Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has joined other artists in re-recording Graham Nash‘s “Chicago.” The new recording is part of an effort to help British computer hacker Gary McKinnon avoid extradition to the United States.
Bob Geldof and Chrissie Hynde also appear on the track, which was produced by Chris Thomas (“Dark Side of the Moon”).
McKinnon is accused of causing more than a half-million dollars of damage by hacking into nearly 100 federal and military computers in the United States. McKinnon, who is a UFO fanatic, says he was looking for evidence of extra-terrestrial life.
McKinnon has Asperger’s syndrome, which has turned his plight into a wider discussion of treatment of those with autism.
Nash’s song, written in the aftermath of the conflict at the 1968 Democratic party convention in Chicago and subsequent trial of the “Chicago Seven,” has been rewritten by KcKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp, to include new lyrics.
You can download the song here after making a donation of any size to benefit McKinnon’s cause. Funds go to the Autism Research Centre (ARC) and the National Autistic Society (NAS).
