Historic Films Stock Footage Archive: JJ-202

01:00:02 2.66	Speaker 1 - Jesse Colin Young: Tiny Royal and cherry, you know that kind of reddish with a kind of a yellow highlight that takes, you know, four or five months to come right.
01:00:14 14.86	Pete Fornatale You sent me a packet. So I'm good I go which was most enjoyable. The easiest way for our listeners to find out about any of your activities, would you say internet is the web? Jesse Colin Young (JCY): Jessecollinyoung.com Pete Fornatale: unseen Just that simple JesseColinyoung.com. And you can follow up on any of the things that uh that we'll be talking about today. It's lovely when you can combine all aspects of your life like that. you've been at this a long time, Jesse can you still muster up the excitement when a new project like this comes along? Speaker 1 Jesse Colin Young (JCY) Yeah, this just came out of the blue. I did these demos for this when I was some of them became masters, actually When I was sick last summer, and I was bored. And my wife had this little hard disk recorder 24 bit and I said Honey, you're not using that can I just drag it up to the bedroom. So I you know, I'd cough for a while or lay down and then I get up. Living in Paradise was the first song to come. First time I ever wrote a song on the ukulele. So I put that down first, you know, and I use a drum machine and I played bass in the blood. So then I went over the studio, I got my bass and pretty soon I had the bass and you know, two microphones. Um Then I played a couple of Brother Izz's songs that I loved. And I thought you know, I should incorporate these in my mainland show because, you know, Israel became so famous, he wrote Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Right? Now he's no longer with us. And you know, we need to carry on that. We have a voice, you know, like an angel, a small wrestler. What a guy. I never got to meet him, sadly, but. And I went on from there, I think and ended up with a record that I played the demos for Danny Goldberg and Artemis my label. And he loved them. And he said, this is you know, and it's just not an additional album. This is a this is music I think people would really enjoy. He said, It sounds like you'd like youre singing in my ear. He said most music I listened to sounds like it was produced for me. But this sounds like Yes. He he loved that quality of it. And although I did polish the album, so my hope I hope I maintain that. I think he decided it should be our first release.
01:02:54 174.95	Pete Fornatale Is it the law in Hawaii that a musician must learn to play ukulele? Speaker 1 JCY No, it is. I think a lot of guys don't. Because it is tuned kind of funny. But it is a lot like the guitar which is what I realized. I came to play because we one of our big projects there my wife Connie has been building Waldorf school. This has been going on for seven years. But we finally got a campus. But when the school was starting out, we lost our ukulele teacher and and we really couldn't afford another one. So I said well, I could be persuaded to do this, maybe, maybe I can learn how to play. And I got an eight string and I bought it for myself on my birthday. And I said yeah, this isn't so hard, you know, the chords are the same, but there's two strings missing. And it's called something else because it's tuned up higher than a guitar. And that is a little confusing, but you know, so I worked on it for about two months. I said I can teach the kids and teach them, JCY sings and plays: "I want to go back to my coffee shack in key Ella EY I want to be what love Khan is and why he knew that I knew so long ago to him from like 1930 Yeah, I can hear those guitars playing down the beach at home I can hear those Hawaiins singing ...(in hawaiin). it won't be long till my ship is sailing back to ? used to be the only way to get there... it's a grand ... I sure would like to see I'm just Amala here. home sick Island. I wanna go back to my coffee shack I won't I move back. My coffee shack inky Alika when it blew up
01:05:21 321.91	JCY: That's where I am. that's an old Kopahali (?) song. Originally a lot of Hawaiian music was all of Hawaiian lyrics. And Kopali is like, half white. So the lyrics are in English. Okay. The music is Hawaiian. And there was a burst of creativity all the way from, you know from Tin Pan Alley. You see these pictures of guys taken with the slicked back hair in 1930 sitting by a piano with their partner in the Brille Building. one guy's got an ukulele. Yeah. And the other guy's got a you know, playing piano but a whole bunch of beautiful songs written at that time. Pete Fornatale 06:06 Term I've heard kicked around for what you're doing is Aloha rock. Is that your term? Speaker 1 JCY Yes actually, that's my buddy Vito's term. And we he's was a musician in Hawaii with me. He's on a different island now and I miss him, but he'll be touring with me. And I said, what is what are we doing here? V It's kind of, you know, it's got a Hawaiian influence. Obviously, that's not Aloha rock that's traditional Hapa Holly? Kind of Vint, what you'd call vintage songs. But there's a lot of new music in Hawaii. And bands that used the ukulele that kind of rock you know, they have electric guitars and there are young ukulele virtuosos and old who, like Otis who are coming into starting to be known in the world as the ukulele kind of takes off so, for us, for me ,I think we should play a song it's called Hawaii 78 And it's on living in paradise. I heard it first from Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Brother Iz he did a kind of an acoustic version of it. And this this version has drums and more percussion. And so as we took some of these tunes in that direction, Vito said , You know, this is Aloha rock. Pete Fornatale: Lets listen on Mixed Bag Radio.
01:07:52 472.11	Pete Fornatale: That's Hawaii 78 from Living in Paradise by Jesse Colin Young. This is Pete Fornatale on Mixed Bag Radio. I'll have more with Jesse after this. one down two to go. The segment we might fool around a little bit with T bone then okay. Pete Fornatale the live ones in this set will be T bone Shuffle and Sunlight. It's Monday. Living your dream come true is coming up. No problem, in this in this set T bone Shuffle live, Get Together record, Darkness Darkness Robert Plant's version record, and Sunlight live. Maybe that maybe not in that order but, yeah T bone Shuffle live, Get together record, Darkness Darkness record, and Sunlight live. Speaker 1 JCY I was going to my studio I'm looking for a place to sit down every chair
01:09:48 588.25	Pete Fornatale yes, if you gotta you got Absolutely. We'll catch up Yeah, yeah, I mean, again, assuming that they can be up to you got any bottom pick a Monday. I think that's what Pete Fornatale Very good. Yeah, he's available on the cell Pete Fornatale I remember how you know why you don't improve farming. You don't even have to do the whole thing. I'm going to ask you about your influences, your roots, and if you want to give us a little taste of it, yes, that'd be great. That'd be great. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Pete Fornatale You, you're all set. Liz, you all set? Okay. Yeah, Sunlight cheeky. Sunlight was the one Thank you. Sorry. Pete Fornatale 11:14 All right, I'm just gonna start the segment and we'll pick up the conversation. Here we go in five. Pete Fornatale back with you on mixed bag radio with my guest Jesse Colin Young, currently a resident of Hawaii, but we can claim him as one of our own here on the East Coast. As you might have heard earlier, was it Queens?, JCY: Queens, Kew Gardens.
01:11:42 702.32	Pete Fornatale: And it was it was Perry Miller. Speaker 1 JCY Parry Miller and Art Garfunkel were in the same fourth grade class. Pete Fornatale:Wow. JCY: And Paul was also at our school but I think his mother already. Artie and I, I went home to Artie's house a couple of times. And he used to sing in that cool beautiful voice Pete Fornatale that's still still the case. Speaker 1 JCY Yes, still the case. it's very embarrassing me I got my first record deal and I recorded Soul of a City Boy here in New York for Capital. So I'm down at Gerdes Folk City and Art comes to see me, I haven't seen him since fourth grade. God, my old friend art and then I said oh yeah i got a record deal. So I'm bragging and carrying on. And Art looks at me very straight and says, I record too. And then I thought, Oh, my God, Garfunkel. Every time I say it I get these chills. Anyway, I was very embarrassed. But I already was he was a good sport. He was nice having to come and see me. I never would have. We hadn't seen each other since fourth grade. And I don't know whether we've seen each other since we talked on the phone a couple of times, but. Pete Fornatale That's great. Um Do you remember the your the earliest thing you heard that appealed to you musically? And what the circumstances were?
01:13:15 795.62	Speaker 1 JCY Yeah, two things. Enrico Caruso? Wow, my mother had some Caruso records. I mean, that man Stan the hair right up in the back of your neck. And I think with the record player came a Tex Ritter record or something. It came free with the RC he must have been on RCA,RCA Victrola. So those were two pretty interesting. Different different influences. Pete Fornatale That explains a lot of it. Yeah. Speaker 1 JCY And then you get Glenn Miller in there. And then you see where Jesse Colin young the youngbloods is kind of like, well, Caruso, you know, there's not much but I'm certainly a tenor and the emotional nature of Caruso singing just goes through you like a spear. Pete Fornatale How did Perry Miller become Jesse Colin Young? Speaker 1 JCY Well I got ready to put up my first album and I thought jeez, the only period show businesses Perry Como and I don't say anything like you know, it was a folk record. Oops, I don't want to be associated with him you know, I like when I was a kid, I idolized gunfighters I had in Queens I had a closet full of CAP pistols. chaps and Jesse I think Jesse Colin Young is probably from Jesse James Cole younger my association with those innocently with those those cowboy heroes Pete Fornatale 14:53 How and when did the folk and blues and then ultimately rock come into the picture Jess? Speaker 1 14:59 Well a folk, Blues came. I went to Ohio State as a freshman and I lived down the street from from a guy who had a record store. And I got to be friends and he would, and this was pre shrinkwrap and he would let me take, I had a two track, I took my father in to buy me a two track I don't know how I did that so he would let me tape records and this is the first way I heard Ray Charles and especially Tebone Walker struck me. I saw this picture. Here's this Black guy with a guitar behind his head and I'm thinking what's he doing? I had never seen that you know? And smile and his beautiful smile and I took T Bone home and I just I fell in love I think that was the end of my college career. I didn't really take college seriously after after T-Bone.
01:16:00 960.78	Pete Fornatale You've paid homage to him a number of times on JCY Well God he deserves it, I mean what a guy Pete Fornatale can you give us a little taste? JCY Yeah - Jesse performs
01:16:27 987.79	Jesse Colin Young ? (live) Jesse Colin Young plays a blues tune inspired by T-Bone
01:17:22 1042.73	Speaker 1 JCY so that hit me right between the eyes. I mean, I was in school, I transferred to NYU to be near the Village. It was a kind of a surreptitious way for my father God bless him to support me for another year. While I didn't do my homework and and really worked on my music and became a folk singer. Pete Fornatale What are a couple of your most pleasant recollections about your time in the village? Speaker 1 JCY I remember Jim McQuinn was working over at one club. And he was doing Beatles impressions. And he came out on the street he was so excited. This was, the Beatles had just come out He said, This music is great. He went on and on about these songs are so beautifully written. And I mean, it was shortly after that I think he and I lost track of him he went to California with the Byrds and John Sebastian was... Eric Jacobson and I actually were playing a folk gig in Washington. And Eric became the producer of the Spoons, Lovin' Spoonful. And he and John John Sebastian and I were also listening to The Beatles and getting and Johnny was coming out of folk music the way I was. And I think that was my and I met him and through Eric and then he came to play on my second album called Youngblood, which was right before we canned the band. Pete Fornatale that turned into the first youngblood's album didn't it Speaker 1 JCY Not really, it was it was a folk album. Still, Peter Childs played on it, and John Sebastian, and then the rhythm sections like OC Johnson and George (Duvivier ?)I mean, I mean, where did Bobby get these guys, I didn't know they would like to kill anyway. See, you know, they hadn't heard this kind of music since you know, it was kind of like the White college kids got interested in the old blues um where it's, you know, the Black college kids were into soul music, or rhythm and blues, not that old stuff like John Hurt. So these guys, the rhythm section OC played spoons on one. I mean, you know, I grew up in Queens people don't play spoons. But you know, my wife's from South Carolina. People play spoons in South Carolina. So I' was learning all kinds of things. Pete Fornatale You were right. You were right there in that core group of visionaries who saw the possibilities of mixing the folk tradition with rock and roll, and I'm talking about Paul and Art, and I'm talking about John Sebastian and Roger now, Roger McQuinn. Um what, what avenue Do you think the Young Bloods took that was different that made you different from the other things going on?
01:20:48 1248.75	Speaker 1 JCY There's a strong country influence and also, Corbitt was very to ragtime. You know, so we had Grizzly Bear and songs like Euphoria. You know, that kind of wonderful song about taking peyote? JCY performs.
01:21:03 1263.38	Jesse Colin Young Euphoria (live) Jesse Colin Young plays part of a song from the first Youngbloods album, Euphoria
01:21:51 1311.27	Pete Fornatale it was the mixture of all of those elements though Speaker 1 JCY Banana was very into rhythm and blues, Jimmy Reed. We all love Chuck Berry. Joe was a jazz drummer. And I get into jazz. I don't. I mean, the first things that I wrote were and the Beatles were driving this whole inspirational scene. And here we were a bunch of folk singers. And Corbitt and I went out and got an amp and then, you know, people gave us grief about having an amp for it, and we got pick ups. And we ended up in the band, we're just but the Youngbloods that kind of, and as the Youngbloods went on the jazz influence, I think grew. After Corbitt left the band and we hit Elephant Mountain. That's because Banana, and Banana became quite a keyboardist on the on the Wurlitzer and Joe had always been in a jazz so I kind of felt my way into it as a bass player. I never knew what I was doing anyway, but
01:22:56 1376.27	Pete Fornatale there are a couple of songs from those days that just keep coming back, coming back getting reinvented and coming back. I'm going to ask you for a little bit about three of them. Of course, Get Together. Speaker 1 JCY Do you know Valenti was a folk singer in the Village. He was gone by the time I got there, but he left Get Together. And this fella who used to play vibes with Tim Harden named Buzz Linhart had a band a trio called the Seventh Son. So the Young Bloods are playing at the Gogo and we were rehearsing there and fighting with the Blues Project for rehearsal time in the afternoons. And occasionally we'd open for somebody and get paid $20 an hour I think, if you're out there. Well, that was $20 to the whole band! Speaker 1 JCY so I go in on a Sunday afternoon, it's like an open mic or hootenanny? I don't know what I'm doing in there. Oh, I guess I thought maybe we were going to rehearse. But there was, you know, we always rehearsed in the afternoon. But there was a show. And Buzz Linhard was on stage and he sang this song. And I just went backstage. I would have never done that before or since. You know, write me up the lyrics like I gotta I gotta sing it. And he I think he played lefty or something. And I had to ask him what the chords what one of the chords were because it looked funny to me. I was not really used to learning from other guitar players. So it looks upside down when you look at it. Maybe that was it. But I mean, from that minute that song was mine. And I took it to the Youngbloods the next day. You know, and came up with, I was a bass player. When when it's hot, it just happens. And obviously I fell in love with that song. And I knew, I think I knew that it was part of my future.
01:25:06 1506.05	Pete Fornatale Took two years to become a hit. Speaker 1 JCY Yeah took two releases. And it would have never happened without a man named Augie Bloom. Augie worked for RCA. He was the head of promotion. We were signed with RCA which had a lot of funny guys like Joe Dean Imperial(??) in there you know he would come down and put his arm around and say, 'You witt RCA' one of those guys. So it came out in 67. It was a hit on the West Coast. Nowhere else and Augie Bloom went back to RCA in 69, and said I want this record again. And you give it to me, or I'm quitting. And he was a very valuable man and they loved him. They gave it to him. Pete Fornatale Wasn't there another wonderful coincidence that helped too though Speaker 1 JCY Well, I think what brought it into consciousness, first of all, the difference between the mood of the country about the Vietnam War between 67 and 69 changed. And the Christian, the National Council of Christians and Jews took Get Together and put it on this commercial about brotherhood that would come on on late night TV, you know, because it's supposed to be a freebie. So they stick the freebies. Except all of us all of my generation. We're watching TV at three in the morning, so I think that billed kind of a groundswell and maybe I never did ask Auggie why he just knew it was the right time. You know that was his job as a radio guy. And I got it was, it was the right time. Pete Fornatale The message is timeless, the performances timeless let's listen to get together on mixedbag radio.
01:26:56 1616.93	Pete Fornatale: The Youngbloods original recording of Get Together. Jesse tell me one or two times since it was a hit that you've performed that song where it was transcendent for you. Speaker 1 JCY In Battery Park during No Nukes, we had a week in Madison Square Garden of performances in 1979. And everybody, James Taylor and Doobies and CSNY and Jackson and i don't remember if Joanie Mitchell was there, Gil Scott Heron, Bruce. it was a big nigh. Bruce, Bruce that was the first time I heard that. So we had an No Nukes demonstration at Battery Park. A quarter of a million people showed up. And I closed the show. Well, maybe I didn't close the show. But They use it to close the No Nukes movement. And I'm singing Get Together with Jackson, Bonnie and John Hall and I don't remember who else but man, chills. I mean, a quarter of a million. I mean, that's a lot of people. You know, there I am in my hometown. And doing something that I think is very important. You know, I'm a young father. I was against nuclear power. I thought it was a crazy idea. I still do. And, and all these people had come out and sang the song with us. And I mean, there's just nothing like that. singing is really, you know, we live in a world where everybody's a specialist, but in my family, growing up singing was around the piano, singing was for everyone. You know what i mean. And we sang in the car, and we sang after dinner or on the weekend or whenever we got together. so and I don't think mine was the only family and we've kind of we've like given it. We've given up playing and singing music to the, you know to the radio to records. But there's no reason we can't mix money and I was crazy about records but we kept singing together, I collected. Pete Fornatale Another wonderful thing about the song is that it is very elastic. It could be as much about Vietnam, as it could about No Nukes s as it could about brotherhood. That's a great thing.
01:29:25 1765.42	Speaker 1 JCY Yea, you know, I've already I got a letter about a month ago from the mother of a young Lance Corporal marine Lance Corporal who died in Iraq, 20 years old. And she said, You know, I didn't they asked me about music at his funeral and I didn't know what to do. And she said this lyric kept coming in my head. And I had no idea who what the song was what it was called, who did it. And with the help of her daughter, they found it and they played it at his funeral. And uh you know, and you know, it's funny when this war started, I knew. I did an interview, I think on New York PBS. And I said, we're going to need Get Together. I didn't say it so bluntly, but I said to bury our dead. And she said that it was perfect that somehow she felt His Spirit helped her to choose it. And that for everyone who came to his funeral to you to lose a young man at 20 and such. And it somehow it made it kind of a joyful experience. Here is, you know, obviously a gung ho Marine. It's the same in Vietnam and my buddies came back. They said, You know, it was number one on the hit parade in Saigon, who do you think wants the war to be over more, you singing it, or me over there carrying a rifle in the rice paddies, Pete Fornatale it breaks your heart and makes you very, very proud all at the same time.
01:30:58 1858.82	Speaker 1 JCY So I was I was thrilled to get that letter. She just found me through the website. And you know, I was there to to bury him and to lift up, because it's, you know, funerals are more for for the living. You know, whatever happens to us we've gone on, but I'm glad it was there with the spirits and the folks who witnessed this young man you know, to rest. Pete Fornatale Another song of yours that came back unexpectedly recently was Darkness Darkness want to tell me about that? JCY Yes I got a call from Robert Plant about, did come out last year? Pete Fornatale I think it's two years. Speaker 1 JCY Anyway, before it came out, I get this call in Hawaii from his office. Robert and I are not friends. Led Zeppelin and the Young played together once, but that was far as it gotten. Soo his secretary or someone said that he wanted to talk to me. And so I I called him one morning, it's about seven in the morning. Then they hooked me up with Robert he was riding around the back of a taxi in London at seven at night and uh which is what the spread is about 11 or 12 hours. And he said, you know, I've recorded your song and I'd love you to hear it. Darkness darkness, it's great we'll send it to you. And so we chatted, what are you doing out there, ah i've got this farm, I got a studio so he told me about the record that he had recorded, a Barney Dobson song? and all kinds of, Hey Joe, you know tunes that he loved during the folk era. and I knew once I remember I think earthquake our harmonica player met Robert when the Youngbloods played, he was also our road guy. And he said Robert Plants' a fan of yours. He loves Soul of the City. Really, Robert Plant you know, at that time wow. Wow. So he sent it to me and I loved it. I mean he has such a beautiful haunting. I think he did but it, it's a haunting song it comes from a haunting time, and he did a beautiful job. Pete Fornatale If It's alright with you, can we play the Plant version? On Mixed Bag Radio.
01:33:49 2029.63	Pete Fornatale: That's Robert Plant's cover version of Darkness Darkness and what a compliment to our guests Jesse Colin Young. The third song I referred to Jessie is one that has delighted me since the first time I heard it and I was so pleased to go into a movie theater a couple of years ago to see a film produced by Dustin Hoffman. Thing was called Walk on the Moon. Diane Lane and ug Viggo Mortensen, I think who has since become incredibly famous for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But right there, right there, in the movie and on the soundtrack was Sunlight when an old friend comes back to visit you like that What's it feel like? Speaker 1 JCY It's nice to get to check I never saw the movie, but I love it, I'm you know, I've seen Darkness I don't even know what that was. You know I'll be laying in a motel and and I remember this one movie came on two in the morning and there's my song either Get Together, Sunlight or Darkness. Wonderful. Because, you know, I hadn't kept very good track of that although well, I think I was part of those negotiations. It's It's wonderful they have a life of their own. I put my spirit and my love into them. And then they're like children, they're out there. They don't change as much as children, they're out there doing good things. And I could be you know, doing the laundry. Pete Fornatale is it still in your repertoire? Yeah, yeah. My partner Linda Fetter says that I can't leave here today without having you do that. JCY My pleasure.
01:35:43 2143.38	Jesse Colin Young Sunlight (live) Jesse Colin Young performs solo, accoustic version of Sunlight in the Mixed Bag Radio studio.
01:38:48 2328.74	Pete Fornatale Jesse Colin Young and a live version of Sunlight. Pete Fonatale on Mixed Bag Radio.Two down one to go. This is, we had originally said Keep on Burning, the Dolphin and Angel Mine. Um Keep on burning, Dolphin and Angel Mine. You're still up for that Jess?. Okay, let's let's when you're okay.
01:39:47 2387	JCY Keep on Burning and what? Pete Fornatele Dolphin and close will be Angel Mine. JCY That's Not a G sharp, excuse me Pete Fornatale coax it out JCY sometimes it just gets... Pete Fornatele that's okay, if this were live radio, could be a problem but doing it this way takes all of that pressure away. JCY getting close
01:41:49 2510	Pete Fornatale Kew Gardens I just did a show. You know that March was 40 years since that famous Kitty Genovese incident. Do you remember the Phil Ochs wrote that incredible song called Outside of a Small Circle of Friends based on it. Seems like a world away.
01:43:58 2638.15	Pete Fornatale I remember it's okay. It's always a work in progress. Pete Fornatale back with you on Mixed Bbag Radio with my guest today Jesse Colin Young. Jessie, I told you before we started that I couldn't believe that it's been 10 years since you were last a guest on this on this program. But I do know that shortly a year or so after your last visit, something quite traumatic happened in your life and I was wondering if you'd be willing to talk about Speaker 1 JCY sure house burned down whole forest that we lived next to raise for I lived there for 20 something years. Yeah, it just caught fire and wouldn't stop burning. We live right on the edge of it. Connie and I just spent two years remodeling our house, and the forest fire took it, that's how we ended up in Hawaii. Because it didn't you know when a forest fire sweeps through there's nothing left, you know insurance
01:45:05 2705.73	Speaker 1 JCY a few things. we were so lucky to have spare house. a lot of people didn't, everyone was crazy enough to rebuild except me. We just said somebody wants me out of here, I'm out of here. Pete Fornatale so you you walked out never looked back? Speaker 1 Yeah I mean I've got the ah, my recording studio survived and my Godson lives there. We still have the land because one of my young children said Tristan said, dad that's my real home don't ever sell that so um we have it in the family, but I went away and do some serious healing, thinking, weeping and you know this music that came out of it is good stuff it's deep. Pete Fornatale In the heart of an artist things like that do get translated musically in your case. JCY I think this is how we heal, certainly how I started my healing. Pete Fornatale So there's a song that came out of it that hasn't been recorded yet? JCY Yea it's recorded but it hasn't been released really, next year after a collection of songs Pete Fornatale would you give us a sneak peek JCY the title of the album, Keep on Burning
01:46:42 2802.6	Jesse Colin Youmg Keep on Burning (live) Jesse performs live in the Mixed Bag Radio station studio.
01:50:22 3022.97	Pete Fornatale Proof positive that good things come out of bad experiences. That's Keep on Burning live by Jesse Colin Young that represents the future. It will be released in a year or so. Representing the present is the CD, Living in Paradise and if I can use an expression dear to my heart Jessie, this is a mixed bag. There's lots of good stuff on here the Aloha rock that we talked about earlier. Some great covers, some great covers, Can't help Falling in Love With You. Is that a nod to Presley? Speaker 1 JCY Oh God it was actually it was Connie's idea. And She she kept bugging me about it for over a year and then actually went and said, I said Honey, I don't know what, I love Elvis. But especially early on was he really struck me I saw his first Sullivan appearance and he just blew me away. You know, music was never the same for any young musician at that after seeing Elvis the first time or any young kid. So she went on the internet and got the chords and and I worked it out in an open tuning in and recorded in two hours. I did the whole song except for the background vocals. It just it was like the same way I took my hat off to Tbone it was like Elvis was coming through me. Pete Fornatale You also honored one of your contemporaries from the early days no longer with us. I'm wondering what brought the Dolphin back to you Jesse?
01:52:07 3127.36	Speaker 1 JCY Well, you know I think it's the war. This is this the most beautiful, you can't really call him Andy Warsaw Its the most beautiful song about peace and about our our human frailties when it comes to that that I've ever heard. Pete Fornatale: would you do it for us?
01:54:49 3290	JY This is a song written by Fred Neil
01:55:10 3310.42	Jesse Colin Young The Dolphin (live) Jesse Colin Young performs a song by Fred Neal in the Mixed Bag Radio studio.
01:58:27 3507.06	Pete Fornatale Jesse Colin Young and a live version of Fred Neil's the Dolphin song. As I was listening to you do that, Jesse, it occurred to me to ask you, if you feel that an artist has the responsibility to espouse causes, be socially conscious, be politically involved? JCY Well, no more than any other citizens. people kind of go to sleep. And I'm always surprised to meet people don't vote, that blows me away. That's like, number one civic duty. You don't have to build schools. Sing, get together. I mean, there are lots of other ways to and first is to vote and to try to get people in there who will steer the country in the direction you want us to go? I think it should go. That it's right. So we're kind of we're exercising our rights. So what's being done by our country feels right to us. That's kind of a dumb brain thing. Pete Fornatale You have a unique platform from which to. JCY Yeah and I always use it. But, as I said, there are many ways to do this. I just like to see more of us stay involved become involved, stay involved. candidates are sometimes a mixed bag you never know which way to go because they're people they're human but issues perhaps clearly we need to stay involved this is an election year whichever way you go with that you've got to be some people out there and not voting is inexcusable. well then, you know, whatever we get we deserve you don't always get what you want and you participate but I always walk away from the polls feeling good. Okay, did it, now you know. I'm scratching my head wondering who will you know.
02:00:59 3660	Pete Fornatale Very crucial very crucial, I must say that you certainly seem to me like a man comfortable in your own skin and content with your place in the universe. Am i reading that correctly? JCY You're reading it. you know i mean what a job. The cosmos handed me this job and i don't know whether you want to call it ? i mean whatever, i mean, choice. I mean i really came here to sing and what a time to come in. You know, if you believe in reincarnation. this is it, this is a perfect time. the sixties was a time of grace, all this music just comes streaming through from what i might call, the spirit world. I think that's where all music comes from, from the collective unconscious as Young called it. Whatever it was a time of grace and great creativity and there i was with a guitar in my hand. In Greenwich Village, right in the middle of it and I've always felt like ? and obviously i'm still doing it. You know, i started out playing with an 80 year old man, Mississippi John HJurt. I think lightening was you know only in his late 60's. You know John was in his 80's and teaching us in the most beautiful ways and that would be my fate i would be a happy man. To live that long and keep the music going
02:02:46 3766.37	Pete Fornatale You do it well sir. The latest chapter is Living in Paradise. The song I hear that made we say what i said prior to this question, Jesse, was the one called Angel Mine. JCY Sure. Angel Mine i wrote for my daughter, Jasmine. You know we have daughters from a different generation so the song, i feel like i had to write a song ? but i don't really. Well she came to us in Hawaii after the fire and uh she was an Angel. And now she's 9 and she can sass me pretty good. She wouldn't be a girl if she didn't you know. But at that point she was an angel so there i am on my lawn there with my wife, put my life back together after the fire and feeling really really lucky to have her in my life. An so i wrote this song called, Angel Mine.
02:05:06 3906.66	Jesse Colin Young Angel Mine (live) Jesse Colin Young plays his tune, Angel Mine, in the Mixed Bag radio studio.
02:08:54 4134.28	Pete Fornatale and that just about does it for this edition of mixed bag radio. My thanks to Jesse Colin Young for being our guests. Thanks also to Linda Fetter, Chris Hall and Bill Kohlar. Special thanks this week to Ken Beck and Liz Jennings at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City. If you'd like to know more about our program or see exclusive videos by some of our previous guests, please visit our website at Mixedbagradio.com. This is Pete Fornatale, thanks for listening.
02:11:18 4278.91	End reel.

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