"Abraham, Martin and John"
Side A of US single
Single byDion
from the album Dion
B-side	"Daddy Rollin' (In Your Arms)"
Released	August 1968
Recorded	Allegro Sound Studios; Engineer Bruce Staple
Genre	Folk rock
Length	3:15
Label	Laurie
Songwriter	Dick Holler
Producer	Phil Gernhard
Dion singles chronology
"Two Ton Feather" (1966) "Abraham, Martin and John" (1968) "Purple Haze" (1968)

"Abraham, Martin and John" is a 1968 song written byDick Holler. It was first recorded byDion, in a version that was a substantial North American chart hit in 1968–1969. Near-simultaneous cover versions bySmokey Robinson and the Miracles andMoms Mabley also charted in the U.S. in 1969, and a version that same year byMarvin Gaye became the hit version in the UK. It was also a hit as part of a medley (with "What the World Needs Now Is Love") forTom Clay in 1971, and has subsequently been recorded by many other artists. Holler was particularly impressed thatBob Dylan covered the song.^[1]

The song itself is a tribute to the memory of four assassinated Americans, all icons of social change:Abraham Lincoln,John F. Kennedy,Martin Luther King Jr., andRobert F. Kennedy. It was written in response to theassassination of King andthat of Robert Kennedy in April and June 1968, respectively.^[2]

Each of the first three verses features one of the men named in the song's title, for example:

Anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good, they die young;
I just looked around and he was gone.

After abridge, the fourth and final verse mentions "Bobby" (referencingRobert F. Kennedy), and ends with a description of him "walking over the hill" with the other three men.

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The original version, recorded byDion, featured a gentlefolk rock production fromPhil Gernhard and arrangement from John Abbott. The song features aflugelhorn, an electric organ, bass, drums, and harp.

Dion was a recovering heroin addict living in South Florida when Holler and Gernhard brought him the song, and had turned his career toward acoustic folk singing. Holler had written the song inSt. Petersburg, Florida, shortly after hearing about Robert Kennedy's death.^[3] Dion performed the song onThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in October 1968.^[4] Although it was quite unlike the rock sound that Dion had become famous for in the early 1960s, and even more unlike Holler and Gernhard's previous collaboration in the 1966 novelty smash "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron", "Abraham, Martin and John" nonetheless was a major American hit single in late 1968. It reached number 2 inCash Box, number 4 on theHot 100,^[3] and number 1 on Chicago stationWLS^[5] and was awarded anRIAAgold record for selling a million copies. InCanada, it topped the charts, reaching number 1 in theRPM 100 on November 25, 1968.^[6] In 2001, this recording would be ranked number 248 on theRIAA'sSongs of the Century list.^[7] The record was also popular with adult listeners, reaching number 8 on theBillboard Easy Listening survey. The personnel on the original recording includedVinnie Bell and Ralph Casale on guitar, Nick DeCaro on organ, David Robinson on drums, Gloria Agostini on harp, and George Marge onoboe andEnglish horn.

• Smokey Robinson & the Miracles recorded a version that became an AmericanTop 40 single in 1969, reaching number 33^[14] while reaching number 16 on the USR&B charts^[15]
• Marvin Gaye, with an orchestral arrangement byNorman Whitfield, also recorded a version in 1969 that became a top-10 hit (reaching number 9) in the United Kingdom in 1970 (Gaye's version was never released in the U.S. as a single but was featured on his 1970 album,That's the Way Love Is, and was one of his first experiments with social messages in his music which would culminate in his 1971 album,What's Going On.)
• ComedianMoms Mabley performed a completely serious version that hit the U.S. Top 40. It reached number 35 in July 1969 and number 18 on the R&B charts, making Mabley (at 75) the oldest living person to have a U.S. Top 40 hit.^[16][17]
• Ray Charles recorded his version of the song on his 1972 albumA Message from the People.
• Wilson Pickett recorded a variation of the song, "Cole,Cooke &Redding" (US number 91 / Canada number 58), as the B-side of his 1970 version ofThe Archies' hit "Sugar, Sugar". His version altered the lyrics to eulogize the titular three deceased icons ofblack music.
• Whitney Houston performed the song in 1997 in her concert seriesClassic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C..

The song is also featured onTom Clay's 1971 "What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin, and John", a medley combining Dion's recording withJackie DeShannon's recording ofBurt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now Is Love", along with vocals by The Blackberries. Clay's recording features narration (an adult asking a child to define several words associated with social unrest), sound bites from speeches given by PresidentJohn F. Kennedy,Robert F. Kennedy, andMartin Luther King Jr., along with sound bites from the live press coverage of Robert Kennedy's assassination, and his eulogy by his brotherEdward M. Kennedy. It reached number 8 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart^[18] on August 14, 1971, and number 32 on the R&B charts.^[19] It reached number 3 in Australia.^[20]

• Civil rights movement in popular culture
• Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln
• Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy
• Robert F. Kennedy in media

• Collins, Ace.Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs. HarperResource, 2003.ISBN 0060513047

• Abraham Martin and John - by song's writer, Richard Holler
• Dion - Abraham Martin and John

• 1968 songs
• 1968 singles
• 1969 singles
• 1971 singles
• Songs written by Dick Holler
• American folk rock songs
• American patriotic songs
• Commemoration songs
• Songs about Abraham Lincoln
• Songs about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
• Songs about Martin Luther King Jr.
• Works about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
• Dion DiMucci songs
• Marvin Gaye songs
• The Miracles songs
• Laurie Records singles
• Tamla Records singles
• Mercury Records singles
• RPM Top Singles number-one singles

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