The Youngbloods
The Youngbloods were an American folk rock band.
history
Born in New York, Perry Miller aka Jesse Colin Young had already released two solo albums as a folk singer (one of which was entitled "Youngbloods") before he met Jerry Corbitt in 1964 . In the spring of 1965, the two began to perform as a duo under the name The Youngbloods, Young played bass and Corbitt guitar . Lowell Levinger (nicknamed Banana), a friend Corbitts, joined as second guitarist for the band and put the other Joe Bauer , an ambitious jazz - drummer , before which completed the quartet.
The group's first appearances were successful. She became the house band of Cafe Au Go Go , one of the most famous nightclubs in New York's Greenwich Village , and signed a recording deal with RCA Records . The single Grizzly Bear made it to number 52 on the US charts. Soon after, the Youngbloods moved from the east coast to Marin County near San Francisco , where they established a reputation as a festival and open-air group .
The album The Youngbloods , later renamed Get Together , was released in 1967 and received critical acclaim. The song Get Together by Chet Powers alias Dino Valenti, which was released as a single , initially sold slowly. When the National Council of Christians and Jews made the song the background music of its commercials in 1969, the single was republished. It reached number 5 on the US charts and sold over a million times. The second album Earth Music was released in 1967, followed by Elephant Mountain in 1969 . Jerry Corbitt left the Youngbloods in 1969 and was replaced by Michel Kane. In 1971 the band started their own label "Racoon".
Five other albums were released by 1972: Sunlight (1971), Rock Festival (1971), Ride the Wind (1971), Good and Dusty (1972) and High in a Ridgetop (1972). Then the band broke up. Young started a solo career and was successful until the mid-1980s. Banana, Bauer and Kane founded the band Banana & The Bunch , and Bauer also released his own album with Moonset .
Jerry Corbitt released two of his own records and appeared as a producer, including for Charlie Daniels and Don McLean . On March 9, 2014, he died of lung cancer.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
|||
| 1967 | The Youngbloods |
US131 (8 weeks) US |
|
| 1969 | Elephant Mountain |
US118 (29 weeks) US |
|
| 1971 | Good and Dusty |
US160 (5 weeks) US |
|
| 1972 | High on a ridge top |
US185 (10 weeks) US |
More studio albums
- 1967: Earth Music
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
US
|
|||
| 1970 | The Best of the Youngbloods |
US144 (10 weeks) US |
|
| Sunlight |
US186 (3 weeks) US |
More compilations
- 1970: Two Trips
Live albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
US
|
|||
| 1970 | Rock festival |
US86 (13 weeks) US |
|
| 1971 | Ride the wind |
US157 (8 weeks) US |
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
US
|
|||
| 1966 | Grizzly Bear The Youngbloods |
US52 (10 weeks) US |
|
| 1967 | Get Together The Youngbloods / Get Together |
US5  (25 weeks)US |
Highest ranking after re-publication in 1969
|
| 1969 | Darkness, Darkness Elephant Mountain |
US86 (4 weeks) US |
Highest ranking after republication in 1970
|
More singles
- 1966: Rider
- 1967: Merry-Go-Round
- 1967: Euphoria
- 1967: Fool Me
- 1968: Quicksand
- 1969: Sunlight
- 1970: Hippie from Olema
- 1971: Sugar Babe
- 1971: It's a Lovely Day
- 1972: Light Shine
- 1972: Dreamboat
- 1972: Running Bear
- 2009: All My Dreams Blue
Trivia
- In 1970 the group contributed the song Sugar Babe to the soundtrack for Zabriskie Point .
- Nirvana used the chorus from Get Together as the first lines in the song Territorial Pissings .
- Get Together can also be found on the soundtrack of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas .
- Let's Get Together is included in the soundtrack of the film Forrest Gump .
- Since the track Darkness, Darkness was not published as a single, the LP Elephant Mountain came because of its sales figures in the Austrian singles hit parade 1969/70.
- Lowell Levinger ("Banana") was immortalized as "Electrical Banana" by Donovan in his song Mellow Yellow .
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 761f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4
Web links
- Official website of Jesse Colin Young
- Official website of Jerry Corbitt
- Official website of Lowell Levinger ("Banana")
- The Youngbloods at Allmusic (English)
- The Youngbloods in the Internet Movie Database (English)