Jerome Alan Yester (born January 9, 1943) is an American

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

musician,

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and arranger.

Biography

Yester was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, United States, and grew up in Burbank, California. He formed a duo with brother Jim Yester, the Yester Brothers, and starting playing

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 Fo ...

clubs in Los Angeles in 1960. When Jim enlisted in the army, Jerry joined

The New Christy Minstrels The New Christy Minstrels are an American large-ensemble folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. The group has recorded more than 20 albums and scored several hits, including " Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Today", "Denver", and ...

, and then, in 1963, the

Modern Folk Quartet The Modern Folk Quartet (or "MFQ") was an American folk music revival group that formed in the early 1960s. Originally emphasizing acoustic instruments and group harmonies, they performed extensively and recorded two albums. In 1965, as the Mode ...

. The MFQ released two albums in the next two years, and Yester also branched out into other recordings, playing piano on

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including ...

's " Do You Believe in Magic" in 1965. The MFQ split up in 1966, and Yester began work as a solo artist and as a producer, with his wife Judy Henske, his brother Jim's band

the Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the ''Billboard'' charts (including " Windy", " Cherish", " Never My Love" and "Along Comes Mary") and ...

The Turtles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, and

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ...

, for whom he produced '' Goodbye and Hello'' and '' Happy Sad''. The following year he joined The Lovin' Spoonful, replacing

Zal Yanovsky Zalman Yanovsky (December 19, 1944 – December 13, 2002) was a Canadian folk-rock musician. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky (née Gemeril), who died in 1958. He played lead guit ...

, whom he also later worked with as producer, but in 1968, the Spoonful split up for 23 years. In 1969, Henske, Yester and Yanovsky put together the cult album '' Farewell Aldebaran'', on which Yester played nearly a dozen different instruments. The following year Yester and Henske formed a new band,

Rosebud Rosebud may refer to: * Rose bud, the bud of a rose flower Arts * The name of Jerry Garcia's guitar from 1990 until his death in 1995. * In the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane'', the last words of Charles Foster Kane and an overall plot device. * "Ros ...

, but the band dissolved in 1971; the couple then divorced. Yester continued to work as a producer and/or arranger on albums by

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

, Aztec Two Step, and

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

, and in the 1970s, also performed with

and the re-formed Modern Folk Quartet. In the mid 1980s, he moved to Hawaii and formed a dance band called Rainbow Connection with his brother Jim, and Rainbow Rastasan (Rainbow Page). In 1988, the MFQ began periodic touring of Japan, and have since recorded seven CDs for Japanese labels, including one (''Wolfgang'') using the music of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

. In 1991, both Yester brothers joined a re-formed Lovin' Spoonful and Yester subsequently resided in the area of

Harrison, Arkansas Harrison is a city and the county seat of Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is named after General Marcus LaRue Harrison, a surveyor who laid out the city along Crooked Creek at Stifler Springs. According to 2019 Census Bureau estima ...

, where he produced and arranged in his own studio, Willow Sound. On October 7, 2017, Yester was arrested for 30 counts of possession of child pornography in Arkansas and was released on a $35,000 bond. As a result of his arrest, he was dismissed from The Lovin' Spoonful. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child on October 9, 2018. In July 2019, Yester was handed a two-year prison sentence after his conviction for child pornography possession and he was required to register as a sex offender.

References

External links

Interview with Yester, focusing on his work with Tim Buckley

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yester, Jerry 1943 births Living people American music arrangers American folk musicians American multi-instrumentalists American people convicted of child pornography offenses Record producers from California American rock musicians Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama Musicians from Burbank, California The Lovin' Spoonful members Lead guitarists American rock guitarists American folk guitarists American folk singers Singer-songwriters from California American male singers 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists American male criminals The New Christy Minstrels members Modern Folk Quartet members Rosebud (band) members Singer-songwriters from Alabama