Jesse Colin Young at Pentangle Arts, Woodstock VT Friday May 25

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Pentangle Arts Presents Jesse Colin Young

Friday, May 25 at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre 7:30 p.m. Tickets

The Voice on a Song of a Generation...

Love is but a song to sing
Fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Not too many people can claim to be the voice on a song that sums up an era. But Jesse Colin Young can make that claim with the song "Get Together." It not only captures the 60s vibe it gives us a timeless message that is still relevant some 50 years later. On an early morning phone call, on Mother's Day, Young graciously answered a few questions about his revitalized touring career and his life of music.

Some of Young's musical influences may surprise you. Growing up as a child, at age 7 or 8 years old, the first phonographs came out, Young was listening to Enrico Caruso ("The greatest Italian tenor to ever live, a man who could make the hair on the back of your neck stand up with his voice" Young said with a slight laugh), Scottish folk music ("The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond" and "Comin'Thro' The Rye"-Young sang a few bars), Glenn Miller and a Tex Ritter record that came free with the RCA turntable. "There was a song on there called 'Rye Whiskey' and I just realized on 'Soul of a City Boy' my very first solo album that I made when I was 19, it's a solo album, a folk album, and on there is my version of 'Rye Whiskey'." From there living on Long Island, Young listened to Alan freed (who was internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country, rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll) all night long with the radio turned down low. This exposed him to Doo-Wop, R&B and Rock and Roll. Young started collecting records. And then Elvis came along.

Jesse Colin Young was discovered in 1961 and recorded two albums 'Soul of a City Boy' (Capitol) and 'Youngblood' (Mercury) before forming the folk rock band The Youngbloods. The Youngbloods recorded five albums on RCA (Sony BMG) and five record on Warner Brothers. Despite being critically acclaimed The Youngbloods never achieved widespread popularity. Their only Top 40 hit was "Get Together."

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After recording his "Youngblood" album, which was recorded with other musicians including John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful, Young found that he liked to play with other musicians. Young would travel from New York to Boston/Cambridge Massachusetts to play where the folk scene was center at the time. At a gig at Club 47 (now Club Passim), Young received a note from Jerry Corbitt telling Young not to return to the place young was staying at-the police were there. So Young went home and crashed with Corbitt. The two hung out together playing and singing on the back porch of that Cambridge apartment. Corbitt would sit in on Young's gigs then they started singing together on stage. And then The Beatles came along and the two decided they needed a band.

They bought an amplifier, in folk days this was a "bold move"; they got a drum kit and things started moving fast. Jesse Colin Young (vocals, bass), Jerry Corbitt (guitar), Lowell Levinger, nicknamed "Banana" (guitar and electric piano), and Joe Bauer (drums) all moved to the lower east side of Manhattan and became The Youngbloods. They started as the house band for the Cafe Au Go Go. Got a record deal with RCA/Victor and recorded "The Youngbloods" in 1967.

"Get Together" was a huge hit for the band and has since been featured in movies, TV shows and even a Walmart commercial released shortly after last summer's protests in Charlottesville. In the ad, people of all ages, colors and ethic backgrounds grab chairs and sit together at one table in unity.

Young moved from New York to Point Reyes, California in 1967, he reveled in its solitude and stunning landscape. Unfortunately, his home was lost to fire. So he and his wife Connie packed up their two young children and headed to their get-away home in Hawaii. Once in Hawaii, Jesse and Connie started an organic Kona coffee farm-Morning Sun grown on the edge of Hualalai Mountain Volcano. "It's the best coffee in the world" Young said with pride. They also championed the expansion of the local Waldorf School, which was a kindergarten serving 40-50 children now it's a K-8 Charter school serving 500 children.

When his youngest son Tristan, a bassist, was studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Young attended his senior recital. "I was blown away" Young said "The energy coming off these young people, several of them only a couple of years over the twenty year mark, their sophistication, and their energy-their 'dream energy' was really strong. And I wanted that." Young was so inspired by these young musicians that he asked his son to gather up a band so they could get on the road. Now an eight piece band and traveling in three vehicles, the group is on tour and just finished recording an album, "Dreamers" to be released later this year. The touring band includes son Tristan, guitarist Aleif Hamdan, saxophonist Jack Sheehan, keyboardist Jenn Hwang Wong, drummer Donnie Hogue and backup singers Virginia Garcia Alves and Sally Stempler.

Throughout his professional life of recording and touring, Young has always taken time to give back to the world. He has performed on behalf of many organizations including No Nukes in the late 70s, The Dream Foundation and Saratoga Warhorse, to Prep Fest and the Kona Pacific Waldorf School. His songs give voice to many social and environmental causes.

In the recent past, Young has had a few health scares to overcome. Young, at one point, experienced strange symptoms-anxiety, difficulty swallowing, panic attacks-that were written off as a result of a traumatic experience, (the house fire in Point Reyes, California). This misdiagnosis lead to years of unnecessary anti-depressant treatment. Lyme Disease was finally diagnosed by Dr. Richard Horowitz and Young was put on antibiotics. He did a few interviews mentioning Lyme Disease and he began to receive emails from people also struggling with symptoms and the lack receiving the correct diagnosis. He even wrote a song about the disease "Lymelife" to give these people some hope during their struggle.

His health suffered another hit in after a performance at South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin Texas. Young was exhausted, really exhausted, he was diagnosed with an aortic heart valve that was almost completely closed. Rather than open heart surgery, Young chose the less invasive transcatheter aortic valve-replacement. He recovered quickly and was given the green light to tour.

It's the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love and Jesse Colin Young and his band play the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre on May 25 at 7:30 p.m. as part of that celebration. The concert is presented by Pentangle Arts. Ticket may be purchased online at https://pentanglearts.org/event/jesse-colin-young/ or by calling 802-457-3981.

You may know the Jesse Colin Young name and his songs and his voice but Young says to come out and see this "amazing young band. The road is still the same, boring, bad food, and (all) the traveling but playing with these young people is such a joyful experience for me. It lifts me up. They have so much Dream Energy, as I call it, maybe that's why we've called the new album "Dreamers."