Jesse Colin Young, a prolific musician known as the voice of The Youngbloods’ era-defining “Get Together,” died on Sunday at his home in Aiken, S.C. The news was confirmed via Young’s publicist. No cause of death was given; he was 83.
Written by Chester Powers, who was better known as Dino Valenti, “Get Together” was a modest hit for The Youngbloods upon its initial 1967 release on the band’s self-titled debut. But a reissue of the genial folk-rock single reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1969, as anti-war sentiment surged across America due to the Vietnam War.
Young’s plaintive voice and hopeful delivery embodied the song’s optimism that peace and a brighter future were possible: “Come on, people now / Smile on your brother / Everybody get together / Try to love one another right now.”
In a 2019 interview with NPR, Young recalled hearing “Get Together” for the first time on a Sunday afternoon at Café au Go Go in Greenwich Village; The Youngbloods rehearsed at the venue when there wasn’t a show.
“I walked down the stairs and it turned out to be an open mic,” he said. “I thought I would turn around and go home. But Buzzy Linhart was onstage singing ‘Get Together.’ That song just stopped me in my tracks.”
Born Perry Miller in 1941 in Queens, N.Y., Young grew up in a musical household. His mother played violin and had perfect pitch; his accountant father was a classical music fan. Young himself learned to play piano and admired the guitar skills of artists like T-Bone Walker.
He demonstrated early aptitude on the latter instrument on a pair of solo albums, led by 1964’s spare, folk-leaning The Soul of a City Boy, before founding The Youngbloods as a duo with Jerry Corbitt. The group eventually expanded to a quartet although the rollicking 1967 minor chart hit “Grizzly Bear,” which sounded like a grittier Everly Brothers, reflected the vocal chemistry of Corbitt and Young.
Upon Corbitt’s departure from the band, Young took more of a songwriting lead starting with 1969’s Charlie Daniels-produced Elephant Mountain — highlighted by the fiddle-driven, psychedelic-folk standout “Darkness, Darkness” and the more tranquil “Sunlight.” Robert Plant later received a Grammy nomination for a cover of the former song, while Three Dog Night covered the latter.
After The Youngbloods’ 1972 dissolution, Young focused on his solo career, releasing a string of well-received albums that led to stints opening for Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The eclectic 1973 LP Song for Juli touched on blues, folk, rock and zydeco, while 1974’s Light Shine and 1975’s Songbird both reached the U.S. top 40 on the strength of his empathetic tenor voice and well-crafted songs. At the end of the decade, Young reinforced his long-held activist beliefs, performing “Get Together” at the No Nukes concert in Battery Park.
His output dwindled during the 1980s — although the underrated 1982 solo album The Perfect Stranger, which was rereleased just last year, featured collaborations with Carly Simon and Michael McDonald — but picked up again in subsequent decades. The stripped-down, acoustic-leaning Swept Away arrived in 1994; 2001 brought the heavier, blues-oriented Walk the Talk; and in 2002 he issued Songs for Christmas, featuring folk versions of holiday standards.
Young slowed down after the release of 2006’s Celtic Mambo and retreated from touring due to his well-publicized bout of Lyme disease. But in recent years he returned to the road and studio, releasing 2019’s Dreamers and 2020’s Highway Troubadour along with a live album from a set at Daryl Hall’s venue Daryl’s House.
Throughout his entire career, he never tired of playing “Get Together.” “Every night I sing it, it’s my favorite part of the show because the people sing,” Young told NPR in 2019. “I played it in Central Park this past summer, and that was on the first anniversary of Charlottesville. Those people sang it stronger than I’ve ever heard it sung. Some people were pumping their fists, and I realized they were saying, ‘We choose love.’ “
