The Youngbloods: Youngbloods Leave Live
This article originally appeared on Circus, June 1970
THE YOUNGBLOODS have split from RCA, leaving behind a live album, Ride the Wind, which fulfills their contractual obligations to RCA and have begun their own record company to be distributed by Warner Bros.
Their first Warners release will be in July and will begin what the group hopes will be a new era for them. And if they follow their instincts, their no-nonsense, honest approach to music might mark a new day for all rock musicians.
Ironically, 'Get Together', the song which made the group famous, is the one they least enjoy performing. "There's nothing wrong with the song," explains Banana. "It's very pretty and it says all the right things. It's just that we've been doing that song for more than four years now and it's almost impossible for us to do it with any kind of life or new approach. As far as we're concerned, it's an old, stale piece of material for us."
Considering the "success at any cost" philosophy that governs most pop groups today, the Youngbloods' style is both refreshing and unorthodox. It comes from both a deep commitment to the music they play and the knowledge that now, at last, they are pretty much secure. Originally released almost five years ago, RCA's promotion team just recently succeeded in making 'Get Together' "gold" – an industry term for over a million dollars worth of sales. The song was written by Dino Valenti and though the Youngbloods feel that it is part of their past (they still will perform it if the audience insists. Their problem is similar to Arlo Guthrie's with 'Alice's Restaurant') they are still firmly committed to the principles enunciated in the lyrics. Stuart Kutcheon, the group's young manager, who is definitely music and not business oriented, explained: "We all feel strongly about the same basic things. The words to our songs don't come on real strong with political messages because that's not the Youngbloods' style, but we'll do concerts for peace free and we've been concerned about ecology and the problems of environment long before it became as popular as it is now."
Although RCA did, finally, succeed in selling the group's records (or as one of them put it "letting us sell records") they will leave the label after their live album. It completes the RCA contract and the group, despite efforts from RCA to keep them, felt that the Youngbloods and RCA were poorly matched "philosophically." They signed a deal which involves their own label, which is still unnamed ("We go through a different name every week," joked Kutcheon. "I guess whichever one we have when the first record comes out will be the one that sticks.) The label, whatever it is called, will be distributed by Warner Bros. and part of the deal is, needless to say, artistic freedom.
The Youngbloods were never controversial in their music. (On the contrary, their soft melodic rock made them perhaps the only genuine "folk-rock" group.) But they have always caused controversy with their dedication and belief in that sound, which is ever changing. The group literally refuses to compromise. An example of their righteous energy came recently in New York when they walked off the Johnny Carson Show. The average group is so grateful for the exposure value of a TV spot that they will put up with almost anything to get the nationwide exposure the Carson show offers. "The whole place bristled with hostility the minute we walked in and they saw our long hair," says Kutcheon, who still gets angry thinking about it. "I mean you would think that if they had invited you on they would be at least polite." The point of conflict came over the Tonight Show's backdrop for the group which consisted of what Banana calls "a horrible psychedelic 1965 type backdrop, we told them we didn't want to be represented that way and that our music had nothing to do with that and they just wouldn't listen – not even to the point of turning off the blinking light." Also part of the dispute was the refusal on the part of the producers to let them do any of their new material in addition to, of course, 'Get Together'.
Starting with the Elephant Mountain album, the Youngbloods began to feel a freedom within which showed in their music and lyrics. That album departs from their somewhat stilted early works and sounds almost like the Buffalo Springfield. It's an album that mourners of the Springfield and lovers of Crosby, Stills and Nash should pick up on. The reason for this is that the group was maturing, writing its own songs more and more and generally getting it together. And also because they were beginning to integrate their public and private lives. "Even on the album," says Banana, referring to Elephant Mountain, there are musical jokes and a sense of spontaneity. When we first got together, there was a feeling we had to put on a big show and come on like stars and dance and choreograph and make jokes on schedule and stuff. Now we feel that we're on stage so much that we have to stay real just to keep from going crazy." Kutcheon lamented, "Sometimes I get complaints about us from promoters because the audience is disappointed in our lack of flash and 'go get em' attitude. This happened just last week in Florida. But the group is the Youngbloods and there are a lot of kids that like our unpretentiousness and like the music. And we're not gonna change that for anybody."
The Youngbloods were started five years ago by Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbitt. Corbitt has since left to perform as a soloist but he is still a friend of the group. Young himself had recorded two solo folk albums called Soul of a City Boy and Youngblood from which the group got its name, before he picked up Banana (whose real name is Lowell Levinger) and Joe Bauer. All three of them help to write the new material and although Young started the group, there is no leader. Banana is described as the "musical genius" as he plays bluegrass banjo, classical piano, guitar and organ. He also studied acting at Boston University. Bauer is the group's drummer who was found in Memphis. He originally was a jazz musician. Young, whose origin is Bucks County in Pennsylvania, sings lead and plays guitar.
The three will be branching out into studio work with the new label deal. So far only two new artists, Michael Hurley and Jeffry Cain, have been signed. This is because here, as elsewhere, they are only interested in working with people whom they like and who they are musically in tune with. More than any driving force which makes for headlines, the Youngbloods are dedicated to being themselves and, getting by happily from day to day within the context of a musical group.
