July 25, 1974, was a memorable day in my life. Rock and roll had become so popular that football stadiums were, for the first time, being used for concerts, and I and more than 60,000 others jammed into Denver’s Mile High Stadium with our $7.70 tickets to see Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The Beach Boys preceded CSNY’s incredible three-hour set, and the first act that night was Jesse Colin Young, who was riding high with a new Warner Brothers album Light Shine.
“The first thing I noticed was the altitude effects on my singing,” Young tells me today. “But the audience was so alive and responsive. It was great to go on first, so the anticipation to play was quickly resolved. I had time to see The Beach Boys and have always loved their music. But I was driving my band and family around in my RV, so I had to depart for the next gig before CSNY went on. It was such a great opportunity to be part of that line up of talent. I’ll never forget the high, playing to that crowd.”
There have been many highs in the career of Jesse Colin Young who is most known for covering Dino Valenti’s song “Get Together” with the Youngbloods and during his subsequent solo years. Young just released digitally, for the first time, his 10-song 1982 album The Perfect Stranger, which features songs he co-wrote with Michael McDonald, Danny O’Keefe and Wendy Waldman. Other artists performing on the album include Carly Simon, Timothy B. Schmit, Steve Lukather, Bill Payne, Robben Ford and Russ Kunkel.
Writing and recording The Perfect Stranger in 1980 was “a thrill-a-minute” for Young, he says, because he hadn’t previously co-written with top songwriters or recorded with top Los Angeles studio musicians. Writing songs with Michael McDonald, Wendy Waldman and Danny O’Keefe was “a dream come true” that “took me to musical places I had never been,” Young says.
Like Young, whose version of “Get Together” was a Top 10 song, O’Keefe is known for a single Top 10 song, “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.” They collaborated on “Night School,” the seventh song on The Perfect Stranger.
“Danny is a wonderful singer-songwriter, and his record Breezy Stories hooked me as a fan,” Young says. “It was natural for us to collaborate. I love all the ways he has told his stories musically. He has a unique and wry perspective.”
Young debuted as a professional songwriter with the release of his first album, Soul of a City Boy, in 1964. His musical talents were discovered while playing in clubs and coffeehouses in New York City’s Greenwich Village.
Young and his Youngbloods mates moved from the East Coast to the San Francisco area and released their self-titled debut album in 1967. The album contained “Get Together,” original songs and various cover songs, including ones written by Fred Neil, Jimmy Reed, Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Willie McTell.
The Youngbloods’ final album was 1972’s High on a Ridgetop, and then Young again became a solo artist. He lived for decades in California — a wildfire destroyed his home there in 1995 — and now lives in Aiken, South Carolina.
Two solo albums, 1973’s Song for Juli and 1974’s Light Shine, were praised by critics and became his best-selling albums.
I ask Young which song he wrote during his long career was his best composition.
“‘Darkness, Darkness’ was my archetypical song about loneliness and that empty feeling of not connecting with others,” says Young about the song that was the opening cut on the Youngbloods’ 1969 album Elephant Mountain. “I wrote it for my brothers and sisters who were drafted into the Vietnam War. Vets have told me that it helped them to know someone understood their predicament.”
Is there an album by another artist that Young cherishes more than any other?
“My Favorite Things by John Coltrane,” he answers. “The soprano sax playing and improvisation were exquisite. I didn’t know the sax could sound like that, and it influenced my singing.”
I mention to Young that I grew up in Glendale, Queens, in New York City and am surprised to hear that he spent his childhood in a neighboring section of the borough. I’m even more surprised to find out who were his school classmates.
“Kew Gardens was my area, and we played stickball with my sister and the neighbors,” Young recalls. “I went to school with Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel at P.S. 72 in fourth grade.”
Young released many solo albums through the years, and then, in 2009, medical problems halted his live performances. He was afflicted by a long-term, misdiagnosed illness that was later diagnosed as Lyme disease.
“Not sure where I picked it up, but the doctors think I’ve had the illness for decades,” Young explains. “Until my doctor found his cure, I was unable to tour and remember my lyrics. It was pretty devastating for a few years while I went through heavy antibiotic therapy, but I moved through this and was able to play with my youngest son Tristan and youngest daughter Jazzy these last few years. So, I feel pretty lucky.”
How does Young sum up his many contributions to the world of music?
“I was a reporter for my generation, speaking about my own growth and the concerns of what the world was doing around me,” he answers. “I hope I inspired others to engage in the world as well.”
Some musicians tire playing one hit song that brought them fame. I mention to Young that this has been the case with Loudon Wainwright and his 1972 novelty song “Dead Skunk.” Wainwright rarely performs the song, so I ask Young whether he might have similar sentiments.
“It is my honor and joy to play ‘Get Together,’” he responds. “And we still need it today.”
Love is but a song we sing
Fear’s the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Some may come and some may go
We will surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment’s sunlight
Fading in the grass
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now