Jesse Colin Young, the singer-songwriter who led the rock band The Youngbloods, has died. He was 83.
The group’s biggest hit “Get Together” was initially released in 1967, but received renewed interest after being used in a radio announcement by the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1969, reaching the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Young’s soulful vowel and the seduction of the song that ‘everyone is gathering’ and ‘try to love each other now’ made it a national anthem of the hippie era.
Young’s wife and manager Connie Young announced on Sunday that he had died at home in Aiken, South Carolina, according to the The Hollywood Reporter,
Young was born on November 22, 1941, Perry Miller in Queens, New York. His parents, originally from Lynn, Massachusetts, were both fans of classical music and encouraged their son to learn the piano.
In 1959 he won a scholarship to attend Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and study there classic guitar there until he was suspended. He attended Ohio State University for a semester, but later transferred to the University of New York so that he could act as part of the emerging Greenwich Village Folk Scene.
He chose a stage name that combined the Outlaws Jesse James and Cole Younger, and Colin Chapman, founder of the Lotus Sports Car Company.
Young released his debut album, The soul of a city boyin 1964 and the follow -up Young blood in 1965.
Young met when folk guitarist Jerry Corbitt and the couple decided to form a duo known as the Youngbloods to tour Canada. They later added the guitarist and pianist Lowell “Banana” Lephering and drummer Joe Bauer to the group and became the home group for the Cafe Au Go Go Night Club in Greenwich Village.
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In 1967 the group released their debut album The young blood. The record contains their version of “Get Together”, written by singer-songwriter Chet Powers. The song became their signature.
The group released a second album Earth music Just a few months later he became productive and released three more albums in the next few years: Elephant Mountain In 1969, Good and dusty in 1971 and High on a rant sheet in 1972.
After the band was divided, Young continued as a solo artist. He recently released another 15 solo albums Dreamers In 2019.
He is married twice. He had two children, Juli and Cheyenne, with his first wife Suzi Yong. Juli was the subject of the title song from Young’s fourth and most successful solo album, 1973s Song for July.
Young met his second wife, Connie Darden, in the 1980s. They also have two children, Tristan and Jazzie, who are both musicians.
