Customer Reviews

Youngbloods

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I love this album. A friend of mine at college played it for me in late '66, and it's been one of my most constant companions ever since. As with many bands of this period, the key is the wonderful tightness that grew out of playing together in little clubs night after night. Listen to the match of the voices of Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbett, and the constant interplay between Corbett's guitar, Banana Levinger's electric piano and guitar, Young's bass, and Joe Bauer's drums. Of course, the conventional wisdom now is that "Earth Music" (the second album) and "Elephant Mountain" (the third) are superior to this, but I can't hear it. "Get Together" was an international hit TWICE, in addition to being appropriated to innumerable Sixties soundtracks and anthologies. In addition, the album has the stunning electric version of Young's "Four in the Morning" (originally on the classic "Soul of a City Boy" solo folk album), plus the best of Corbett's country-tinged laments, "All Over the World" and "Tears are Falling," plus other great tracks. In the end, the band's great sin was in shedding its hard edge (Corbett) in favor of a rather cloying pastoralism. But on this debut album, the contradictions that would tear the band apart add an extra dimension to each selection. Highly recommended.

The Youngbloods is a classic, plain and simple. It is on my top 20 all time list of great albums. Jesse Colin Young's pure voice, coupled with Banana's solid playing, the vocals and guitar word of Jerry Corbitt, plus the drum work of Joe Bauer made for some terrific music. They just did two albums as a foursome before Corbitt happened (Whatever happened to him?)and the band was never as solid after that.
Thankfully we have these two. Of course, "Get Together" is the classic everyone identifies with the Youngbloods, but I really believe it is one many great songs on the album. In addition I've always loved the production of the album... everything is driven to the edge... just a bit of distortion on the bass, keyboard, and guitars.
I was one of about 25 people who showed up for a show they did at a place called "The Barn" in Sterling, Illinois just after the album had been released but before "Get Together" hit. They were solid, as good a band as I have ever seen.
This is another of those essential rock albums.

I've been looking for this album on CD in a casual way for a while. It's the first Youngbloods CD, recorded in a boiler room in NYC, before the band moved to California and mellowed out. "The Other Side of this Life" is a standout cut, but I really like the guitar work of Banana (Lowell Levinger) in any context. Jesse Colin Young was a wonderful bluesy singer in his early days. If you liked the band but haven't heard this record, it's worth a shot.

Beware of anything on the Edsel label. I recently purchased this album, and "Earth Music," and the audio quality is poor, at best. This is truly a perfect example of a lousy analog to digital transfer. Hopefully RCA will someday reissue both these albums themselves.

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various music supplies and recordings from the 60's and 70's.

The 1967 self-titled debut from Jesse Colin Young and the Youngbloods is often a contradiction. It contains as the forth song not a tune but an anthem that has been getting steady radio play for forty years. On the other side of the coin there are many that purchased the single of "Get Together" and let a terrific representation of the electric folk-rock sound slip from their hands.

There are a myriad of reasons why the first LP is as fresh sounding today as during the sensational sixties. Jesse's vocals have long been underrated. His voice is captivating as you look forward to ever verse. The band would have a nice niche on the west coast but actually cut their teeth in the New York to Boston regions. The bay area music community could sense the sincerity in the music and welcomed them throughout their career.

"Grizzelly Bear" opens the album and if you listen closely, it sounds very similar to the Rolling Stones -"It's All Over Now." The construction of the tune is a good foundation as the record continues. One of the most interesting cover versions the band would ever bring to fruition is track three. The Blind Willie McTell gem "Statesboro Blues." We all know the definitive version from the Allman Brothers, but the Youngbloods put such a unique spin on the arrangement you feel as if it is their own. The next song is an anthem. It will be in the rock and roll time capsule forever. "Get Together" written by Quicksilver Messenger Service member Dino Valente (Using the name Chet Powers) had seen acclaim on the wonderful debut record by the Jefferson Airplane. The J.A. called the tune "Let's Get Together." When the Youngbloods version was re-released in 1969, it did more than hit the singles charts. It touched the hearts of millions throughout the world. To this day if you listen to Classic Rock Radio it is an important staple of the play lists diet. Jesse's vocal performance is one of the finest vinyl had ever seen. Those that didn't freeze in their tracks were obviously lacking a heart and soul. There is another Jefferson Airplane connection found on track six 9"The Other Side Of This Life"). Paul Kantner had long been a fan of folk musician Freddie Neil and the Airplane performed the song live for many years. The Youngbloods vision of the tune is more electric in tempo and the lyrics almost sound (They are not) as if they are being improvised. When it was said and done, they paid homage to Freddie with a terrific rendition. "Four In The Morning" is a song of beauty. You can feel the pain radiate from Jesse's body as a plethora of events is not going well. Maybe the most overlooked track on the release and possibly the band would record.

Excluding bonus tracks (Why not I declare) the old warn out vinyl has been crying to be upgraded to CD and the only answer is "All Over The World" people are doing just that!

Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

"Grizzly Bear" is raucous ragtime rock . . . the boys certainly knew their 3 R's. But both Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band and Spider John Koerner did this sort of stuff much better. So did Country Joe and the Fish on 'I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die' and 'Together', and the Youngbloods themselves on their subsequent release 'Earth Music' . . . check out "Euphoria" and "The Wine Song" for starters.

"All Over the World" sounds almost like certain early Beatles album cuts, but only their third rate material; "Statesboro Blues" sounds like early Beatles covers of Chuck Berry. Both these songs are performed very competently: the sound has a good early Youngbloods edge to it.

"Get Together" was re-released as a single a couple of years after this album hit the charts, and became a worldwide anthem of the pro-love, anti-war generation. It's a really great song, and sounds completely different from anything else on this CD.

"One Note Man" is high quality, early country rock.

The rest of the record, however, is raw and rather difficult to listen to. This is true even on RCA's LP version; I don't think it's all Edsel Records' fault, as was suggested by one other reviewer. The recording/mixing engineer, and maybe the producer, just muffed it. There are songs here where they approach the sound of some of the cuts on 'Earth Music'; then again, even the playing and the composition don't ring as true to life as what they achieved on 'EM'. They sound like they're not quite warmed up . . . better offerings are still ahead.