President Obama Sings Al Green's 'Let's Stay Together'

By Stephen M. Silverman

01/20/2012 at 10:35 AM EST

Bill Clinton blasted a mean sax, Harry Truman and Richard Nixon tickled the ivories, Andrew Jackson strummed the banjo, and John Quincy Adams tooted the flute – only not very well, according to his Harvard classmates.

Thursday night, the current occupant of the White House, President Barack Obama, showed off his own musical skills by delivering a surprise serenade during a campaign fundraiser at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater.

With the song's originator, the Rev. Al Green, in the audience, the Chief Executive vocalized a few bars of "Let's Stay Together."



"I told you I was going to do it," Obama said after singing. "Sandman did not come out," he added, referring to the late Howard "Sandman" Sims, the vaudeville tap-dancer who would give the hook to unpopular acts on Showtime at the Apollo's amateur nights.

The crowd ate it up. But do you?