solo compositions performed by major artists including U2, Green Day and R.E.M.
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 International encourages people who are inspired by Dylan’s music to join with their 3 million activists worldwide who are taking action to protect human rights. Individuals who are threatened or imprisoned are highlighted on the album webpage: http://www.amnestyusa.org/chimes, along with actions people can take to bring about change.
This can be as simple as writing a letter of support to a “prisoner of conscience” – someone jailed for the non-violent expression of their beliefs – or tweeting or emailing governments to persuade them to change repressive laws or practices.
The highlighted individuals include Jabbar Savalan, an unjustly imprisoned internet activist from Azerbaijan; women fighting for justice in Zimbabwe; the victims of massive oil pollution in Nigeria; the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo in China and Reggie Clemons, a death row inmate in Missouri, who, like Troy Davis before him, was convicted despite a flawed case including no physical evidence tying him to the murders.
