Jesse Collin Young, whose vocals for Youngblood as the frontman of a folk rock band, voiced 1960s counterculture, passed away on Sunday at his home in Aiken, South Carolina
Young’s spokesperson Michael Jensen confirmed Monday with the Times that the 83-year-old musician has died of a heart attack.
Young had just written his autobiography, and was in the process of writing a children’s book, and finished working on songs for the record of future youths, Jensen said.
“He was an incredibly active man,” Jensen said. “He has been a client for many years, and more importantly, he was one of the most amazing people on the whole planet. He is a great man and I am heartbroken.”
Young got off to a start in the New England music scene in the ’60s, releasing his first solo record, “The Soul of A City Boy.” He began playing gigs at Club 47. At the time, he was known as the centre of folk music revival, a career breakthrough due to the high-profile DJ, who played “Four in the Morning.”
While playing the Boston club scene, he meets guitarist Jerry Corbitt, and the two decide to start a band, Youngblood.
In 1967 Youngblood released a self-titled album. This peaked at number 131 on the Billboard 200. Two years later, the single “Get Gither” reached number five after being featured in the announcement of public services by the National Congress of Christians and Jews.
In a 2018 interview, Young told Arts Hughes that he knew he had to “gather and record” after hearing performer and songwriter Buzzy Linhart sing it during the open mic at Cafe au Go Go Go in Greenwich Village.
“Gather” called for chorus, peace and unity.
“I quickly said behind the scenes, ‘Oh, I need the lyrics. I love that song. I want it to be rehearsed with young blood.’ And the rest is history,” Young told the outlet.
The hopeful message of the song has endured for decades. It was featured in the film “Forrest Gump,” the TV show “The Simpsons,” and even the Walmart commercial.
Young didn’t write “Gather,” but he wrote many of Youngblood’s other songs, including “Sugar Baby,” “Quick Sand,” and “Darkness Darkness.”
Youngblood moved from New York to Northern California in 1967, and Young eventually settled in Marin County, where he lived in 1995. Young wrote the popular song “Ridge Top” about his beloved home.
In 2023, the young documentary, “High on a Ridgetop,” filmed in the Bay Area in the early 1970s, was screened at the Grammy Museum.
When Youngblood broke up in 1972, Young began his solo career, recording over 15 albums. He stopped playing in 2012 while battling Lyme disease, but eventually returned to the stage. His last album, “Dreamers,” was released in 2019.
He told the Peninsula Daily News in a 2018 interview that his desire for performance rekindled when he traveled to Boston to meet his son Tristan’s senior recital at Berklee College of Music.
“It just blew me away,” he told the newspaper. “The light that came out in my mind came back. I thought, ‘I have to play with some of these young people before I leave the planet.’ ”
Young was survived by his wife and manager Connie Darden Yong and children Tristan Young, Jazzy Young, Julie Young and Cheyenne Young.
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