Jesse Colin Young, the singer, songwriter and founding member of the Youngbloods, the 1960s group best known for their top 10 hit “Get Together,” has died. He was 83.
Young died Sunday in his home in Aiken, South Carolina, his wife and manager, Connie Young, announced.
As the frontman of the Youngbloods, Young brought forth the ideals of the Woodstock generation with his band’s version of Chet Powers’ “Get Together.” The song, which called for peace and brotherhood, came off their debut album in 1967 and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 two years later.
After the group’s breakup in 1972, Young thrived as a solo artist, releasing albums that mixed socially conscious lyrics with outstanding guitar work and warm tenor vocals. He also was known for such other tunes as “Four in the Morning,” “Sunlight,” “Darkness, Darkness,” “Quicksand” and “Peace Song.”
Born Perry Miller in 1941 in Queens, Young was raised on Long Island. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, Ohio State University and New York University before leaving school to become a full-time performer in the early 1960s.
He released his first two albums in 1964 and ’65, The Soul of a City Boy and Young Blood, respectively, before he and folk singer-guitarist Jerry Corbitt formed the Youngbloods with guitarist-pianist Lowell “Banana” Levinger and drummer Joe Bauer. They soon became the house band at the Greenwich Village nightclub Cafe Au Go Go.
Their rendition of “Get Together” became an international hit after it was used in a public service commercial for the National Council of Christians and Jews in 1969 and rereleased by RCA Records.
As a solo artist at Warner Bros. Records, Young stayed top of mind with such albums as 1972’s Together, 1973’s Song for Juli, 1974’s Light Shine, 1975’s Songbird, the 1976 live LP On the Road and 1977’s Love on the Wing.
All showcased Young’s interest in the environment and social activism, as did his 1979 appearance with Crosby, Stills & Nash, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and others at Madison Square Garden for a No Nukes protest concert.
Young released such albums as 1982’s The Perfect Stranger, 1987’s The Highway Is for Heroes, 1993’s Makin’ It Real and 1994’s Swept Away before the 1995 Mount Vision wildfire destroyed his home in Northern California.
His more recent albums included 2003’s Walk the Talk, 2004’s Living in Paradise and 2019’s Dreamers, which he recorded with his son, bassist Tristan Young.