Jesse Colin Young, a singer-songwriter and leader of the ’60s band the Youngbloods, has died at the age of 83.
According to a press release by his publicist, Young “died in his home in Aiken, South Carolina, yesterday afternoon.” During a career of more than five decades, Young released dozens of albums; his latest, the solo LP Dreamers, arrived in 2019.
Young was born Perry Miller on Nov. 22, 1941, in Queens, New York. The folk-rock singer-songwriter and bassist was a founding member of the Boston-based folk-rock band the Youngbloods, which he cofounded in 1965.
READ MORE: The Biggest No. 1 Rock Songs of the ’60s
The band reached No. 52 the next year with “Grizzly Bear,” written by Youngbloods member Jerry Corbitt. In the summer of 1967, the band released “Get Together,” written by later Quicksilver Messenger Service member Dino Valenti under his real name Chet Powers, with Young on lead vocals.
The song – also known as “Let’s Get Together” and “Everybody Get Together” – became a favorite of the hippie era, covered by the Kingston Trio, We Five (who had the first charting version of the song), Jefferson Airplane and the Dave Clark Five.
Nirvana later used the song’s famous line – “Come on, people, now / Smile on your brother / Everybody get together, try to love one another right now” – at the start of the song “Territorial Pissings” from their Nevermind album.
The Youngbloods’ version of the song became the standard. Even though its initial 1967 release stalled at No. 62, the single was reissued in 1969 and reached No. 5.
The band’s third album, Elephant Mountain from 1969, remains a highlight of its career. Its opening song, “Darkness, Darkness,” about the Vietnam War, was written and sung by Young from the perspective of a soldier.
Robert Plant later covered “Darkness, Darkness” and received a Grammy Nomination for his version of the song in 2002’s Dreamland.
In 1971 the Youngbloods broke up and Young launched a solo career that included more than a dozen records over the decades.
While Young’s biggest solo single, “Higher & Higher,” stopped outside the Top 100 in 1977, his albums remained steady sellers throughout the ’70s. Eight solo albums that decade hit the charts, with 1975’s Songbird reaching No. 26.
In 2012, after being diagnosed with Lyme disease, Young retired from making music. But he started performing again four years later with his son, which led to the release of Dreamers in 2019.
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Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff
