In 1967, the Youngbloods starring rock singer Jesse Colin Young recorded what two years later would become the anthem of the love generation, Get Together. The Youngbloods then moved to West Marin only to disband in 1972. Drummer Joe Bauer died in 1980 of a brain tumor, and guitarist Jerry Corbitt later moved to Southern California.
However, keyboard player and guitarist Banana Levinger remained in Inverness, sometimes performing as part of Banana and the Bunch. Young, who was living in Inverness Park, built a recording studio, and six of his subsequent solo albums made the Billboard Top 100. His 1973 release Song for Julie, which was dedicated to his daughter, stayed on the chart for nearly a year.
Young, however, infuriated Inverness’ late historian Jack Mason when in one album he referred to Black Mountain (named after a settler family) as "Elephant Mountain," thus confusing the historic record, as Mason saw it. On the other hand, Ms. magazine in 1974 named him "Man of the Year."
Although Young at times would get annoyed with record companies that did not promote his albums enough and although he walked out on the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson went back on a promise to let the Youngbloods perform two songs, the singer enjoyed a fairly idyllic life in West Marin.
Then came the Inverness Ridge Fire of October, 1995. Young’s house, as he reminded me Monday, was reduced to a foot-high pile of ashes. Remarkably, his studio next door was not damaged.
It took Young and his wife Connie, along with their daughter Jasmine, now seven, and his son Tristan, now 10, less than a week to move to a home she owned near Kona. Ironically, they left the remains of a home in a burned-over area for life on the side of an active volcano, he quipped. "We’re on the island where the goddess is the fire goddess."
As soon as they arrived in Hawaii, Tristan was allowed to enroll in Kona Pacific School even though it theoretically was full, and during a pre-show interview Monday at Sweetwater in Mill Valley, Young noted how impressed he has become by the Waldorf school.
Kindergartners were encouraged to paint with watercolors, he said, and "in [Tristan’s] painting, I saw his feelings about the fire. First [the paintings] were all black and red. By spring, he was starting to paint in pastels. He was starting to get over it."
Although Young lost virtually everything he owned in the fire, his mother fortunately had a copy of the gold album he received for Get Together. Beyond that, he had to start over. In such a situation, he said, "the choice is to find out who you are without your stuff." In fact, he added, the fire "regenerated me. I’m kind of like a bishop pine." Bishop pines need periodic wildfires to reproduce themselves since the heat causes their pine cones to open and drop seeds.
Young’s wife Connie meanwhile insisted he stop touring for a year while they settled in and later planted a small coffee farm. (You can buy their coffee online at <www.jessecolinyoung.com>.)
Not touring took some getting used to. "You don’t have fans, don’t have applause, don’t have any of that," he told me. "It’s a humbling experience. But which is more important – to be adored or be useful? The fire burned me down to size."
Connie Young "found her life’s work," he added. She joined the school board and supported the family while Jesse became a house husband. "I do a lot of dishes and take care of the kids," he acknowledged.
However, Young too became active in education. Because Kona Pacific didn’t have a ukulele instructor, he learned how to play the instrument in order to teach it. "I’m cheap," he laughed. He also donates to the school royalties from his performances in Hawaii, and after much discussion – because it was "very expensive" – Connie bought land for the school.
"Building the school is something in the community that works," he said. "It’s the most essential thing for the children." He worries that parents today don’t pay enough attention to their youngsters: "Are we too self-concerned, too busy? Are we letting television teach ethics and morals?"
With those questions in mind, Young has recorded a Father and Son CD with Banana on keyboards, Corbitt on guitar, his son Cheyenne on guitar, and his godson Ethan Turner on drums. Most of the material for Young’s show at Sweetwater was taken from the album. A particularly romantic number they performed is titled Lonely Nights and Restless Days.
And while Young has become more concerned with youngsters (one of his songs is called Hear the Children), his music has also changed. It’s "bluesier," he told me. In addition, he has mastered the slide guitar, which adds a new dimension to his music. In fact, every guitar configuration except a 12 string was used Monday night. Banana played the standard six string plus a four string. Cheyenne played a five string. And Young himself played slide and acoustic on six strings.
Young, his son Cheyenne, and Turner have been on tour since early May, starting in Atlanta and moving up and down the East Coast. As of Monday, they had only one more week to go, and he seemed ready to go home to Kona. Although he started his Sweetwater concert a bit hoarse from all the touring, Young’s strong voice soon returned. And when he sang Get Together during an encore, he brought down the house, which included a number of West Marin faces.