After seven group releases, Young began the production of more than 15 solo albums including Song For Juli, Light Shine, Songbird and a live album with his great touring band titled ON THE ROAD......
Young recorded his first solo album, THE SOUL OF A CITY BOY, in four hours, accompanying himself on guitar. A second album, YOUNG BLOOD, featured supporting musicians, including John Sebastian. After the two solo albums, Young met guitarist Jerry Corbitt on the New York to Boston club circuit, and with keyboardist/guitarist Lowell "Banana" Levinger, and drummer Joe Bauer, they began to perform as The Youngbloods.
Though the song GET TOGETHER appeared on their first album in 1967, they re-released it as a single in 1969, after the heartfelt refrain of "Come on people now, smile on your brother" was used as the television theme for the National Council of Christians and Jews. GET TOGETHER became a worldwide Top Ten hit, and was immediately followed into the charts by, SUNLIGHT and DARKNESS DARKNESS, both written by Jesse for the ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN release that same year...... Having established legendary status with hit singles and albums, the three remaining Youngbloods (Young, Banana and Bauer) launched their own Raccoon Records, and released four albums between 1970 and 1972; the studio recordings, GOOD & DUSTY, and HIGH ON A RIDGETOP; and two live recordings, ROCK FESTIVAL, and RIDE THE WIND.
Young returned to recording solo albums in 1972 and released TOGETHER, which entered the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. In September 1973, hee released what many critics claim is his solo masterpiece, SONG FOR JULI. That recording stayed on the Billboard Top 200 chart for nearly a year, and was followed onto the chart by LIGHT SHINE in 1974, SONGBIRD in 1975, ON THE ROAD in 1975, and LOVE ON THE WING in 1976. Each of the aforementioned six Jesse Colin Young solo albums contained breakthrough tracks that received airplay on radio stations across America.
During the 1970s, Young helped establish the "No Nukes" movement. Involved from the very beginning, Young closed the 1979 No Nukes concert and movie joined by legends Jackson Browne, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash singing The Youngbloods anthem GET TOGETHER.
In 1978, Young released AMERICAN DREAMS, an album calling for political involvement, followed by THE PERFECT STRANGER in 1982 with guest stars like Carly Simon. He then returned to acoustic rock with THE HIGHWAY IS FOR HEROES in 1987.
Throughout the 1980s, Young continued to tour, often appearing at fundraisers for various organizations, and sometimes performing with original Youngbloods members Jerry Corbitt and Banana (the Youngbloods acclaimed drummer Joe Bauer, had sadly passed away prematurely of natural causes).
In 1993, Young and his wife Connie, launched their own independent label, Ridgetop Music, from their mountain home in Marin County. They introduced the imprint by releasing a new Jesse Colin Young album of all original material backed by top San Francisco Bay Area musicians, called MAKIN IT REAL. The next release would be a very personal collection of mostly solo slack key acoustic songs, SWEPT AWAY. Just as Jesse's music enterprises were about to blast off with more adventurous recordings, a forest fire engulfed the Ridgetop property in October 1995. The family home and business was completely destroyed, and Jesse moved Connie and their two children to Hawaii with the clothes they had on their backs...... He built a new recording studio at his island home and in 2001 recorded ALOHA E, reflecting upon the events of September 11. That track eventually found its home in his 2004 album release of Hawaiian influenced music, LIVING IN PARADISE. Jesse then released the elegant acoustic, SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS, in which he revisits the Christmas carols of his childhood...... Jesses musical accomplishments are many, including performing with Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin in 1969; touring with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the summer of 1974; closing the NO NUKES movie in 1980; and closing the International Peace Awards in 2004. The song GET TOGETHER was heard on the FORREST GUMP soundtrack bought by 13 million people in 1994, and DARKNESS DARKNESS, written by Jesse, was the theme song for the James Cameron movie GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS in 2003. A cover of the song by Robert Plant won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal in 2003...... Throughout his many years of recording and touring, Jesse has also taken the time to dedicate his life to giving back to the world. He has performed on behalf of organizations ranging from the Dream Foundation to the Kona Pacific Waldorf School (in which Jesse and his wife helped to build, and where they both teach music). Always holding environmentalism as a must," from the time of The Youngbloods to his current endeavors as a performer and teacher, Jesse has even used solar-powered energy for his concerts! He and his wife also grow organic Kona coffee on their farm in Hawaii. In 2005, Artemis Records released THE VERY BEST OF JESSE COLIN YOUNG, 34 songs covering 40-years of singing and songwriting.
Young quit performing music in 2012 when he was diagnosed with "chronic Lyme disease". He was inspired to start performing again in 2016, after being impressed by the musicians at his son's graduation recital at the Berklee College of Music, and asked his son to put together a band of his classmates to perform at Young's performance at SXSW. After touring for a year, Young recorded a new solo record with the band, "Dreamers", released in February 2019.
More information at www.jessecolinyoung.com
Hawaii
Jesse Colin Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I want to be with all the kanes and wahines that I knew long ago
I can hear old guitars a playing, on the beach at Hoonaunau
I can hear the Hawaiians saying "Komomai no kaua ika hale welakahao"
It won't be long 'til my ship will be sailing back to Kona
A grand old place that's always fair to see
I'm just a little Hawaiian and a homeside Island boy
I want to go back to my fish and poi
Where the Humuhumu, Nukunuku a puaa goes swimming by
Where the Humuhumu, Nukunuku a puaa goes swimming by
I want to go back to my little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
I want to be with all the kanes and wahines that I knew long ago
I can hear old guitars a playing, on the beach at Hoonaunau
I can hear the Hawaiians saying "Komomai no kaua ika hale welakahao"
It won't be long 'til my ship will be sailing back to Kona
A grand old place that's always fair to see
I'm just a little Hawaiian and a homeside Island boy
I want to go back to my fish and poi
I want to go back to my little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
Where the Humuhumu, Nukunuku a puaa goes swimming by
Jesse Colin Young’s song “Hawaii” is a melancholic tribute to the singer’s childhood home. The lyrics of the song transport the listener to the tiny grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii, where the author used to reside. The verses express the singer’s yearning to return to the place where he grew up and to reunite with the friends he made there, whom he refers to as kanes and wahines. The song also describes the sights and sounds of the singer’s Hawaiian home. Young recalls the humuhumu, nukunuku a puaa, or reef triggerfish, swimming by in the clear blue sea, and the sound of old guitars playing on the beach at Hoonaunau. The chorus repeats the singer’s wish to return to his humble grass shack, eat fish and poi, and be with his Hawaiian kin.
At first glance, this song appears to be a simple description of a nostalgic yearning for home. However, there is a deeper darkness hidden beneath the lyrics. Jesse Colin Young left his Hawaiian home as a child and moved to Greenwich Village, where he formed The Youngbloods, an American rock band. The cultural tension between his Hawaiian roots and his life in the big city is present in this song. The lyrics refer to Young as “just a little Hawaiian,” a symbol of his feeling of otherness in his new environment. “Hawaii” is a lament to a childhood left behind, to a culture lost, and to a life Young can never quite recapture.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to go back to my little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii
The singer desires to return to his small and humble home in Hawaii.
I want to be with all the kanes and wahines that I knew long ago
The singer wants to be reunited with his old friends and acquaintances, both male and female.
I can hear old guitars a playing, on the beach at Hoonaunau
The singer can mentally hear the sounds of old guitars being played on the beach at Hoonaunau in Hawaii.
I can hear the Hawaiians saying "Komomai no kaua ika hale welakahao"
The singer can hear Hawaiians welcoming him and his companions to their house or home called Welakahao.
It won't be long 'til my ship will be sailing back to Kona
The singer's trip to Hawaii is almost over and he will soon be on a ship heading back to the town of Kona.
A grand old place that's always fair to see
Kona is a beautiful and attractive place that never fails to impress those who visit.
I'm just a little Hawaiian and a homeside Island boy
The singer identifies himself as a small and humble Hawaiian who has lived on the island for a long time.
I want to go back to my fish and poi
The singer craves the traditional Hawaiian dishes of fish and poi.
Where the Humuhumu, Nukunuku a puaa goes swimming by
The singer wants to return to a place where he can see the beautiful and unique Humuhumu and Nukunuku a puaa fishes swimming in the water.
Where the Humuhumu, Nukunuku a puaa goes swimming by
The singer reiterates his desire to return to a place where he can see the beautiful and unique Humuhumu and Nukunuku a puaa fishes swimming in the water.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BILL COGSWELL, JOHNNY NOBLE, TOMMY HARRISON, WILLIAM COGSWELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
woedan
YES! Thanks for this video.Jesse still puts on a GREAT SHOW!
Jay Smith
Jesse and Tommy :)