Jesse Colin Young, the singer-songwriter who led the rock band the Youngbloods, has died. He was 83.
The band’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, and went on to reach the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Young’s soulful vocal and the song’s entreaty that “Everybody get together” and “Try to love one another right now” made it an anthem of the hippie era.
Young’s wife and manager Connie Young announced he died at home in Aiken, South Carolina on Sunday, in a statement to The Independent.
Young was born Perry Miller in Queens, New York on November 22, 1941. His parents, originally from Lynn, Massachusetts, were both fans of classical music and encouraged their son to learn piano.
In 1959, he won a scholarship to attend Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and studied classical guitar there until he was expelled. He attended Ohio State University for a semester, but later transferred to New York University so that he could perform as part of the burgeoning 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 Boy, in 1964 and the follow-up Young Blood in 1965.
Young then met folk guitarist Jerry Corbitt and the pair decided to form a duo known as the Youngbloods to tour Canada. They later added guitarist and pianist Lowell "Banana" Levinger and drummer Joe Bauer to the group, becoming the house band for the Cafe Au Go Go night club in Greenwich Village.
In 1967, the group released their debut album The Youngbloods. The record included their version of “Get Together”, which had been written by the singer-songwriter Chet Powers. The song became their signature hit.
The group released a second album Earth Music just a few months later and became prolific, releasing three more albums in the next few years: Elephant Mountain in 1969, Good and Dusty in 1971 and High on a Ridge Top in 1972.
After the band split, Young continued as a solo artist. He released 15 more solo albums, most recently Dreamers in 2019.
He was 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, 1973’s Song for Juli.
Young met his second wife, Connie Darden, in the 1980s. They also have two children, Tristan and Jazzie, who are both musicians.
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