Wikipedia

eden ahbez

George Alexander Aberle(April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known aseden ahbez,was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in thehippiemovement. He was known to friends simply asahbe.[1]

eden ahbez
1960 album cover
1960 album cover
Background information
Birth nameGeorge Alexander Aberle
Also known aseden ahbez
George McGrew
Born(1908-04-15)April 15, 1908
Brooklyn, New York,U.S.
DiedMarch 4, 1995(1995-03-04)(aged 86)
Los Angeles,California, U.S.
GenresExotica
Years active1940–1995

Ahbez composed the song "Nature Boy",which became a No. 1 hit for eight weeks in 1948 forNat "King" Cole.Living abucoliclife from at least the 1940s, he traveled in sandals and wore shoulder-length hair and beard, and white robes. He camped out below the first L in theHollywood Signabove Los Angeles and studied Asianmysticism.He slept outdoors with his family and ate vegetables, fruit, and nuts. He claimed to live on $3 per week.

Early life

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Ahbez was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish father George Philip Aberle and English mother Margaret Annie (Mason) Aberle. He spent his early years in theBrooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylumof New York.[2]He then traveled in anorphan train,was adopted in 1917 by a family in Chanute, Kansas, and raised under the nameGeorge McGrew.[3][4]

During the 1930s, McGrew lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where he performed as a pianist and dance band leader.[3]In 1941, he arrived in Los Angeles and began playing piano in theEutropheon,a smallhealth food storeandraw foodrestaurant onLaurel Canyon Boulevard.The cafe was owned byJohn and Vera Richter,who followed aNaturmenschandLebensreformphilosophy[5]influenced by theWandervogelmovement in Germany. He was avegetarian.[6][7][8][2]He recalled once telling a policeman: "I look crazy but I'm not. And the funny thing is that other people don't look crazy but they are."[9]

Their followers, known as "Nature Boys" and who includedGypsy Boots(né Robert Bootzin), wore long hair and beards and ate only raw fruits and vegetables. During this period, he adopted the name "eden ahbez", choosing to spell his name with lower-case letters, claiming that only the words God and Infinity were worthy of capitalization.

Career

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In 1947, ahbez approachedNat "King" Cole's manager backstage at theLincoln Theaterin Los Angeles and handed him the music for his song, "Nature Boy".Cole began playing the song for live audiences to much acclaim, but needed to track down its author before releasing his recording of it.[10]Publicity material for Cole's single instead makes the claim thatJohnny Mercerrecommended ahbez to Cole on behalf of Capitol Records.[11]Jack Patton, in turn, is said to have advised ahbez to bring "Nature Boy" to Capitol after befriending him at the restaurant where ahbez worked.[12]

Ahbez was discovered living under theHollywood Signand became the focus of a media frenzy when Cole's version of "Nature Boy" shot to No. 1 on theBillboardchartsand remained there for eight consecutive weeks during the summer of 1948. In early 1948,RKO Radio Picturespaid ahbez $10,000 for the rights to "Nature Boy" to use as the theme song for their filmThe Boy with Green Hair,and he was credited as the song's composer on the film's opening titles.[13]

Ahbez was covered simultaneously inLife,Time,andNewsweekmagazines.Frank SinatraandSarah Vaughanlater released versions of the song. Ahbez faced legal action from aYiddish music composer,Herman Yablokoff,[14]who claimed that the melody to "Nature Boy" came from one of his songs, "Shvayg mayn harts" ( "Be Still My Heart" ). Ahbez claimed to have "heard the tune in the mist of the California mountains". However, legal proceedings resulted in a payment to Yablokoff of $25,000 in an out-of-court settlement.[15][16]

Ahbez continued to supply Cole with songs, including "Land of Love (Come My Love and Live with Me)", which was also covered byDoris DayandThe Ink Spots.In 1949, he gaveBurl Ivesthe idea to coverStan Jones' "Ghost Riders in the Sky"after overhearing Jones recording his own version of the song.[17][18]He worked closely withjazzmusicianHerb Jeffries,and, in 1954, the pair collaborated on an album,The Singing Prophet,which included the only recording of Ahbez's four-part "Nature Boy Suite". The album was later reissued asEchoes of Eternityon Jeffries' United National label. In the mid-1950s, he wrote songs forEartha Kitt,Frankie Laine,and others, as well as writing some rock-and-roll novelty songs. In 1957, his song "Lonely Island" was recorded bySam Cooke,becoming the second and final Ahbez composition to hit theTop 40.

In 1959, he began recording instrumental music, which combined his signature somber tones with exotic arrangements and (according to the record sleeve) "primitive rhythms". He often performedbongo,flute,and poetry gigs at beat coffeehouses in the Los Angeles area. In 1960, he recorded his only solo LP,Eden's Island,forDel-Fi Records.This mixedbeatnikpoetrywithexoticaarrangements. Ahbez promoted the album through a coast-to-coast walking tour making personal appearances, but it sold poorly.[19]

During the 1960s, ahbez released five singles.Grace Slick's bandthe Great Societyrecorded a version of "Nature Boy" in 1966 and ahbez was photographed in the studio withBrian Wilsonduring a session for theSmilealbum in early 1967. Later that year, British singerDonovansought ahbez in Palm Springs, California, and the two wanderers shared a reportedly "near-telepathic" conversation.[20][21]In the 1970s,Big Star'sAlex Chiltonrecorded a version of "Nature Boy" with the photographerWilliam Egglestonon piano. The song was finally released as a bonus track on the 1992Rykodiscre-release of the albumThird/Sister Lovers.

Personal life

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Some time in 1947, he married Anna Jacobson a month after they met;[22][2][9]the couple had a son, Tatha "Zoma" Om Ahbez, on October 9, 1948.[23]

His wife Anna (née Annette Jacobson; October 16, 1915 – August 9, 1963) died, aged 47, of leukemia,[24]and his son "Zoma" died unexpectedly[25]in either 1965,[26]1969[27][28]or 1971.[19]In 1974, ahbez was reported to be living in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland, and he owned a record label named Sunland Records, for which he was recording under the name Eden Abba.[29]From the late 1980s until his death, ahbez worked closely withJoe Romersa,an engineer/drummer in Los Angeles. Themaster tapes,photos, and final works of ahbez are in Romersa's possession.[30][31][32][33][34]

Death

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Ahbez died on March 4, 1995, of injuries sustained in a car crash, at the age of 86.[35]Another album,Echoes from Nature Boy,was released posthumously.

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Eden Ahbez - United States Social Security Death Index".FamilySearch.RetrievedMay 11,2013.
  2. ^abc"Little Known Brooklyn Residents: eden ahbez".Brooklyn Public Library. July 22, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon March 10, 2013.RetrievedFebruary 7,2013.
  3. ^ab"Letter to the Editor: Nature Boy".Life.June 22, 1948. pp. 9–10.
  4. ^"A Strange, Enchanted Boy".BBC Radio 4.RetrievedJune 29,2010.
  5. ^"Hippie Roots & The Perennial Subculture".Hippy. Archived fromthe originalon August 30, 2007.RetrievedJune 29,2010.
  6. ^Iacobbo, Karen; Iacobbo, Michael (2004).Vegetarian America: A History.p.171.
  7. ^Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko (2009).History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Africa (1857-2009).Soyinfo Center. p. 306.ISBN978-1928914-25-9.
  8. ^"Nature Boy".JazzStandards. 1948.RetrievedFebruary 8,2013.
  9. ^ab"Nature Boy".Life.May 10, 1948. pp. 131–35.
  10. ^Kringiel, Danny (March 4, 2020)."Wie ein Obdachloser einen Welthit schrieb"[How a homeless man wrote a world hit].Der Spiegel(in German).
  11. ^"First on Capitol Records: Nature Boy".The Cash Box.June 5, 1948. p. 14.
  12. ^"Jack Patton".Cash Box.September 11, 1993. p. 21.
  13. ^"Green Hair Trouble".Life.December 6, 1948. p. 83.
  14. ^"Herman Yablokoff".The Milken Archive of American Jewish Music.RetrievedMarch 21,2011.
  15. ^Gottlieb, Jack (July 9, 2004).Funny, it doesn't sound Jewish: how Yiddish songs and synagogue melodies influenced Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood.Vol. 1. SUNY Press. p. 78.ISBN978-0-8444-1130-9.
  16. ^“’Nature Boy’ Suit Settled.” Billboard, 20 January 1951, pages 10, 32.
  17. ^"Ain't 'Nature Boy' Grand; Eden Spurs 'Riders In The Sky'",Billboard,March 5, 1949, p. 18.
  18. ^Stan Jones biodataallmusic; retrieved October 14, 2015
  19. ^abMorton, Richard (April 2011). "Strange Folk USA".Record Collector.No. 387. p. 37.
  20. ^Chidester, Brian."Eden's Island: A blog about Eden Ahbez, the composer of" Nature Boy "".RetrievedApril 16,2013.
  21. ^Archived atGhostarchiveand theWayback Machine:"Grace Slick and the Great Society - Nature Boy - YouTube".RoachForge. December 8, 2008.RetrievedApril 16,2013.
  22. ^Prady, Norman (March 24, 2006)."Our very brief brush with fame".The Christian Science Monitor.
  23. ^"Speaking of Pictures...These Babies Were Born to Famous People in 1948".LIFE.January 3, 1949. pp. 5–7.
  24. ^Chidester, Brian (March 4, 2015)."Finding Nature Girl".RetrievedJune 29,2015.
  25. ^sources report the cause of death as drowning; some sources claim a drug overdose was the cause
  26. ^https:// spiegel.de/geschichte/nat-king-cole-wie-der-obdachlose-eden-ahbez-den-hit-nature-boy-schrieb-a-b7bac1c3-2218-4346-a91a-7cf1f467c226
  27. ^Concordia Blade-Empire, Friday 16 December 2021
  28. ^https:// psychedelicbabymag /2021/10/the-enchanted-life-of-eden-ahbez-interview-with-filmmaker-brian-chidester.html
  29. ^"31 Oct 1974, 54 - The Miami Herald at Newspapers".Newspapers.RetrievedNovember 6,2021.
  30. ^Chidester, Brian (February 18, 2014)."Eden Ahbez: The Hippie Forefather's Final Statement to the World".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedFebruary 18,2014.
  31. ^"Nature Boy: The Enchanted Life of Eden Ahbez – Iowa Source".January 20, 2021. Archived fromthe originalon January 20, 2021.RetrievedNovember 6,2021.
  32. ^"The Nature Boys | Reality Sandwich".January 17, 2021. Archived fromthe originalon January 17, 2021.RetrievedNovember 6,2021.
  33. ^"'NATURE BOY': THE MYSTERIOUS LIFE AND WORK OF EDEN AHBEZ ".October 13, 2021. Archived fromthe originalon October 13, 2021.RetrievedNovember 6,2021.
  34. ^"The Nature Boys southern California | PopBopRocktilUDrop".October 14, 2021. Archived fromthe originalon October 14, 2021.RetrievedNovember 6,2021.
  35. ^Folkart, Burt A. (March 11, 1995). "Eden Ahbez; Wrote Hit Song 'Nature Boy'".Los Angeles Times.p. A22.
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