This was a really interesting story that I heard on the radio today as I went into work.

Mark Johnson got an idea a few years ago when he heard Roger Ridley playing on the streets of Santa Monica, CA. His idea was to bring musicians together from around the world… but not physically. Instead he’d bring them together through music.

He started by recording Ridley on the streets of Santa Monica playing “Stand by Me”. Then he showed the video to Grandpa Elliot of New Orleans who added to this song with his own unique touch. From there it went to Africa, the Himalaya and further.

Here’s the story “Playing for Change: Songs Around the World”:

Morning Edition, May 4, 2009 – Until a video of “Stand by Me” had gone viral on YouTube, Roger Ridley had sung and played guitar anonymously on the streets of Santa Monica, Calif., for years. The video begins with Ridley and then mixes in 40 other musicians from around the world. It’s part of a 10-song collection called Playing for Change: Songs Around the World.

Producer Mark Johnson got the idea a few years ago when he heard Ridley’s voice on a street in Santa Monica.

“I approached him after the performance and said, ‘Hey, if I come back in an hour with some recording equipment and cameras, I’d love to record you, film you, add musicians around the world to it,’ ” Johnson says. “And he looked at me really funny, sort of thought I was crazy. But he said, ‘OK, if you come back, we’ll do it.’ ”

Another strong voice on “Stand by Me” is Grandpa Elliot, a staple of the New Orleans street scene, where he’s been playing since age 6.

“You know, in New Orleans it’s interesting, because a lot of the best musicians play on the streets,” Johnson says. “And so Grandpa [Elliot] is known by everybody in New Orleans as one of its greatest musicians and an icon of New Orleans music.”

These are just two of the many voices and instruments heard on Playing for Change. The song always starts with Ridley, then Johnson puts headphones on Grandpa Elliot in New Orleans, then plays those recordings for a tribe of Zuni Indians to add a drum, and on and on for a total of “37 other musicians that never met around the world.”

This is what the world needs.