from 1960 Collector's Choice Music CCM-467-2, released in 2004
Eden Ahbez (born George Alexander Aberle in Brooklyn, New York on April 15, 1908; died March 4, 1995) was an American songwriter and recording artist from the 1940s-1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential on the hippie movement.
Ahbez composed the song "Nature Boy", which became a #1 hit for eight weeks in 1948 for Nat "King" Cole, and has since become a pop standard.
"Nature Boy" is a song by Eden Ahbez, published in 1948. It tells about a fantasy of a "strange enchanted boy... who wandered very far, very far, over land and seas" only to learn that "the greatest thing... was just to love and be loved in return". Nat Cole's 1948 recording of the song was a major hit, and "Nature Boy" has since become a pop and jazz standard, with dozens of major artists interpreting the song. George Benson covered it on his 1977 "In Flight" album. The song has been a major theme for many films such as The Boy with Green Hair, Untamed Heart, Nature Boy, The Crossing, Angel Eyes and Moulin Rouge! to name a few.
In 1947, Eden Ahbez approached Nat King Cole's manager backstage at the Lincoln Theatre in LA and handed him the music for this song. Cole began playing the song for live audiences and it was an instant hit. Nat needed to track down the author before he made a recording of this song which was released in 1948. "Nature Boy" shot to #1 on the Billboard charts and remained there for eight consecutive weeks during the summer of 1948. (jimmycoson)
There was a boy/ A very strange enchanted boy/ They say he wandered very far, very far/ Over land and sea/ A little shy and sad of eye/ But very wise was he/ And then one day/ A magic day he passed my way/ And while we spoke of many things/ Fools and kings/ This he said to me:/ "The greatest thing you'll ever learn/ Is just to love and be loved in return"
Living a bucolic life 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 the Hollywood sign above Los Angeles, studied Oriental mysticism, and claimed to live on three dollars a week, sleeping outdoors with his family, and eating vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
In 1959, he began recording instrumental music, which combined his signature sombre tones with exotic arrangements and (according to the record sleeve)"primitive rhythms". He often performed bongo, flute and poetry gigs at beat coffeehouses in the Los Angeles area. In 1960, he recorded his only solo LP, Eden’s Island, for Del-Fi Records. This mixed beatnik poetry with exotica arrangements. Many consider it as one of the weirdest exotica records ever created, and it was not a commercial success. This guy could well be the first hippie! Living the life of a hippie long before the hippies came along.
Del-Fi label boss Bob Keane estimates the sales of the original LP to less than a hundred copies.
More reading here: http://www.spaceagepop.com/ahbez.htm
Songs & Lyrics
1. Eden’s Island Blow wind, blow/ Ooooo Ooooo/ Blow wind, blow/ Eden’s Island way/ I must go/ Oooooo/ Blow wind, blow/ Eden’s Island way
2. The Wanderer The world is far/ The world is wide/ The man needs someone/ By his side/ The world is deep/ The world is high/ And no one knows/ The reason why/ The seasons come/ The seasons go/ The summer fruit/ And the winter snow/ But here we are/ And here we stay/ Until the time/ To go away/ All they say Is a land that is great/ And is grand, there’s no fear and no pain/ We will all live again/ And everyone will find the ones they love/ All the world is far/ The world is wide/ The man needs someone/ By his side/ The world is deep/ The world is high/ And know one knows/ The reason why
3. Myna Bird instrumental
4. Eden’s Cove Eden’s Island Eden’s Home/ Eden’s Home/ Eden’s Island has a sandy cove/ where boys and girls fall in love/ they make fire on the shore/ love is all they live for/ Eden’s Island Eden’s Home Eden’s Home/ Eden has a sandy cove/ Boys and girls fall in love/ they make fires on the shore/ live is all they’re living for/ Eden’s Island has a sandy cove/ where boys and girls fall in love/ they make fire on the shore/ love is all they live for/ Eden’s Island Eden’s Home Eden’s Home Eden’s Home
5. Tradewind instrumental
6. Full Moon To live in an old shack by the sea/ (And breathe the sweet salt air)/ To live with the dawn and the dusk/ The new moon and the full moon/ The tides the wind and the rain.../ To surf and comb the beach/ And gather sea shells and drift-wood/ And know the thrill of loneliness/ And lose all sense of time/ And be free/ To hike over the island to the village/ And visit the marketplace/ And enjoy the music and the food and the people/ And do a little trading/ And see the great ships come and go/ And, man, have me a ball/ And in the evening (When the sky is on fire)/ Heaven and earth become my great open cathedral/ Where all men are brothers/ Where all things are bound by law/ And crowned with love/ Poor, alone and happy/ I walk by the surf and make a fire on the beach/ And as darkness covers the face of the deep/ Lie down in the wild grass/ And dream the dream that the dreamers dream/ I am the wind, the sea, the evening star/ I am everyone, anyone, no one.
7. Mongoose Mongoose chase this snake away/ Mongoose chase this snake away/ We go barefoot every day/ Mongoose chase this snake away/ The island she have many snake/ All around these sugar break/ Then the mongoose come one day/ Mongoose chase the snake away/ The island boy has many fun/ Keep the young girls on the run/ Catch the girl, make them play/ Mongoose chase the snake away/ Mongoose chase this snake away/ Mongoose chase this snake away/ Catch the girl, make them play/ Mongoose chase this snake away
8. Market Place instrumental
9. Banana Boy My, my banana/ Grabbed from the tree/ Bye my banana/ And you make me happy/ I have a hideaway/ Down by the sea/ That’s where the one/ I love She waits for me/ Bye my banana/ Fresh from the tree/ Bye my banana/ And you make me happy/ And you make me happy/ Bye my banana/ Fresh from the tree/ Bye my banana/ And you make me happy/ And you make me happy/ And you make me happy, happy
10. The Old Boat instrumental
11. Island Girl instrumental
12. La Mar I had a little boat/ (I called it Life)/ Once I went out/ And never came back./ All of a sudden/ There was a big wind/ And waves like mountains/ Many things raced through my mind/ And in the lonely chanting of the sea/ I heard the echoes of eternity/ And in the fantasy of cloud and sky/ I saw the One who lives/ While all things die/ And I was swallowed by the sea/ And lost in the deep/ And washed up on the shore./ When I awakened/ The storm was over/ And the sea was calm/ It was strange and wonderful/ Like seeing the world/ And seeing through the world./ ]/ And when I told the people in the village/ That I went out and never came back/ They all laughed and called me The Wanderer/ And I laughed with them/ They didn’t know/ They were the wanderers And so I found my way And found my home on EDEN’S ISLAND/ Where the wind has been telling the truth/ Forever and ever and ever/ [ on the liner notes, but not on the recording: Like moving among the objects of the world/ As though there were no objects to move among/ As though there was no world/ As though there was no mover ]/ And when I told the people in the village/ That I went out and never came back/ They all laughed and called me The Wanderer/ And I laughed with them/ They didn’t know/ They were the wanderers And so I found my way And found my home on EDEN’S ISLAND
[ on the liner notes, but not on the recording: (Many thing to many people) Come and live the enchanted life/ Where time becomes eternity/ And you will become a beachcomber, a dreamer and dream untellable dreams/ And wander no more.../ On EDEN’S ISLAND ]/ Where the wind has been telling the truth/ Forever and ever and ever
Extras
13. The Wanderer [alternate take] 1st two stanzas of earlier version
Bonus Track
14. (Bonus Track)Surf Rider Surf Rider/ The song of the sea is sweet to me/ The salt of the sea is sweet to me/ The weight of the sea is the way for me/ I comb the beach alone and free/ When the sun goes BOOM in the morning sky/ The surf goes BOOM and the waves are high/ Where do I want to be/ With the surf riders on the sea/ When the wind is warm and the sea is wild/ I will be Mother Nature’s child/ Where do I want to be/ With the surf riders on the sea/ Surf Rider
Como último extra, una versión instrumental del primer tema ("Eden´s Island")recogido en un raro single promocional por Del-Fi, bajo el título de "Tobago"
Y para terminar... (aunque creo que la lista puede ser larga...)
Some "Nature Boy" versions
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