Each of the first three verses features one of the men named in the song's title, for example: After a bridge, the fourth and final verse mentions Robert "Bobby" Kennedy, and ends with a description of him walking over a hill with the other three men.
Dion recording
The original version, recorded by Dion, featured a gentle folk rock production from Phil Gernhard and arrangement from John Abbott. The feeling of the song is set with a gentle English horn and violin opening then featuring harp flourishes at multiple points, including the instrumental conclusion. The song also features a flugelhorn, an electric organ, bass, and drums. Dion felt during post production that the song needed more depth and added a track featuring him playing classical guitar notably at the bridge, lead ins, and the close. 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 #4 on the U.S. pop singles chart and was awarded an RIAAgold record for selling a million copies. In Canada, it topped the charts, reaching #1 in the RPM 100 on November 25, 1968. In 2001 this recording would be ranked number 248 on the RIAA's Songs of the Century list. The record was also popular with adult listeners, reaching #8 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey. The personnel on the original recording included Vinnie Bell and Ralph Casale on guitar, Nick DeCaro on organ, David Robinson on drums, Gloria Agostini on harp, and George Marge on oboe and English horn.
Marillion released two versions in 1999. A live recording was on their Unplugged at the Walls album, and a studio version on their fanclub Christmas CD the same year.
Wilson Pickett recorded a variation of the song, "Cole, Cooke & Redding", as the B-side of his version of The Archies' hit "Sugar, Sugar".
As part of medleys
The song is also featured on Tom Clay's 1971 "What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin, and John", a medley combining Dion's recording with Jackie DeShannon's recording of Burt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now Is Love", along with vocals by The Blackberries. Clay's recording features narration, sound bites from speeches given by President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., along with sound bites from the live press coverage of Robert Kennedy's assassination, and his eulogy by his brother Edward M. Kennedy. It reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on August 14, 1971 and #32 on the R&B charts. In 1997, Whitney Houston sang a rendition of "Abraham, Martin and John" that aired on VH1 and HBO: Whitney Houston: Live Washington DC.
