what Frank is listening to #38 – JESSE COLIN YOUNG – Songbird – (Warner Brothers) – 1975
Jesse Colin Young was a folkie who formed the legendary band "The Youngbloods" before going solo again. I have all the Youngbloods albums (about seven … their masterpiece is "Elephant Mountain" (1969) which is one of the best albums of the late 60s IMHO – it was a op shop special I bought in the mid 80s, which totally blew me away and sent me off looking for their other albums, which, in the days before the internet, were as rare as hens teeth over here in the antipodes ... I found most of them in the States when I was over there (though none were as good as "Elephant Mountain")).
Young resurrects "Josianne" and "Sugarbabe" from his Youngbloods days (the latter track is a bona fide classic) and does them well here in these "solo" versions. Lyrically, some of the songs are topical, like "Before You Came" (about Native Americans), whilst some are personal like "Slick City" (a response to the critics) and "Again" (about a failed romance) but what I like most about his lyrics are they are deceptively simple, even innocent, but not necessarily naive.
The album went to #26 in the US – his highest solo LP placing.
Best Tracks:
- Before You Came
- Again
- Slick City
- Till You Come Back Home (some nice fiddle)
- Sugar Babe – a stripped back version
- Motorhome – a bit "jug band" like the early "Youngbloods" LPs … and lyrically it's like something from The Kinks 1972 opus "Everybody's is Showbiz"
Sound:
The Youngbloods:
their most well known track, though a bit to "give peace a chance" for me (this is from 1967 and it charted again in 1969 – #5US)
(live late 70s"No Nukes")
Others:
And a cover:
Website:
you can see from his site he is still a committed 60s activist – back to the earth, hand made and not machine made, organic, yadda yadda (all noble)
I'm a keepin this one … peace brother.
(originally posted: 30/05/2009)
