Jerry Corbitt (born Jerry Byron Corbitt; January 7, 1943 – March 8, 2014) was an American guitarist, harmonica player, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member and guitarist of the rock band the Youngbloods.

Career

Corbitt was born in Tifton, Georgia. He began his career in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, at the beginning of the 1960s as a bluegrass musician, then was known as a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer. In mid-1960s, Corbitt met

Jesse Colin Young Perry Miller (born November 22, 1941), known professionally as Jesse Colin Young, is an American singer and songwriter. He was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s group the The Youngbloods, Youngbloods. After their dissolution in 1972 ...

, a moderately successful

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York City. In January 1965, the two began touring in Canada as a duo, eventually naming themselves the Youngbloods. Young played bass, and Corbitt played piano, harmonica and lead guitar. Later on, they were joined by Corbitt's friend Lowell "Banana" Levinger, a bluegrass musician, and the drummer Joe Bauer. In 1967, having signed with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, they released their first ''Billboard'' 200 album, ''

The Youngbloods The Youngbloods were an American rock band consisting of Jesse Colin Young (vocals, bass, guitar), Jerry Corbitt (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Lowell "Banana" Levinger (guitar and electric piano), and Joe Bauer (drums). Despite recei ...

''. Its single " Get Together", did not sell well, reach number 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Rereleased in 1969, it peaked at number 5. In 1969, Corbitt left the Youngbloods for a solo career, before the band recorded the album ''

Elephant Mountain ''Elephant Mountain'' is an album by the American rock band The Youngbloods, released in 1969. It reached number 118 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. History With the departure of member and co-founder Jerry Corbitt, Jesse Colin Young became the ...

''. In 1971, Corbitt and former Youngbloods producer

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Dev ...

formed the duo Corbitt & Daniels. For the Youngbloods, he wrote or co-wrote "Dreamer's Dream" (with Levinger) and "Don't Play Games" (on the 1967 album '' Earth Music''), "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)" (with

Felix Pappalardi Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at ...

and

Gail Collins Pappalardi Gail Delta Collins Pappalardi (February 2, 1941 – December 6, 2013) was an American songwriter, producer, and artist. Biography She came to prominence (as 'Miss Gail Collins') co-producing, with Pappalardi, the self-titled debut album by Energ ...

) (on the 1969 album ''

''). His song "Life Goes On" (co-written with Charlie Daniels) was included on the 1970 album ''

''. Corbitt played electric guitar and acoustic guitar on the 1971 debut album by the Canadian singer-songwriter

David Wiffen David Wiffen (born 11 March 1942) is an English-Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Two of his songs, "Driving Wheel" and "More Often Than Not", have become cover standards. Early life Wiffen was born in Redhill, Surrey, England.

, entitled ''

''. He produced and played guitar on singer-songwriter

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit " Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" and the 1975 Top T ...

’s 1971 album ''

Present Company ''Present Company'' is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and her solitary album for Capitol Records. After her break-up with original producer Shadow Morton, and the failure of her final two Verve albums '' The Secret Life o ...

''. Corbitt played bass guitar on and produced

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

's 1970 debut album, ''

Tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

''.

Death

Corbitt, a resident of Smiley, Texas, died of lung cancer on March 8, 2014. He was 71.

References

1943 births 2014 deaths People from Tifton, Georgia American folk guitarists American male guitarists American folk singers The Youngbloods members 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters {{US-singer-songwriter-stub