Customer Reviews

Youngbloods/Earth Music/Elephant Mountain

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being a Youngbloods fan since the late '60s and a Jesse Colin Young "solo" fan from the 1970s on, I've never been completely satisfied with his former band's CDs. The sound (that is, the mastering/remastering) was usually lifeless and, in the case of the various "hits" compilations, one or more of my favorite tracks would often miss the final cut.

This 2-disc set from BGO, which presents the band's first three albums in their entirety, solves both problems. The sound has as much punch as the single-disc 2002 comp, "Get Together: The Essential Youngbloods" on RCA/BMG Heritage. Plus, because this 2-disc set covers three full albums, I get several of my favorite tracks that were omitted from that other disc ("Smug" and "Tears Are Falling" to name just two). This 2-disc set also sounds much better than the 1999 release from One Way/BMG Special Products that piggybacked their first album (alternately called "The Youngbloods" or "Get Together") and "Elephant Mountain" on one disc.

The Youngbloods' albums for Warner Brothers in the early 1970s had their moments, but in retrospect the band's best work and strongest songs were on the three RCA albums presented here on these two discs. I agree with the one reviewer who said if "Get Together" is all you desire, then get a less expensive disc to get your one song. (Personally, I don't even think that's their best song, though it remains their best-known one; I'd rate "Darkness, Darkness" a notch or two above it. But I also think their version of "Get Together" is far better than anyone else's.)

John Tobler, a prolific and highly respected pop music historian/writer for several decades now, provides the liner notes.

So here's the upshot of my review: If you're an older fan who listens to the Youngbloods at least periodically and you want an upgrade, this is the CD you want. If you're a younger fan who's at least familiar with "Get Together" and/or "Darkness, Darkness" and you want to delve deeper into their canon, this CD is all you'll need.

"Darkness Darkness" is one of the all time great songs, and has been playing in my head for 30 years. So when I went looking for it on Amazon and found this RE-Mastered version of the Youngbloods three albums, I was ecstatic. Listen to the samples and you will be hooked.
I rated it a 4 star because obviously you don't get the full benefit of the old stereo mixing, but they did a good job on the remix. I would have given it a 5-star for content and nostalgia and talent alone. Re-mixes are so much better than just Album-to-CD recordings, but still can't quite get the essence and nuances. Priced under $25.00, I'd say you need this for your Memory Lane.

To those who knew their LPs when they were first released, and knew then that they were better than many of their contemporaries in so-called "folk-rock" -- including the overrated, bloated, boring "does this song ever end!?" "Grateful Dead" -- this is exactly that for which you've been waiting: their first three LPs, complete.

'Nuff said.

And the mastering is excellent.

Though I'll miss their full-sized covers, out goes the worn out vinyl!

First off let me say that the sound quality of this reissue is FANTASTIC. It sounds so much better then my old vinyl and any earlier CD reissue. I gave this 5 stars, but only The Youngbloods first album deserves it. That debut still stands the test of time. The playing and material is as good, if not better, then everything else from the era ('66-'67). The mix of rock, blues and folk music on that debut has the sound of an exciting, stage-honed set. Their second album, Earth Music, would rate 3 stars. Only half of Earth Music sounds as good as their 1st (those tunes sound like they were recorded at the same sessions as the first). The other half of Earth Music sounds like demos and outtakes. Elephant Mountain would only get 2 stars...even though my all-time favorite Youngbloods song comes from that album...the incredible, Darkness, Darkness. There are three outstanding songs on Elephant Mountain....Darkness, Darkness, Beautiful and Ride The Wind...those three are up there with the best The Youngbloods ever recorded. Unfortunitly, the rest of that album has the feel and sound of a band that lost its focus. OK, that being said, I still think this set is a "must-have" for collectors of late 60's and early 70's American music. When The Youngbloods nailed it...they nailed it right to the wall.

Between the comments and most of the reviews, my response is well-covered. So let me emphasize a few thoughts: 1) I always loved this band, and was sad to see Corbitt leave after "Earth Music." But that's the way these things go with strong personalities; I think JC leavened a little bit of JCY's sweetness for the better. IOW, I would have loved the original quartet to continue. (I think a negative by-product of the change is "Sir Francis Drake," a riff and a jam given legitimacy and, IMHO, something that might have shown up on the reissued "Elephant Mountain" along with the other outtakes, but not on the original LP.) 2) I have never understood reviews like, "if only they were Band B instead of Band A." Band B (in this case, the Dead) started out like a Spoonful-ish jug band but left that territory in a hurry; after the first official Dead album, they and the 'Bloods (Band A) are in different worlds altogether. As was said by others, the 'Bloods and the Spoonful are close in psyche and style (and somewhere someone compared them to Cat Mother, a brilliant observation).
3) Can we all agree to accept that an analog recording digitized CANNOT and WILL NOT sound like the analog recording? Sampling a sound turns it into thousands of numbers, like a superparticular digital TV broadcast (in theory, at least). The human ear hears analogically, period; that why so many digitized versions of analog recordings lack acoustic warmth: they force our ears to make sense of thousands of numbers, which our ears can't really do. What we miss then is what I call "room tone" (I don't claim coinage rights to this term, but I've always used it), and it's missing from digital recordings and digitalizations (unless someone has figured out a way to "suppress" the "unnatural" aspects of digitalization). I think it's one thing to remind people that analog does not equal digitalization, but it's another to downgrade the record itself, as if the sins of the technological children fall on their technological ancestors (to bloat a metaphor into infinity).
The rant endeth. The 'Bloods are WAY more than "Get Together." Sorry that Joe's gone. The great stuff came with RCA, for better or worse. "Grizzely Bear" forever....

Then this compilation is what you've been waiting for. Nothing new here, of course, but good, clean digital renditions of the three best Youngbloods albums. A welome change from my scratchy, worn-out vinyls of the 60s. The Youngbloods weren't all that well known even in the Sixties, but I always enjoyed their music and most of it has worn quite well. You can't lose on this set.

This CD captures the complete essence of the Youngbloods. This compilation
has it all as far as the Youngbloods musical influence on the 60's music
scene. Unrivaled and unmatched simplicity and musical excellence. This CD
has it all.

The Youngbloods/ The Youngbloods, Earth Music, Elephant Mountain (2 CD): Three original Youngbloods albums on 2 CDs. Having had a small hits album for years, I realized that I was hungering for more from this great group. This CD is wonderful in that it satisfies that hunger. I could listen to Jesse Colin Young sing all day, and with this set, I practically can.

If you don't know this group, check them out. I bought it because it had "One Note Man," a lovely song
I liked from the 60's and not easily found. Overall, a very good compilation of one of the seminal
60's folk-rock bands.

If you are here, you are probably already a fan, and you can see by the other reviewers this is a great combination. The only thing you need or maybe want to know at this point is, does it SOUND good. The answer is yes! The production value is just fine, I'm pretty picky about my sound, and I was relieved to hear that this sounds quite good.