Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – April 1, 2025: Remembering Jesse Colin Young; April Fools; Day

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/69610.html

Themes: Part 1 – Remembering Jesse Colin Young (1941-2025); Part 2 – April Fools’ Day.

Part 1 – Remembering Jesse Colin Young (1941-2025)

Jesse Colin Young – whose real name was Perry Miller and who died at age 83 on March 16 – was a singer and songwriter originally from New York City who was lead singer of The Youngbloods from 1966 to 1971 and who recorded as a solo artist before and after his tenure with The Youngbloods.

Jesse Colin Young- Four in the Morning

The Soul of a City Boy (One Way)

Jesse Colin Young- Same Old Man

The Soul of a City Boy (One Way)

Jesse Colin Young- Rider

Young Blood (Mercury)

Jesse Colin Young- Doc Geiger

Young Blood (Mercury)

The Youngbloods- Get Together

The Youngbloods (RCA)

The Youngbloods- Light Shine

Good and Dusty (Racoon/Warner Bros.)

Jesse Colin Young- California Child

Light Shine (Warner Bros.)

Jesse Colin Young- Songbird

Songbird (Warner Bros.)

Part 2 – April Fools’ Day

Shel Silverstein- Folk Singer’s Blues

Inside Folk Songs (Water)

Stan Rogers- The White Collar Holler

Between the Breaks…Live! (Fogarty’s Cove/Borealis)

Ian Robb with The Friends of Fiddler's Green- Garnet’s Home-Made Beer

From Different Angels (Fallen Angle)

Bowser & Blue- The Night They Invented Poutine

Crackpots (You Guys Publishing)

Spike Jones & His City Slickers- Yes! We Have No Bananas

Musical Deprecation Revue! The Spike Jones Anthology (Rhino)

Steve Goodman- Vegematic

No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology (Red Pajamas)

Nancy White- Leonard Cohen’s Never Gonna Bring My Groceries In

Momnipotent (The Children’s Group)

Christine Lavin- What Was I Thinking?

Live at the Cactus Café: What Was I Thinking? (Philo)

Grit Laskin- The Photographers

Unabashedly Folk: Songs and Tunes 1979-1985 (Borealis)

Al Mamlet- Five Thousand Years of Folk Music

Bring It On Home Volume 1 (Legacy)

Michael Smith- Dead Egyptian Blues

Love Letter on a Fish (Tales from the Tavern)

Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers- King Tut

Red Bird Alert (Rounder)

Dave Van Ronk- Garden State Stomp

Going Back to Brooklyn (Gazell)

Erik Frandsen- I’ve the Blues

Antiques: New & Used (Erik Frandsen)

Shelley Posen with Erik Frandsen- It’s for You

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Martin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture- Dueling Tubas

In Your Living Room (Capricorn)

John Prine & Iris DeMent- In Spite of Ourselves

In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy)

Next week: A Tribute to Doc Watson.

--Mike Regenstreif

Lowell Levinger – Get Together: Banana Recalls Youngbloods Classics

LOWELL LEVINGER

Get Together: Banana Recalls Youngbloods Classics

Grandpa Raccoon

lowelllevinger.com

Back when I was in high school – 1967-1971 – the Youngbloods were one of my favorite rock bands. I had most of the original LPs back in the day and I still occasionally revisit some of the CD reissues. I loved the way they integrated folk roots and occasionally jazz influences and acoustic and electric instrumentation into their music and I also greatly appreciated how they seamlessly drew on their own original songs, songs drawn from other writers, and some from traditional folk, jug band and blues sources.

The Youngbloods broke up around 1972 or so and now 40+ years later, on Get Together: Banana Recalls Youngbloods Classics, band member Lowell Levinger – aka Banana – pays tribute to his old band with a dozen songs and tunes that have remained part of his repertoire over the past four decades. That so much of the material holds up so well is a tribute both to how strong the songs were to begin with, to how Banana has matured as an interpreter, and to the really nice arrangements featuring collaborations with the likes of fellow-Youngblood Jesse Colin Young, David Grisman, Ry Cooder, Darol Anger, Duke Robillard and others on various tracks.

Among my favorite tracks are “Grizzly Bear,” a great old country blues song first recorded in 1928 by Jim Jackson; Jesse Colin Young’s haunting “Darkness, Darkness”; the bluegrass version of Banana’s “Hippie from Olema,” a great parody of Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee”; Robin Remailly’s “Euphoria,” a song the Youngbloods, no doubt, picked up from the Holy Modal Rounders (this version features some wild singing and fiddling from Rounder Peter Stampfel); the traditional “Stagger Lee” with some additional verses by Banana; Jesse Colin Young’s bouncy “Sugar Babe”; and, of course, Dino Valenti’s anthemic “Get Together,” the song for which the Youngbloods are most remembered.

Get Together: Banana Recalls Youngbloods Classics is a lot of fun to listen to as we, too, recall those Youngbloods classics.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif