Posted on 03/27/2025 4:15:49 PM PDT by MtnClimber
RIP Jesse Colin Young.
Passed away last Sunday age 83.
Its the first song I every remember hearing on the radio.
One of the first for me too.
I hadn’t heard. RIP.
A blast from the past.
RIP
When it was a new song I never saw an explanation of the section:
Some may come and some may go
He 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.
-——But sometimes the word “one” was changed to “wind.”
Today I found this——ahem——NPR article on it. (Sorry.)
They said it was “the hippie national anthem” to some.
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/10/711545679/get-together-youngbloods-summer-of-love-american-anthem
Not that there wasn't a huge amount of great music to come. BS&T, Chicago. MacArthur Park, the other Jimmy Webb songs (although I had heard his first hit, Beautiful Balloon, already).
But 1967 was the year of maximum "sunshine rock. The year before it all began to turn bad, with assassinations, serial killers, Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive.
Of course there were bad things in 1967 too, chief among them (for me) being Apollo One, and the loss of Grissom, White, and Chaffee, two of whom I had known since childhood, as names in the space program I loved.
Anyway, the words "you hold the key to love and fear, all in your trembling hand" seemed to hold some special meaning for my own future, and the future of the kids in school with me.
Written by Chet powers, AKA Dino Valenti, primarily known for his time with Quicksilver Messenger Service
My personal favorite of the Youngbloods is Darkness, Darkness. Which was written by Jesse Colin Young.
For several years I played on a concert at a jr high school because I knew some old hippie/teacher/musicians. The teachers were teaching kids about the 60’s. The kids (and the band) would wear hippie clothes. This song was always the opener. Playing all those old tunes was actually a lot of fun.
Going to do Ridgetop in honor of Jesse this weekend. I bet it will become a regular tune in the show.
He had a beautiful voice.....................
Looks like John Sebastian playing with him.
He’s getting long in the tooth too...................
Crikeys how many times did they play that song? Tough way to make a living.
I was 17 in 1967 when that song came out and it was the first time I ever saw real hippy's (as it was spelled then) with long hair, sandals and all. It was a real eye opener to me. I remember my Dad, a WWII vet, spotting a long haired guy walking down the street, saying "He looks like Jesus Christ himself."
You have to wonder how many drugs were involved that rushed the denigration of the country...
Saw him play several times. Played some of his songs in bands I was in.
A talented singer and writer, Sad to see him pass.
Now they are aging top leaders including in politics.
most retired like SDS radical Bill Ayers. Wikipedia says:
“In 1969, Ayers co-founded the far-left militant organization the Weather Underground, a revolutionary group that sought to overthrow the United States government which they viewed as American imperialism.”
Then he became an esteemed professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, holding the titles of Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar.” Then advised Obama on policy.
Once asked if he regretted the days of the bombings of buildings by the SDS Weather Underground with which he was affiliated as a leader: “No, actually I wish we had done a lot more.”
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