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The Youngbloods were an American folk-rock group originally formed in the 60s by frontman Jesse Colin Young.
By the time of their third album, guitarist Jerry Corbitt had left the group, leaving them as a threesome - Jesse Colin Young (vocals/bass/guitar), Lowell Levinger (guitar/keyboards) and Joe Bauer (drums). Elephant Mountain (produced by Charlie Daniels) has come to be viewed as their best work, most notably featuring the dark folk-rock classic "Darkness, Darkness" (with violin from David Lindley of Kaleidoscope). Elsewhere the album had a diverse mix of folk, blues, jazz and rock. It included several instrumentals, many of which leaned towards a sophisticated jazz-rock fusion sound, with Lowell Levinger's wurlitzer electric piano particularly prominent (plus some vibraphone from British jazz musician Victor Feldman).
The album didn't do particularly well on the charts, despite its good critical reception. However the same year of its release saw their earlier recording of Dino Valenti's "Get Together" (from their debut album) being used in TV and radio adverts. It was subsequently re-released, and gave the band a top 5 hit.
Earth Music (1968) <|> Rock Festival (1970)
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The Youngbloods were an American folk-rock group originally formed in the 60s by frontman Jesse Colin Young.
The Youngbloods' second album, Earth Music, expanded on the folk-rock sound of their debut, and featured the same line-up of Jesse Colin Young, Jerry Corbitt, Lowell Levinger and Joe Bauer. It mixed different psychedelic rock, folk, country, blues and jazz flavours into a cohesive yet diverse whole, with lots of great electric piano from Lowell Levinger (who also played pedal steel on a couple of songs). The songs were mostly band originals, but it did include covers of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business", The Holy Modal Rounders' "Euphoria" and Tim Hardin's "Reason To Believe".
The Youngbloods (1967) <|> Elephant Mountain (1969)
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The Youngbloods were an American folk-rock group originally formed in the 60s by frontman Jesse Colin Young.
Jesse Colin Young was already an established folk singer in New York City, with two LPs under his belt, when he met multi-instrumentalist and former bluegrass musician Jerry Corbitt and formed The Youngbloods (named after one of Young's solo albums). Originally a duo, they soon expanded into an electric rock band, with the lineup of Young (bass/vocals), Corbitt (lead guitar/harmonica/vocals) Lowell Levinger (guitar/piano) and Joe Bauer (drums).
Released in 1967 on RCA Records, their debut album was heavy on cover material, including numbers by singer-songwriters Fred Neil, Dino Valenti, Paul Arnoldi and George Remailly, plus several well-known blues songs. There were only four originals, two by Young and two by Corbitt (including Corbitt's jug-band styled "Grizzly Bear", which had moderate successs as a single). Their roots in folk and blues were very much evident at this point, but their sound also had similarities with many of the west-coast psychedelic bands of the time. Indeed both Neil's "The Other Side Of This Life" and Valenti's "Get Together" were also covered by Jefferson Airplane. Also of note was Levinger's use of the Wurlitzer electric piano, which was quite unique for a rock band of their time.
Released as the second single, "Get Together" didn't originally sell well, but was re-released two years later and reached the top five, subsequently becoming a counter-culture anthem.
|> Earth Music (1968)
More from The Youngbloods
Download
By the time of their third album, guitarist Jerry Corbitt had left the group, leaving them as a threesome - Jesse Colin Young (vocals/bass/guitar), Lowell Levinger (guitar/keyboards) and Joe Bauer (drums). Elephant Mountain (produced by Charlie Daniels) has come to be viewed as their best work, most notably featuring the dark folk-rock classic "Darkness, Darkness" (with violin from David Lindley of Kaleidoscope). Elsewhere the album had a diverse mix of folk, blues, jazz and rock. It included several instrumentals, many of which leaned towards a sophisticated jazz-rock fusion sound, with Lowell Levinger's wurlitzer electric piano particularly prominent (plus some vibraphone from British jazz musician Victor Feldman).
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